|
|
Kathie Walker
If you want the real low-down poopy-scoopy on my life after Tam,
read my Q & As so I don’t have to bore you by repeating soon
to be forgotten information.
I’ll just give you a brief run-down up to what my life is
like now. |
|
After graduation, I attended UCSB for one year then transferred to
UC Berkeley where I graduated with a degree in French in 1967. Rather
than spending a year in France before I started my teaching career, I
found myself with child and ended up spending 8 years in the wilds on
No Ca living on a mining claim with Eddie Isaacs (Zeke). Remember
him? He’s the one that tried to bite Mickey Johnston’s
finger off during a fight at Judy Dexter’s party. I learned how
to “live off the land” in those years and got to spend the
first years of my childrens’ lives with them at home. I also
learned that it doesn’t take much to be happy and comfortable.
I’m still a minimalist when it comes to material stuff. Heh, if
you need a recipe for corned venison, I’ve still got one!
In 1978, We bought a house right on the ocean in Brookings, OR.
Zeke missed the mountains so he returned there and lived there until
he died at age 53. We gave him a wonderful Memorial Service and
scattered his ashes in the river he so loved. In Brookings, I got
involved with Little Theater and did a lot of acting and directing. I
also learned how to do stained glass and taught Coversational French
for the local community college. In 1986, I decided to move to the
Rogue Valley and went back to college in Ashland to get my teaching
credential. Instead of a credential, I opened up a small seafood
restaurant with my then husband. It only lasted a year. In 1987, I
fell in love with Jesus Christ and in 1988 I took my last drink and
took my last drug. I ended up working in the alcohol/drug treatment
field as a counselor for ten years. I loved working with the clients
but eventually I couldn’t handle the pressure of the
overwhelming paper work and the dysfunction of the agency itself so I
quit. One of the best decisions I ever made!
Two years ago, my present husband and I bought a home in Paradise,
CA and after 23 years in beautiful Oregon, I returned to CA.
God’s blessed us with an incredible place of beauty. Outside my
bedroom and office windows is a lovely creek with a noisy waterfall
and an acre garden with the most beautiful trees, ferns, flowers and
grasses. Every morning, a gaggle of at least five deer meander
through the garden. What a treat! I’ve put together a home-based
Internet business for myself and spend my time making ceramic tiles
for mosaic artists. Oh, boy! I get to play in the mud everyday!
Sometimes I even get to use my own tiles! You can visit my website at Papoola's
Mosaic Tiles.
Most of my life has revolved around relationship. Vacations mean
going to see the kids and grandkids. I’m an active member of
Alcoholics Anonymous and love working with “newcomers”.
I’ve even taught Sunday School for years. Who’da thunk it?
God has been so good to me. He’s blessed me beyond my wildest
dreams and put so many people in my life to love. This past six
months, I’ve lost two I loved the most: my 13 year old grandson
and my wonderfully eccentric mother. I’ve attached a pix of the
three of us just a year ago. Look at the joy!
The Good News? I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, I’ll be
with them in Heaven someday. In the meantime, I try to maintain a
grateful heart, I give myself permission to cry when I’m sad and
I look for ways to honor my Father, my mother and my grandson in how
I treat others. After all these years, I finally know for sure what
my purpose in life is and I’ve experienced true peace. Have you?
What an honor to serve Him.
2013 Update:
The last ten years have been “berry, berry good to me”
as Chi Chi Rodriguez would say. I spent the last seven years of my
working career working as the receptionist for our local paper, The
Paradise Post, and had way more fun there than should be legal. Seems
like we were always celebrating something: dressing up in costumes,
having potlucks, making floats for parades and just generally having
small town smaltzy fun. My moniker there was “The One Ringy
Dingy Lady” and I took great delight in answering the
switchboard calls with “Is this the party to whom I am
speaking?” Occasionally they let me write something and
sometimes featured my artistic creations in their special publications.
I retired from that job two years ago and after a year of
lollygagging about saying , “I don’t have to get up early!
I don’t have to do anything! Na, na, na, na, na, na!” I
realized I needed to feel useful so I started doing volunteer work in
the community. Today I have way more commitments than a reasonable
person should have but my favorites are being the treasurer for our
local Friends of the Library group and working with our nomadic
homeless program, SHOR. I’m also knee-deep in service
commitments for a 12-step program that saved my life. I celebrated 25
years clean and sober in March. Thank you, God!
When I graduated from UC in 1967 with a degree in French, my dream
was to go to France and spend a year living in Paris before I started
teaching but I ended up having a baby boy instead and just never made
it “across the pond”. Last year that baby boy sent me on a
three-week tour of Europe and I was like a kid in a candy store. I
visited 8 countries in 21 days and saw all the major sites I could.
I’ve definitely been bitten by the travel bug.! A week after I
got home from Paris, my husband and I flew to NY to visit his family
and that was my first time east of the Rockies. Let me just say,
“I LOVE New York!”. We had so much fun hanging out in
Washington Square, walking through the Village at night, getting
serenaded on the subway, seeing all the tourist attractions and
getting to spend time with Rondi (Halling) and Rhonda (Easton) in
Connecticut. We’re going back next year, God willin’ and
the creek don’t rise!
I am a happy woman. I have a husband who loves me, no matter what,
two wonderful sons and two step-sons who make me proud and a gaggle
of mostly-teenaged grandchildren that bring me great joy. Oh, I
can’t forget to mention Buddy the Wonder Dog and Huey Long , my
cat, who love me even when I’m grumpy. I can remember cringing
when people used to tell me I looked like my mother and now that
she’s gone, when I look in the mirror, I see her, too, and that
makes my heart glad. My 16 year old granddaughter had to do a speech
for her history class about a family member and she picked me and I
got to tell her about what it was like growing up in the 50s and 60s,
and about the civil rights and free speech movements, and how
exciting my college years were and what it was like to be a flower
child living on a mining claim with no modern conveniences when her
daddy was a baby. I gave her a picture of me when I was 17 to share
with her speech and her teacher said, “You look like your
grandmother!” I just hope that when I’m gone, she’ll
find some joy in seeing a part of me in her mirror as well.
My husband’s in the process of building me a little cottage
by the creek on our back garden acre. I’ve dubbed it my Zen Den
and can’t wait to decorate it. It will be a special spot where I
can go and listen to the silence, meditate, talk to my God and
read&ldots;.and maybe even take a little cat nap!
Life is good and I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams. A big
thanks to all of you for being my friends and to the reunion
committee for all the time and effort they’ve put into making
our 50th a memorable event.
On you Indians! |
