Many many years ago in a
far away land called Ohio, lived a young man named Roger. He was living in the City of Toledo, working for the Norfolk and
Western Railroad. He had started working for the railroad in his parents hometown of Brewster, but as was often the case with
young railroaders, Roger had to move to various locations to hold employment as the manpower needs of the job fluctuated.
Often Roger traveled around the state to visit friends and family in the different areas where he had lived
and worked. He also, as he traveled, enjoyed just sight seeing, watching as all the beauty the countryside had
to offer went by.
One of Roger's most favorite
past times, though, was music - good loud rock and roll music. He enjoyed listening to the music almost all the time,
while at home alone or most often while enjoying a few "refreshments" with others. Some would call this just plain
old "partying" but to Roger, it was more, much more. It was a way of life.
One evening, one of Roger's
friends brought a few of his friends to the apartment to join in on the fun. One of those friends was a girl named Patti.
Roger enjoyed talking with Patti and found that some of their interests were the same. She enjoyed rock and roll, partying,
and outdoors activities.......ahhhh, a perfect match. Patti was still in school, so often, summer days, school day afternoons,
and weekends were spent swimming, hiking, playing in the park, and listening to that good old rock and roll.
These two just plain
loved doing things together, they were best of friends and great pals. They didn't have any really famous escapades, say
like Bonnie and Clyde or the such but they managed a few lesser infractions. There were a few times getting caught sneaking
Patti home after curfew and having some major explaining to do to Patti's Mom and Grandma.
Or... there was the morning when a Park Ranger came
to work only to find the two were in his fire tower watching a magnificent sunrise over Mohican State Park.
This relationship continued on for quite some time until one day when Roger asked Patti
if she would like to marry him. It was a passionate moment that would have brought tears to anyone's eyes. It
is said that, at the time, Patti was peeling potatoes for dinner and that Roger's endearing words were something like,
"How would you like to peel potatoes for me for the rest of our lives?" Touching, absolutely touching.
And so the story goes,
on May 3, 1973, Roger and Patti were married in a small service in Oregon, Ohio. Roger was wearing his best corduroy and Patti
a beautiful lavender dress. Their relationship continued to blossom as they continued their pursuit of fun and rock
and roll. There were many more trips to the park, concerts, and parties until one day that summer when they packed up their
belongings and moved to California.
R & P continued on with
their search for fun for many years. They spent countless hours camping in the deserts of Southern California and Baja.
Camping and fishing in Baja seemed to be their favorite vacationing option. Dogs have always been their pet of choice and
it was difficult to find them anywhere without one by their side.
They enjoyed going to off-road races and often worked on
pit crews for various drivers. Many of their friends were involved in this same set of activities, so there always seemed
to be a background of partying and music. It seemed like life could indeed be a continuous pattern of working and partying.
The period of 1989 and 1990
started bringing many changes to Roger's and Patti's lives. They started looking ahead at what life held in store
for them and decided they wanted something more than it had contained up to this point.
They both came to the realization
that the only way either of them could move ahead as they wished was to knock off the drinking and partying lifestyle.
They both decided to further their educations. Patti
decide on a career path in nursing while Roger decided to take his tool design and project management to the next level
with a degree in Business and Management. It was during this period that they both graduated with degrees in those fields.
One of the unexpected advantages
of not partying was that they had some free time they could use towards other projects. they both spent many years working
as volunteers with the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association.
SGWA is a non-profit partner with the U.S. Forest Service dedicated to to protecting and preserving the San Gorgonio Wilderness
area and educating the public who visits the forest. Among other work, Roger and Patti would spend weekends camping in the
wilderness making public contact to help promot safety and offer information.
Roger also worked with the San Gorgonio
Search and Rescue Team, a volunteer branch of the San Bernardino County Sheriff. He spent many hours training and on
rescue missions.
