80's Remembrances

Remembering the 1980's. . .

Subject:  The 80`s Family, Ministry 7/24/2002
Believe it or not, music remained an important part of our lives into the 80,s. My husband was writing songs and we began a contemporary Christian music ministry together. We had opportunities to minister in Christian coffee houses, Church outreaches, and Church concerts,which continues today.We completed our 1st music project, Jesus Made The Difference. Don was worship leader at our local church.The 80`s also kept us busy raising our 3 children Julie JoEllen & Jim, who is Autistic. Don was working for ARC as a voc. rehab. counselor and I was working in their Day Treatment program & mentally challanged adults. In 1988 we moved to Walton N.Y. wherewe are today. Don serves as director of music at our church and is working for the Mental HealthClinic as a case manager. I elected to stay home in the 80`s. Don Ist song was publshed in 1988. Then our oldest entered her teen years with all of the excitement and unique challanges, where we whisked into the 90's another chapter in our lives!
- Patty Stevens Jenks
Subject:  The 80`s 7/24/2002
Ron Reagan came in and fired Pete Young and the other Air Traffic Controllers (I was a federal employee too & that stunk, Pete) but with the huge military buildup I had lots of work as a civilian engineer in military construction. Then my 1st marriage ended. A year later, I sank into a total physical and nervous collapse after a trip to Mexico. I was enrolled in law school but my health forced me to drop out almost immediately. I forced myself back to work, pushed myself through each day to come home and collapse. Slowly things improved. I remarried and my first son was born. By `87, our 20th HS reunion, I was in pretty good shape again, but I continue to struggle with depression to this day. It changes you forever, but you get perspective on what really matters. My second son was born in `89. I was 40 yrs old and just starting on my biggest challenge - staying alive long enough to get my boys grown. The Berlin Wall came down - something I never thought I would see, and I would soon leave the Corps of Engineers as the Army closed bases throughout California.
- Richard Lavallee
Subject:  the decade of disease 7/24/2002
Thanks for the support Dick. There are times when you would like life to be boring and predictable. That was not the 80`s for me. As an old gentleman that I met during one of my hospital stays said, " If it`s not one thing it`s two". After we went on strike we couldn`t collect unemployment because it was an illegal job action, so no money, and my ex-wives decided to drop the three kids with us and head for the great unknown. That made it interesting to say the least. I had also been diagnosed as an insulin dependent diabetic which made getting the necessary meds difficult. We struggled through with help from the families, and a wife that put up with a lot more shit than I could of, and I eventually graduated with a BS in Accounting and went to work for the federal government in Boston. I wasn`t allowed to go back to work for the FAA even as something other than a controller. Along the way I developed a few illnesses, but the one that caused the most problems was a rare liver disease that I`m not even going to attempt to spell. The only cure was a transplant, but that get`s me into the 90`s and a different decade. Suffice it to say that the 80`s were not boring. I will say that I`m missing body parts that people don`t even know they have. A friend I knew who had a heart transplant summed it up best when he would tell people he had a 30 year old heart and a 60 year old wife and he figured if he averaged the age of all his organs together he was only 50. That kind of says it all. I know you can hardly wait for the 90`s to see if I survived, but you`ll just have to wait and see. Incidentally, I had breakfast with Bill Hanbury this morning and he looks great. Hard to believe that almost 40 years have gone by.
- Pete Young
Subject:  decade of change 7/26/2002
The 80`s started pretty calmly for our family. In 1983, after 11years, daughter no. 3 was born..don`t ask..it had to do with a back packing trip in Yosemite and a bear......In 1985 Tim was assigned a project with the Dept. of Defense so off we went to Virginia. For those of you who went to Baker, Bill Welser was my neighbor..he was a Colonel at the time, attending the War College in Virgina (He is a General now(Army), seen recently on CNN as being in charge of supplying the troops in Afganistan. It was great seeing an old friend, Bill and his wife`s 1st "real" date as a couple was attending Tim and my wedding in 1969. Anyway, in 1987 we attended Baker`s 20th reunion, it was great seeing everyone. We looked like a "well perserved" group in the photo contained on this website. In 1988 Tim`s contract ended and back we went to California, leaving our oldest to attend college in Virginia. I made a career change, after getting a degree in microbiology, I decided I did not want to spend the rest of my life looking through a microscope at "little bugs". A friend of mine is a senior partner in the largest Orthopaedic Group in the west, and gave me a chance to be the clinic manager of their office.....a career I still have at Dartmouth. Tim`s career look an interesting turn as the 80`s closed. He had been working on the guidance systems for the space shuttle for several yrs.(his Lab partner, Greg Jarvis, died in the explosion of the Challenger) so he lost his enthusiasm for space. As it turned out Hughes Space was working on a new project to develope satellite TV for the public, so off Tim went to the mountains of So Carolina (where apparently they have the most drastic changes of weather) to test the satellite that Highes had launched..and Direct TV was born..you may thank my husband for the 500 cable channels your children may now be watching.........How we ended up in New Hampshire is a story for the 90`s........
- Karen Peach Carter
Subject:  The lost decade 7/29/2002
Myabe some people lost the 70s in a drug haze... but I lost the 80s in a baby-haze. At age 30 I had my first daught and at age 31 I had my second daughter. I was working full time.. and both my husband and I decided to go back to school to get degrees in computer science. We were both working in the computer field and felt we needed the `piece of paper` for security. So I got up early, got babies off to the sitter (or to school by the end of the 80s), put in a day at a full time job, traded off with my husband on `pick up kids` or `go to class`, got the kids in bed and worked on homework. Along the way the kids took violin, piano and swimming lessons, along with little league softball and soccer... and then there was 4H. I was a PTA officer, and on the board of directors of 2 libraries, the chamber of commerce, and the local philharmonic supporters. I can`t tell you the name of one rock star or movie that happened during that decade... by the 90s the wave of incessant insanity had passed and I slowed down to smell the roses.... (and I have gorgeous flower gardens now!!)
- Kathy Voltz
Subject:  Kathy 7/30/2002
I got tired just reading your remembrance. You needed a whole decade to catch up on your sleep.
- Pete Young
Subject:  80`s 8/10/2005
I think I remember it.. I taught high school chemistry..in NH. and raised 2 children..still keep in touch with Bill Welser and Bstsey Cooper.. I am still teaching chemistry high school and college..32 years.. it went by too quickly.. looking forward to another B"ville reunion!!!! Cathy Wheeler Duxbury Little
- Cathy Wheeler Duxbury Little

