Lee Note 82 Renee Casey Rabke July 11, 2001
Dear Classmates
It’s been wonderful reading about a group of very successful people. I feel proud to be named among you.
As you may remember, I married the September we started our senior year. It lasted 23 years and gave me two wonderful sons. My oldest son David works for the telephone company in Baytown and Stephen is an environmental scientist for a company in Houston. It’s really a shock to realize that David is 40 and has been married 20 years and Stephen, 37, has been married 11 years. I try not to dwell on it, but old age is no longer creeping up. It's now running and nipping at my heels. My daughter-in-law is hinting at a "surprise" party for my 60th birthday next year and I’m trying to determine if I’m going to refuse or succumb graciously.
I was forty when I divorced and still had my looks, my health, and a valuable skill. My children were grown and beginning their lives. I realized I could go anywhere, do anything in the world I wanted. But then I also knew I could not leave my children, potential grandchildren, my aging parents, and the security of a town full of relatives and friends. So I stayed and I don’t regret it.
That valuable skill I mentioned managed to keep me gainfully employed all these years. When I knew I would be divorced eventually, I went to college and got a degree in Drafting. I worked first as a contractor to Exxon in Engineering. This was in January 1979. A few weeks after beginning work, the supervisor asked me if I wanted to train on a CAD computer. I said yes, not having a clue what he meant. When we were being trained to do the drafting via computer, the instructor told us we were numbered among only 1200 people in the world who knew how to draw on a computer.
Since this was the beginning of the hard times in the 80’s, I became increasing thankful I had said yes. I was single by then and that computer skill managed to keep me employed, even though I was laid off three times in four years. It eventually led to the great job I now have.
Where is Mrs. Plagens now?!. I want to show her I haven't been on America's Most Wanted, haven't been on the "terrible driver video's", and have managed to stay employed MOST of the time - even if I didn’t "get" algebra in high school! I can say I did very well in college algebra, physics and geometry.
I work for Boeing at NASA and am always excited to be near when history is being made. Understand, I’m not MAKING history – just watching it unfold from a front row seat. I work in a group of safety engineers doing safety assessments for shuttle cargo, and I also work with engineers doing safety analysis of shuttle cargo cable pins. It’s a great job with lots of very nice people.
But it is only a job. My LIFE is named Davey (18), Evette (13), Adam (7), Rachelle (3), and ??? due in November. Grandchildren are appropriately named, aren’t they. It’s GRAND having them arrive in your life, just when you’re at the age to be wondering "what next?"
I’m looking forward to seeing as many as possible at the July 2001 reunion. But I get first shot at showing grandchildren pictures – OK?
Renee Casey Rabke