I spent four years after graduation working at Great Lakes Naval base and did a lot of traveling within the USA. In 1965 I married Sigmund Kolano and we moved to Twin Lakes where we lived for 19 years and raised three children. During that time I was a stay at home Mom for 7 years, worked at a bank for a while,we were business partners in Twin Lakes Marine, then I opened a Hallmark and gift shop and when I sold it, got a job at Wis. Souther Gas Co. in Lake Geneva (which is now a part of WE Energies).

After a divorce, I married David Martin and moved to Burlington and inherited 6 stepchildren. It has been a very worthwhile challenge "combining" our two families.

We have been blessed with 15 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren !. Probably our biggest heartaches in the past 34 years was the loss of Dave's son, Jeff, to brain cancer 21 years ago and 10 years ago the death of my one year old grandaughter, Ella Corrine, to leukemia.

I, as probably many of you have , became the care giver for my mother for almost ten years. Guess there comes a time when we "give back" the patience and love we received as children. She is gone now as are all of Dave's and my parents and it's "scary" knowing that we are the "older generation".

Family, friends,travel and our faith keep us busy. We sold the second home we had on a lake between Hayward & Ashland because of our desire to travel.

When my sister, Dorothy, was in the foreign service, I was fortunate to travel to Russia with my daughter and cousin for a two week visit. It was quite an interesting experience... one I'll never forget. My husband Dave & I traveled to London when she was at the Embassy there & then went to Ireland. We've traveled to most of the states except the west coast. My favorite cruises were a Viking Cruise down the Danube River and this year a cruise to the Panama Canal .

As I wind down, I must say that by not staying in Kenosha, I missed out on staying in contact with old friends and look forward to seeing everyone at the 75th Birthday Bash and possibly making some new friends.