BJMGaines@aol.com

retired

My life since graduation in a nut shell.

I went straight to work after graduation which means I didn't get my MBA from the U of M until age 39. A little slow!

During the early years I married my first husband and became the "wicked" step mother of one daughter, who now calls me Mom. In the mid 70's my X and I took off work for a year, boarded a "rust bucket" ship and started a trip around the world. However, by the time we reached Singapore my X had to get off the ship. We left the ship and traveled back to the US by air. It was a fabulous trip, which I would do again in a heart beat, but after returning home our status soon changed to divorced.

In 1990, in the Houston Airport, I met the love of my life, Jimmy Gaines. We married the same year and I moved to Portland, Texas. We have two great kids and three fantastic grand daughters. Jimmy and I both retired in the mid 90's. We have kept busy enough, since that time, that we do not know how we ever had time to work. We have traveled the US from Alaska to Florida by motor home and cruised the Bahamas and Florida waters by trawler. Since the last reunion we have relocated back to the family farm where Jimmy was raised on a dirt road at least 5 miles from the nearest supplies at Grapeland, TX (pop. 1,500) and 20 miles from the nearest grocery shopping. Quite a change from growing up in Miami! We split our time mostly between the farm and our place in Colorado. We enjoy spending time with Family and Friends in both places.

With most of my family still living in Florida and my youngest grand daughter living in Daytona Beach we also include a few trips to Florida each year. We enjoy hiking, skiing, gardening, reading and a great bottle of wine with friends on the deck in the afternoon. I feel like the high school wallflower that has finally bloomed. I just hope my bloom does not drop off the vine too soon.