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1959...............the years since..................... Carol has lived a very full and exciting life and has found contentment as you will see after reading her bio.
I entered SWTJC that fall. I remember walking across the campus after picking up my Freshman transcript. It was one of those pivotal moments. I knew that I had earned something no one could take away from me and vowed that someway I would finish college. I finished the Jr. College with the aid of singing schollarships. I also fell in love. This ultimately charted the course of my studies. I was going to be a rancher's wife and needed to major in something 'normal'. So I chose education. With a non-interest loan from the men's Bible Class, for whom I played the piano each Sunday morning during high school, and many odd jobs, I was able to get my degree. My teaching career spanned 30 years, with 15 of them actually in the classroom. I moved several times and pursued other opportunities. For the 12 years after graduation I was a ranch wife and bore two children - the most wonderful blessings in my life. I could write a book about my experiences on the ranch, complete with stories of snakes, deer hunting, being chased by wild javalinas while 8 months pregnant (wow, what a sight that must have been), harvesting and cooking mountain oysters, sending a mouse through the washer and dryer. We raised a baby calf, a goat, a javalina, a raccoon and a multitude of kittens and puppies. What wonderful carefree years. When the children entered school I guess I began to get restless and went on the preverbal '70s search for myself. This perhaps led to a divorce. In those days that word was not even in my vocabulary. Thus began what was to become some years of on again, off again, in depth therapy - without which my life would most likely have gone down a very different, if not destructive path. I spent some 'single mom' years in
Portland, TX back in the classroom where I taught special needs children --a
very rewarding few years. I met and married a corporate man who was
shortly thereafter transferred to Denver,Colorado.
What a wonderful and yet
again, pivotal period in my life. It was here that I learned to ski,
play golf, mountain hike and did lots of fishing and camping in the most
beautiful country I had ever seen. While in CO I became a sales rep for
a sports wear company. Many of my accounts were in ski areas.
My sales territory covered Southern WY south to Northern New Mexico. I
traveled lots of back roads in what I call God's country.
My life abruptly changed when my husband unexpectedly left and took my life with him. It was during this time of gut wrenching grief that I hit what was called "my bottom". I was able to climb up and out and stay there with the aid of AA. My life would not be what it is today had I not embraced the principles of AA. I left CO and moved to Dallas, then
Plano where I taught another 5 years in the field of Special Reading.
These were the best teaching experiences of my teaching career.
During summer break, on the way to see my son in MT, I met a man on the
airplane who intrigued me. I guess I intrigued him also, for within a few
months,we were sharing our lives. We wintered in the FL Keys and
fished every day the weather allowed.
Our summers were spent in a log cabin in a canyon outside of Bozeman, MT . There I learned to fly fish, bow hunt and backpack. He built me a studio overlooking the creek by the house where I spent hours of my spare time. He was a much wounded man and I had not healed enough myself to handle him. Hence a move to TN where my daughter lives. I spent my final teaching year here. Teaching and I had changed too much. I decided a change was needed and moved to NM to attend massage therapy school. I lived with Glenda Roe during this time. Oh, the times we had! We took thousands of miles of road trips together with our 2 dogs. We lived on the edge sometimes, barely avoiding catastrophes. We had tons and tons of laughter and tears and created the best memories of my life. Glenda, Gloria Harms and I were often called "The Must Be Queers" before I even knew what that meant! We have maintained a rare and wonderful friendship through all these years. What a gift......to have friendships with so much love and history. After graduation from massage school, I returned to TN where I became the
owner of a Corporate Chair Massage Company. I hit the marketing hard and
it flourished. For medical reasons I sold the business and thought I would
retire. I began seeing Al Roberts, a mutual acquaintance of
Glenda's and mine who had lost his wife. He was, and is, the
kindest most loving man I have ever known. We clicked, married and have
had the most peaceful, contented, joy filled days I could have ever
imagined.
During the last 13 years my daughter, Janie, and her husband,Jimmy Metts,
have blessed us with 2 wonderful grandchildren; Mattie who is now 13 and
Hunter who is 10. Brag time: they are both extremely talented,
smart, loving, sensitive children and I feel so lucky to get to be a part of
their young lives.
My son, Bill Hinnant, and his wife, Shelley, live on the ranch in
south TX and have 2 young children: Bredan 8 and Makenzi 6. I wish I could be
a bigger part of their lives as well. My days are filled with my passion for photography now. It mixes well with the free time of retirement. I am rarely ever without a camera and take just about anything I deem picture worthy. Once my web site is up and running I will post it on the UHS web site. I am in relatively good health ...just the normal aging maladies. It is just Gwen and me now. Mother is gone, Daddy is in Amistad Nursing Home with the big "A". Both brothers died in their 40s; Pete of Agent Orange contracted in Vietnam and Gene of a motorcycle accident. I don't have much calling me "home" anymore. It will be good to see everyone and share our journeys.
Please click on a classmate's name to view their bio.
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