Monday, July 28, 2014

1996 Chaussee Family Reunion Photos

In July 1996, the Chausee family had a reunion in Grand Junction, Colorado. These photos are from Jody's album. I copied them as they were mounted, which is also pretty much in chronological order.

Grand Junction was up pretty high. I know when I tried to run back to our cabin quickly, I was immediately out of breath. It took a while to recover-and not because I was not in good shape.

Grand Junction was beautiful. Dad wasn't feeling well enough to attend, but the rest of the family went. We had a wonderful time meeting lots of cousins. Marissa and I met up with the rest of the Gerrards in the airport. We drove a rented van through beautiful forest to the lodge for our reunion.
 
One of Mom's cousins coordinated for everyone. 


Here is a synopsis of the event.

 Everyone stayed at Grand Lake Lodge

Here are some of the pictures. First one, Shanna, Marissa, Jackie. Second one, Hilary, Phyllis, Natalie, Mark.
 Linda and Dennis Roos.
 Phyllis, Natalie, Mark, Linda Roos

Connie Colladay, Beverly
 Charlie Colladay
View from our rooms
 On the front porch of the lodge, Jackie, Shanna, Natalie, Hilary, Mark
 Also on the front porch, this time we got Jody in the picture, Shanna, Natalie, Jackie, Mark
Our cabins
 One afternoon, we rented a boat
 Hiding in the shadow is Hilary. Below is a better developed view of that one.
Jackie
Jody 


View from the boat
Back of Jackie and Hilary, Natalie, Shanna 
View from the boat



 From the boat
 Phyllis, Marissa, Natalie





 In the back, Mark and Natalie; Marissa, Phyllis, Jody, Jackie
Shanna
Jody again (you can see these are from different albums)
The front porch with all the Chaussee family women 
 Aunt Bev's family
Aunt Esther's family
 Eleanor's family (that's us)
Richard's family
 Ham's family
 Dick and Dennis
 Beverly, Phyllis, Jacquie
Our party
 Linda and Dennis
Linda, Dennis, Jody
 Jackie, Shanna
Hilary, Phyllis, Natalie, Mark
 Marissa, Jackie, Phyllis, Shanna
Natalie, Mark, Linda
 Marlissa, Judy, Dick
Transportation at the lodge

 Marissa on the lounge, Phyllis; Jackie and Hilary in the pool
More lodge vehicles
 The party
 Phyllis and Hilary
Judy, Marlissa Anderson
 Hilary and Jackie
Dick
 Awards: given by Dick: Danny, Shanna, Jean, Vernon. Jackie and Hilary watching. I got award for coming the farthest since we came from Massachusetts.
I still have that award.

 Jackie, Hilary, Phyllis
 Group photos of family groups, cousins, etc.




 Jody
Marissa and Shanna

Monday, July 21, 2014

High school reunion reflections

I just attended my high school reunion. I won't say how many years, but it has been a very long time. While I bear some physical resemblance to the girl I was at 18, almost everything else about me has changed. I still read and watch sports, but who I really am has grown so much I hardly recognize her when I compare her to that younger girl. Before the reunion, I attended a get-together with some friends. We did some catching up and reflecting. Most agreed they were grateful to have changed and grown so much in the intervening years. Below is the group that got together before the reunion. Half couldn't make it later, half could.


High school is often a time for trying to determine who you are and what you want out of life. It took me almost another 10 years to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I waited an additional few years before getting an advanced degree. In the meantime, I got a Bachelor's Degree, attended law school and dropped out when I realized I didn't want to be a lawyer, had a child, home schooled that child between different jobs, worked a variety of careers in law, music, dance and technology, and finally selected one for the longer term. That longer term job was in information technology. Since it is a constantly changing field, I needed to continue to learn and grow to remain relevant. I have enjoyed that challenge.

Outside of work, I also continued to change. I remain primarily an introvert-that being defined as someone who finds it drains energy to be around a lot of people. I love people, they just tend to sap my energy when I'm around a group of them. One on one is easier, but still draining. I've always been this way but didn't understand it when I was younger. Now that I know, I can better manage my energy and moods to make accommodation for those time that will be more difficult. Of course, my husband is an extrovert-one who gains energy from being around people. We view large groups very differently.

In high school, I found small talk difficult. It is still not as easy for me as for my husband, but I am much better able to talk to both friends and strangers. Some of that has come from the examples I see in the different books I read. Particularly as I have become interested in Jane Austen fan fiction, the different portrayals of the characters, and the stories I myself have written, have helped me find ways to better articulate my interest in others. I never knew how to do that all those years ago.

My different experiences with family, with church, with performing, and with work have all helped me develop into a different person. I have more empathy, more sympathy, more compassion, more patience, and more understanding than I did at 18. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to grow, in spite of the fact that the growth comes as a result of living through difficult experiences. Just as a muscle requires resistance to become stronger, so do our souls. If life were always easy, we would not grow. Very few choose hard times because they will teach them something. Most of us prefer the easier times. Yet the refinement that comes from the hard times is what creates the person we need to become.  