Where were you in the 1980's? What do you remember from the ME decade? Add your 80's remembrance here:

Subject: The 80`s Family, Ministry	7/24/2002
Believe it or not, music remained an important part of our lives into the 80,s. My husband was writing songs and we began a contemporary Christian music ministry together. We had opportunities to minister in Christian coffee houses, Church outreaches, and Church concerts,which continues today.We completed our 1st music project, Jesus Made The Difference. Don was worship leader at our local church.The 80`s also kept us busy raising our 3 children Julie JoEllen & Jim, who is Autistic. Don was working for ARC as a voc. rehab. counselor and I was working in their Day Treatment program & mentally challanged adults. In 1988 we moved to Walton N.Y. wherewe are today. Don serves as director of music at our church and is working for the Mental HealthClinic as a case manager. I elected to stay home in the 80`s. Don Ist song was publshed in 1988. Then our oldest entered her teen years with all of the excitement and unique challanges, where we whisked into the 90's another chapter in our lives!
-	Patty Stevens Jenks

Subject: The 80`s	7/24/2002
Ron Reagan came in and fired Pete Young and the other Air Traffic Controllers (I was a federal employee too & that stunk, Pete) but with the huge military buildup I had lots of work as a civilian engineer in military construction. Then my 1st marriage ended. A year later, I sank into a total physical and nervous collapse after a trip to Mexico. I was enrolled in law school but my health forced me to drop out almost immediately. I forced myself back to work, pushed myself through each day to come home and collapse. Slowly things improved. I remarried and my first son was born. By `87, our 20th HS reunion, I was in pretty good shape again, but I continue to struggle with depression to this day. It changes you forever, but you get perspective on what really matters. My second son was born in `89. I was 40 yrs old and just starting on my biggest challenge - staying alive long enough to get my boys grown. The Berlin Wall came down - something I never thought I would see, and I would soon leave the Corps of Engineers as the Army closed bases throughout California.
-	Richard Lavallee