The two found a Church that
was just what they needed to get back on track with the Bible teachings of their younger years. The Rock Church and World Outreach Center in San Bernardino was their new Church home and they both became active with different ministries within the Church.
In 1998, these two little Love Birds
celebrated 25years of marriage. They made a fantastic self planned and organized trip to Europe. They flew into Rome
then traveled by train to stops in Pisa, Venice, Milan, Lausanne, Paris, and London. They then rented a car and visited more extremely
interesting places in the UK before flying back home. Today they look back at this trip and figure it to be "The
Trip" of their lifetime.
|
| R & P at Grand Rapids |
Patti began nursing at Loma Linda
Hospital in Loma Linda California. She was stationed in the Neuro Trama Step-Down unit and loved the work and her co-workers.
She was truly meant to be a caregiver. Her care-giving went to another level when, in October 1998, she donated a kidney to
her mother. Immediately her mom was able to again enjoy life rather than being tied down to the three time a week dialysis
routine. The day before the transplant surgery, Rog & Patti took a stroll thru the woods near Grand Rapids, Ohio and listened
to John Glenn making his second trip to the moon, this time as a Senior Citizen. God Speed John Glen, God Speed.
Rog and Patti have always loved
dogs. Early on they had a couple of German Shorthairs, Shasta and Shilo.
|
| Molly and Bridgette in SanG |
In the mid eighties they decided
to get another dog and picked a Springer Spaniel from a litter. While the litter was only a few weks old and they were
visiting the new pup regularly, another pup kept placing itself in Roger's lap.
|
| Sarah and Sammi |
They decided to keep that pup too and what a great idea it
was. The sisters, Molly and Bridgette loved one another and kept one another company for 14 years.
|
| Sarah Fishing |
After losing both of those companions
to age related problems, R & P got another pair of Springer sisters.
Today, Sammi (Samantha) and
Sarah share in all of the families adventures. They especially enjoy swimming, fishing, and running through the woods investigating
all of the smells that are found there.
In the late 1990's, the company
Roger worked for was again sold to a larger company but this time it meant a longer commute yet (usually about 2 hours
each way) and the company itself wasn't extremely healthy. After 28 years working for the same company, it was time to
start looking for other employment. They decided that if they were going to make that kind of a change, why not find someplace
outside of the hustle, bustle, traffic and crime of Southern California.
Roger started his job search, targeting
Colorado as their most likely destination, preferably the Colorado Springs area or similar where they could live in the mountains.
About the same time as the employment search started, our country experience 911 and a definite downturn for businesses
throughout the country. Roger was persistent with his quest for a new job and the first week of February 2002 he interviewed
for a job in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Two weeks later he was offered the job and by the first week of April, Roger and Patti
had sold their house (not once but twice), packed, lined up housing in New Hampshire, and were headed for their new home.
Cara-vanning in their two Jeeps, with walkie talkies for communication, it took six days of driving to cover the 3,000 miles.
Roger and Patti now live in Grantham,
New Hampshire, a beautiful rural setting. This is what they were searching for but never thought of finding it in New
England. Today Roger drives less than 20 miles each way to and from his job at New England Industries. It is a fairly easy drive even in Winter conditions and there are no traffic problems as on the SoCal freeways.
Since they
were looking for a location where their free time could be spent persuing outdoors endeavors, this new home is just what
the doctor ordered. It is not unusual to look out the windows to see turkeys, deer, moose, fox, raccoon, or any variety
of birds. They enjoy kayaking on the nearby lakes and hiking with the dogs through the endless forests that surround them.
Fishing from their kayaks has also
become a favorite past time. While the summer's spare time also includes many outdoors projects, winter brings snowshoeing,
skiing, and just plain relaxing around a nice toasty woodstove.
Well, that about wraps up a summation
of Roger and Patti's lives together. It may have ended up taking a few more words than I originally thought, but if you
think back to what you have done or accomplished over the past 35 years, you will understand how that could happen.
My how time flies.
