My Past 20

Hi, Everyone!! I feel like writing about the past 20 years is somehow similar to one of Mr. Freeman’s odd writing assignments. Here I go...

After CHS, I received an associate’s degree in early childhood education & from there I went on for my bachelor’s in elementary ed. from Cedar Crest. After graduating I was hired by the Allentown School District & have been teaching ever since. I’ve taught 2nd grade at Central Elementary for 9 years while getting more of an education about life in the city. Catty may as well be out of state for how different it is in Allentown! When the school went year round, that was my ticket to transfer to a ‘better’ part of the city and teach at Jackson School on 15th St. One of the other teachers is none other than Ms. Kornfeind (who was a teacher at Lincoln)! We became good friends & she is now the principal of the school. I’ve taught 2nd, 3rd, & 4th here w/ my favorite grade being 2nd.

In 1993 I met my future husband, Paul. We were married a year later & we’ve been happily married for 13 years! He’s a financial controller for a couple sites in the northeast. Paul loves his Corvette & drives far too fast on the 'performance driving' track! We bought a house up in Laury’s Station the same year I became pregnant…new house, new baby. We had a girl that we named Shuli which means ‘a gift from God’. We thoroughly enjoyed raising her for many years & figured there was no rush to have a 2nd.

All these years were filled with normal life stuff & were very happy. In late 2005 things changed when my Dad had what’s called a stroke to the eye which has left him with partial vision. A few weeks later, my Mom became extremely ill. She was good at hiding her worries from us for months just claiming a cold which she later decided was bronchitis. It was neither, it was lung cancer. She was in & out of the hospital for a few weeks w/o telling us the truth because she was protecting us, although in our hearts we knew. My Mom was a fighter up till the last day of her life when the doctor told her the cancer was so bad that all they could do was keep her comfortable. I swear the change in her was almost instant & we were devastated to hear that she only had a few weeks. I stayed overnight in the hospital with her that night along w/ my Dad & sister. (I'll never be able to express how bad lung cancer is.) Paul told me to stay & I’ll always be thankful that I was there when she died in the early morning of December 7th. While my Dad grieved her loss he had head trauma from a fall & ended up in ICU for a few days. During this time we found out I was pregnant- convincing us that things were turning around & some happiness was returning. A few weeks later I had a miscarriage which all but broke me. With God, family, & friends we got through it.

Now, I’m in the 22nd week of pregnancy & we’re expecting a baby in June!!! Shuli is thrilled to become a big sister & is the keeper of a huge secret…she knows what the baby is going to be! Paul & I don’t want to know till delivery. Our cat, Chloe, has adjusted well to the loss of laying on Mommy's belly b/c of the pregnancy. She's a 15 lb. ball of love & has found a small area of my lap that's still usable! I’m not teaching this year b/c this pregnancy is high-risk & we want the baby to be healthy over anything. I'm thankful I have the luxury to have this time off. We had a little scare a few days ago & there are some things we have to keep an eye on but we have faith. I know there’s a huge 9 year gap since having a newborn to care for but I can’t wait!!! Let the games begin…

That’s it for now. I’ll see you all at the next reunion!
Take care,
Terri E.