Subject: the decade of disease	7/24/2002
Thanks for the support Dick. There are times when you would like life to be boring and predictable. That was not the 80`s for me. As an old gentleman that I met during one of my hospital stays said, " If it`s not one thing it`s two". After we went on strike we couldn`t collect unemployment because it was an illegal job action, so no money, and my ex-wives decided to drop the three kids with us and head for the great unknown. That made it interesting to say the least. I had also been diagnosed as an insulin dependent diabetic which made getting the necessary meds difficult. We struggled through with help from the families, and a wife that put up with a lot more shit than I could of, and I eventually graduated with a BS in Accounting and went to work for the federal government in Boston. I wasn`t allowed to go back to work for the FAA even as something other than a controller. Along the way I developed a few illnesses, but the one that caused the most problems was a rare liver disease that I`m not even going to attempt to spell. The only cure was a transplant, but that get`s me into the 90`s and a different decade. Suffice it to say that the 80`s were not boring. I will say that I`m missing body parts that people don`t even know they have. A friend I knew who had a heart transplant summed it up best when he would tell people he had a 30 year old heart and a 60 year old wife and he figured if he averaged the age of all his organs together he was only 50. That kind of says it all. I know you can hardly wait for the 90`s to see if I survived, but you`ll just have to wait and see. Incidentally, I had breakfast with Bill Hanbury this morning and he looks great. Hard to believe that almost 40 years have gone by.
-	Pete Young

Subject: decade of change	7/26/2002
The 80`s started pretty calmly for our family. In 1983, after 11years, daughter no. 3 was born..don`t ask..it had to do with a back packing trip in Yosemite and a bear......In 1985 Tim was assigned a project with the Dept. of Defense so off we went to Virginia. For those of you who went to Baker, Bill Welser was my neighbor..he was a Colonel at the time, attending the War College in Virgina (He is a General now(Army), seen recently on CNN as being in charge of supplying the troops in Afganistan. It was great seeing an old friend, Bill and his wife`s 1st "real" date as a couple was attending Tim and my wedding in 1969. Anyway, in 1987 we attended Baker`s 20th reunion, it was great seeing everyone. We looked like a "well perserved" group in the photo contained on this website. In 1988 Tim`s contract ended and back we went to California, leaving our oldest to attend college in Virginia. I made a career change, after getting a degree in microbiology, I decided I did not want to spend the rest of my life looking through a microscope at "little bugs". A friend of mine is a senior partner in the largest Orthopaedic Group in the west, and gave me a chance to be the clinic manager of their office.....a career I still have at Dartmouth. Tim`s career look an interesting turn as the 80`s closed. He had been working on the guidance systems for the space shuttle for several yrs.(his Lab partner, Greg Jarvis, died in the explosion of the Challenger) so he lost his enthusiasm for space. As it turned out Hughes Space was working on a new project to develope satellite TV for the public, so off Tim went to the mountains of So Carolina (where apparently they have the most drastic changes of weather) to test the satellite that Highes had launched..and Direct TV was born..you may thank my husband for the 500 cable channels your children may now be watching.........How we ended up in New Hampshire is a story for the 90`s........
-	Karen Peach Carter

Subject: The lost decade	7/29/2002
Myabe some people lost the 70s in a drug haze... but I lost the 80s in a baby-haze. At age 30 I had my first daught and at age 31 I had my second daughter. I was working full time.. and both my husband and I decided to go back to school to get degrees in computer science. We were both working in the computer field and felt we needed the `piece of paper` for security. So I got up early, got babies off to the sitter (or to school by the end of the 80s), put in a day at a full time job, traded off with my husband on `pick up kids` or `go to class`, got the kids in bed and worked on homework. Along the way the kids took violin, piano and swimming lessons, along with little league softball and soccer... and then there was 4H. I was a PTA officer, and on the board of directors of 2 libraries, the chamber of commerce, and the local philharmonic supporters. I can`t tell you the name of one rock star or movie that happened during that decade... by the 90s the wave of incessant insanity had passed and I slowed down to smell the roses.... (and I have gorgeous flower gardens now!!)
-	Kathy Voltz

Subject: Kathy	7/30/2002
I got tired just reading your remembrance. You needed a whole decade to catch up on your sleep.
-	Pete Young

Subject: 80`s	8/10/2005
I think I remember it.. I taught high school chemistry..in NH. and raised 2 children..still keep in touch with Bill Welser and Bstsey Cooper.. I am still teaching chemistry high school and college..32 years.. it went by too quickly.. looking forward to another B"ville reunion!!!! Cathy Wheeler Duxbury Little
-	Cathy Wheeler Duxbury Little

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	80's Remembrance