 For most of us, high schools starts us down that path to our eventual destination. A few start much younger, but for the rest of us, as we pull away from our parents, we go through the testing and rebellion that help us determine how we want to move forward. I think that is why these years see so much gang recruitment. Gangs make it easy to define ourselves. Going it alone is much harder as we have to consciously make decisions about the direction we will head. Even a decision to leave it up to the group is a decision about direction.

I am grateful for the growing the teen years force on us. I am grateful I had friends that were making good choices. As a parent, I am grateful my daughter had such friends as well. Interactions with peers help us determine what does and does not work for us. They help us to define ourselves as independent beings. We can then either recover from those years or continue to move forward, depending on our experiences. That is a choice we make daily all our lives.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Are lessons for your kid worth it?

One of the great debates in which parents engage is whether or not to 'encourage' or force their kids to have lessons of various kinds. There are many cogent arguments to both sides of the debate. I was one of those encouraged with a variety of lessons from the time I started school. Primarily, lessons were a supplemental activity to keep me busy and challenged.

Both of my grandmothers 'encouraged' everyone in their families to learn to play the piano. One also wanted them all to learn a second instrument. As a result, when I was in the first grade, I started piano lessons. I practiced at least once or twice each week and slowly progressed. I would have moved faster if I had practiced as suggested.

I also started dance lessons. Judging by the records we brought home for practice, we weren't very good, but we had a lot of fun. When we moved, I pushed to get lessons again as soon as possible.

By the time I was ten, I was playing Bach and my youngest sister would sit down after I finished practicing and play my pieces by ear. She was 3. She wasn't even taking lessons yet. I was jealous of that ability because I couldn't do that if my life depended on it. She inherited that gift from our dad who also played by ear. When she was older, she took lessons and learned to also play from the music.

In fourth grade, I wanted to play an instrument in the band. Of course, I wanted something noisy-either the trumpet or drums. I was encouraged to join the choir instead and given guitar lessons.

Once I was ten, most of my lessons were near each other, so I spent the entire afternoon there. At times, I resented that I could never do anything else on those Thursday afternoons. However, I still loved doing them.

Studies have been done that show that learning music encourages specific kinds of development in the brain. I know that I saw connections in music that I also made in language and in math. I am sure it changed the way I processed the world.

Along with dance, I took drama lessons. These were to channel what my parents saw as overly dramatic emotions. I think I was just more expressive of my feelings than my parents expected. However, these lessons helped me learn to be comfortable in front of a group or performing.

Later, I took voice lessons for a few years because I love to sing. They significantly improved my singing voice for which I am very grateful.

What I find interesting is that I have been lucky enough to use all the lessons I got to make a living. During college, I sang in a couple of local pubs, accompanying myself on guitar. This was one of the better paying jobs I had during school. I gave piano and guitar lessons for many years. I worked at a dance studio. I taught music at a private school.

So, I was one of the lucky ones. Besides keeping me busy and challenged, the lessons came in handy for feeding me and my family. If that had never been the case, I would still be grateful. Lessons helped me learn discipline, endurance, and the value of hard work. Those have all been valuable skills.

Monday, July 7, 2014

My husband, the golf pro

Although my mother and one sister have played golf for a number of years, I managed to escape until I met my husband. I played once in college and then not again until 2002. Golf is as tied to life for Mack as eating is. He has had the same vanity license plate since they were introduced - PGA PRO. This has introduced me to an entirely new world. It is a very nice new world, too.

Mack is a very humble man. Unless you saw his office, you would not know of the numerous awards and recognitions he has received. He never boasts about them. In fact, he says they are not all that much. I disagree. I think they are very important.

A while back, I posted some of the awards and recognitions I had in order not capture them in memory. Mine do not hang on the walls of our home. However, Mack's do. I wanted to capture them too. There are a few more that are not hanging in his office.

Various organizations he has worked with have given thanks and recognition. These are the ones hanging in the office taking up all the wall space. There are a few more in a box. There just isn't room for them on the walls.


 The PGA in both Arizona and Utah recognized him with Horton Smith Awards for his unstinting efforts in education. As you might guess, education is a passion with him.













 He has been recognized as the section Pro of the year:






He has served as president of the section



 He serves and has served on a variety of committees at both the section and national level.

 He has been a PGA member for quite a while and been recognized at different member statuses





 He was inducted into the PGA Southwest Section Hall of Fame
 


He was inducted to the Arizona Golf Association Hall of Fame



Here, friends congratulated him at the induction tournament






Mack has always given his all to the game. He played high school and college golf, has played in PGA section events, charity tournaments, and just for fun. He conducts classes and clinics for beginners, junior golfers, and others who want to improve their game. He is always conscious of representing the PGA and wants to do so with integrity.

Golf is a great game, frustrating, challenging, and often fun. Mack has made a life out of promoting the game and helping others enjoy it. In return, golf has given him a wonderful life. I am so glad golf came into my life with Mack. He, and it, have enriched my life in so many ways.