Life as an Army Brat had many mixed blessings ...

My parents married during World War II. Soon after their marriage, he was sent overseas. While he was gone, his first daughter was born. Upon returning from World War II, my father took his discharge from the Army and headed to New Orleans, Louisiana where my mother and sister waited for his return. My sister was two years old before he saw her for the first time.  I was born in New Orleans while my father "enjoyed" life as a civilian. A year later he rejoined the Army, and our nomad life began.

We lived in Ft. Polk, then Baton Rouge, Louisiana where my dad was assigned to the ROTC program at LSU. We then moved to Ft. Riley, Kansas (all before I was 5 years old!) From there Dad was sent to Korea. We stayed with my mother's parents in New Orleans, LA. and while he was away my brother was born. On his return from Korea, Dad was again assigned to Ft. Riley Kansas.

Dad received another ROTC assignment, this time at Notre Dame in South Bend, IN. He would be there for 2 1/2 years, however I wasn't :-). During my second grade year, my sister and I went to stay with our grandparents. My grandfather was an engineer and moved almost as much as my dad! During my stay with them, I lived in Tennessee, Mississippi and Colorado.

My little sister was born while we were at Notre Dame, and Dad was there for the blessed event! He had four children and was there for the births of two, and away for two. It had to be awfully hard on Mom ... it takes a special person to be a Military Wife!

Dad received orders for overseas duty, but not for concurrent travel, which meant he would go and we would follow. It was over 6 months later before we received our orders. We stayed with my uncle in Texas while we waited. When the orders came, Mom had to drive us cross country to New York, prepare the car for shipping (which was no small feat), and get us on a plane for Germany.

We lived in Giessen, Germany for 2 1/2 years. While we were there we traveled to the Worlds Fair in Brussels, Belgium. And how can I not mention our trip through Denmark, and our visit to the home of Hans Christian Andersen, my favorite author at the time!!

On returning to the United States, my father was stationed at Ft. Riley Kansas for the third time. We stayed in New Orleans with my grandparents for a year before joining Dad. After 2 years, he again received orders for overseas. This time we traveled together. Mother felt doing it alone once was enough!

We arrived in Augsburg, Germany November 1962, during one of the coldest winters they had had in some time. We had to live on the economy at first -- THAT was an experience not to be forgotten! **LOL** In January we moved into government quarters. While we were there we traveled through Austria, and I visited the Girl Scout Chalet in Switzerland.

I attended Augsburg High School from November '62 till November '65. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to graduate from AAHS. We rotated stateside, and settled in New Albany, Indiana, where in May 1966 I graduated from New Albany High School. (The only good thing about it - it was the same high school my father had graduated from!)

The years I spent at Augsburg were some of the best! There are so many memories -- some great, some good, and some not so good ;-) -- the fun filled AYA trips to Garmisch and Bertschesgarden, Fasching (much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans!), Octoberfest, the carnivals, football games, even working for the AYA out at Haunstetten during the summers, to name a few! Oh! And who could forget the falls!! Also, I was a Senior Girl Scout and had the privilege of visiting the Girl Scout Chalet in Switzerland. We returned stateside in the Fall of 1965.

I have lived in, or visited most states across the USA! A couple of my favorite places -- the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and, of course, NOLA!!

I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. With that goal in mind, I entered Indiana University Southeast in 1966. I received my Bachelor's Degree in Education in '70, and my Master's in '75. I have 30+ postgraduate hours, with an endorsement in Computer Education from Purdue University. I began teaching in 1970, and 33 years later made the difficult decision to retire. I felt it was time to move on and pursue other interests. I wanted to travel and see more of this great country of ours! Some people have a hard time believing that I taught at the same school for my entire career. Maybe that has something to do with all the moving around I did as a kid!! **LOL**

My School Career
1953-54 Kindergarten	New Orleans, Louisiana
1954-55 First Grade	Ft. Riley, Kansas
1955-56 Second Grade	Started in Tennessee; moved to Biloxi, then Ocean Springs, Mississippi (and this was a year I lived with my grandparents!)
1956-57 Third Grade	South Bend, Indiana
1957-58 Fourth Grade	Began the year in Ft. Worth, Texas while waiting for orders, then in October transferred to Giessen, Germany
1958-60 Fifth & Sixth Grade	Attended DoDDS schools in Giessen, Germany -- two years at the same school, I didn't know how to act!!
1960-61 Seventh Grade	Began the year in Giessen, Germany, then rotated stateside and finished at Beaurgard Jr. High in New Orleans, LA.
1961-62 Eighth Grade	attended a Catholic school in New Orleans for most of the year, then joined Dad at Ft. Riley, Kansas where I attended 2 different public schools before the year ended.
1962-63 High School	I began my first year of high school at Dickinson County Community High School in Kansas, then in October transferred to Augsburg American High School in Augsburg, Germany.
1963-65	Augsburg, Germany -- 2 1/2 to 3 years at one school, I was in heaven!! :-)
1965-66 Senior Year	Began my senior year in Augsburg; Returned stateside in November '65, and graduated from New Albany High School, New Albany, Indiana!
13 years of school -- 15 different schools!!

This page is dedicated to my parents!