The following are some memories of my days at Mission House...

A lot of time in the biology lab with Prof. Bill Welti and his lab assistant, Earl Reinholz.

Frances Thundercloud trying so hard to get enough blood from her finger to prepare a good slide.

Helene Schulz (now Krampe) waiting for us to come up with some reasonably coherent statement in German, before leaving German class.

Kids practicing French outdoors, between buildings. Didn't sound good then, either.

Dr. Walter Allen, interpreting Shakespeare from every possible angle. This man knew and understood these works so thoroughly, and enjoyed them so much, that he made the old English really come alive. Guess we talked about him so much that the class doubled in size the second semester; not nearly as much fun then.

A night owl rooming with a bright-eyed morning guy. We're still friends.

Dr. Arthur Krueger, the college president, teaching us square dancing in the basement of the library.

The Zeta Chi room on the top floor of the boys' dorm.

And the dining room in the basement of that dorm. Nobody ever complained about "college food" when they ate "Mrs. J's" food! Bessie Jenkins was her real name, but everyone just called her Mrs. J.

Hands still smelled of Lysol, waiting in line for supper, after cleaning the late afternoon labs! (At least Lysol was better than formaldehyde.....)

Dances in the gym. Some guys with dates from Milwaukee. One pretty young thing, as light as a feather, was from Central or South America.

The girls' old wooden dorm.

Kirby Jenkins living in a trailer behind the boys' dorm.

Good friends made then, remain friends today. Can't get better than that.

After graduation, plans changed. I found myself in the social work field and worked four years in the Sheboygan Co. Public Welfare Dept. I liked it and the people there. I got a Masters at UWM, came to Racine in 1960, and retired from what had become the Racine Co. Human Services Dept. in 1993. Now I am busier than ever! I spend a lot of time in our Adventures in Lifelong Learning (ALL) at the nearby University of Wisconsin - Parkside. So I continue to enjoy learning in another capacity at another facility. We have decided, after some 13 or 14 years, that our motto at ALL really is "Stay flexible, and be creative." Our church manages to add a few opportunities to avoid boredom, too.

In the midst of all this I waited long enough to find a lady, with four teenage children, who happened to work at the same place I did. I commented on a flower on her desk and we were married a year and a half later. I'm still amazed at how similar our tastes and likes are. We have been married thirty-three years and counting. The "kids" are scattered all over the country, they have pets but have produced no grandchildren, and everyone likes each other. It is a pleasure to be part of a family sharing this much love.

Life is good. I always appreciate the time spent at Mission House / Lakeland and the base it gave me. There I gained confidence in being able to do things I thought I could never do. This led to my being asked to serve as president of several organizations over the years, including ALL. I learned that I have felt free to get sillier as I've aged, to everyone's amazement, including my own! At 80, I can now be as silly as I want. A Christmas tie that looks like tree ornaments, in good primary colors, got more smiles, grins, laughs, giggles, and comments this season than anything I've ever had. Of course, I would not have worn that tie 10 years ago! This confirms my previous observation.