Susan Hulsey
| Has it really been 30 years already???!!! Sometimes it's hard to believe, but since I have 3 grown children and SEVEN grandchildren, I guess it's true! Looking back, I've packed a lot of experiences (both good and bad) into those years. After graduation, I joined the Army, got married and lived in Germany for 3 wonderful years. Germany is a fabulous country; lots to explore and do, not to mention the rest of Europe for the cost of a train ticket! My daughter Amy (now 28 - yikes!), was born there and learned to speak German before English thanks to her German godparents! Try explaining that one to the family!! LOL After returning to the States and completing our military terms, we settled in Tulsa for a few years and had our two boys, Jonathan who is now 25 and Jared 23. We followed my husband's job to Atlanta in 1986, where we finally settled for good. I'm almost considered a native here now!! The marriage lasted 17 years, but we parted ways in 1992. I remarried in 1994 and in 2005 found myself single again. I've come to the conclusion that marriage is just not for me and being single is actually pretty nice in a lot of ways. I'm currently dating Karl, a nice gentleman who works for the FDA (don't ask him ANYTHING about our food chain - you really don't want to know!!). We enjoy spending time with all the grandkids who are tons of fun, and I have to agree with those of you who have commented that it's really cool that we can give them back to their parents after spoiling them rotten! Hey, we had to be all responsible as parents and now we don't have to, right?? One of our passions is motorcycle riding, so Timmy & Amber, maybe we'll see you around on one of our cross-country rides. My old bike finally died, so right now I'm doing the passenger thing with Karl which is nice too. We try to spend as many weekends riding in the North GA mountains as possible, either alone or with our Star riding group. Sometimes we head to St. Augustine, FL - one of our alltime favorite spots to visit and hang at the beach. I own a condo just south of there, so any excuse to head that way works for me! Who knew being grown up could be so much fun??? Of course, I still have to pay that dreaded mortgage every month, so it's not all fun and games. I am a department manager for a wholesale mortgage broker. It's challenging, fast-paced, stressful, and rewarding. One of the best rewards is our all expenses paid annual company trip. We have gone to such tropical climes as St. Thomas, Mexico, and next January to a private island in the Bahamas. Not all of corporate America is evil after all! Unforfunately, I won't be able to attend the big bash but I'll be there in spirit! To my fellow band members and some of those who may remember me as the "shy" one - I'm not so shy anymore! Ain't life grand??!!!! Hugs to everyone and drop me a line sometime. Susan |