Marilyn Olson McPhee: Anxious to see all of us

Marilyn Olson McPhee and her husband, Gerard, at Banff last summer.

Hi Stan,
It’s Marilyn Olson McPhee signing on and I’m being fashionably late. McPhee (Jim) always said if he died before me I’d be late to his funeral. Come on, give a girl a break, I’m a busy woman.
Purgatory?
Reflecting back on my life, going way back. Favorite teacher: that would have to be Mr. Owen Hagen. I had a bad year with social issues (sixth grade). He made my year happy in class at least. I admired him. Isn’t that the same year the St. Mary’s Catholic boys and girls came over? I was told at one point that I was going to purgatory because I was a Lutheran girl. I will mention no names. That was heavy stuff to me at that time.
Gorgeous grandbabies
Actually, life has been good. I married young and we had a twenty-three / twenty-four year run. We raised two wonderful children. Julie and Jeffrey are super adults. Both went through college, worked hard, traveled a lot and now have fabulous jobs. Both are married to super people. The best part is the four gorgeous grandbabies. Julie and Richard have twins, Madeline and Sophia, now two years and five months old. Jeff and his wife, Jen (from Stoughton, Wis.) have given us Laci (nineteen months) and our new handsome grandson Luke, born on 05/05/05. They live in Minneapolis. Julie and Richard live in Dallas, Texas. O.K. enough information…..onward.
The new man in my life
Gerard Hoffarth is the new man in my life. We met in the fall of 1989 and have been together ever since. We married in September of 1996. I stayed with my name and there was never an issue about that. Oh, and yes, he’s younger than me. Gerard has three children from his first marriage, Cory, Brianne and another Jeffrey. They were very young when we met, but of course all grown now.
Gotta love the perks
I’m still a working girl, unlike a lot of you. I’ve been with District #742 in St. Cloud for twenty-seven years now and my latest gig has been with special needs adults, ages 19-21. This is a transitional program in St. Cloud. They think they’re in college, it’s great. This keeps me very busy. They all think I’m 25, so it’s o.k. You love them, unless they’re mean…..”uff-da.” I’ve also been associated with Daytons/Marshall Fields for 11 years. I’ll probably retire from there when I’m 80. Have to love the discount and the perks.
Bud's boy
Gerard and I love to travel and we really work on that. We dance, work-out, walk and play a lot of golf. We belong to Oak Hill Golf Club in St. Cloud and play couples league in Rich Springs. Gerard has great vocals so we’ve been involved in that. I can’t sing, but he’s nice to me because I know all the words. Gerard is on a pool league and this winter he was in a tournament. I was with him at the Civic Center and all of a sudden I realized he was playing against Bud Christensen’s son (former band leader). We had a very nice talk. He must have liked us, because he invited us to his place in Alex. I play pool also. I even have my own stick but I need a lot of training.
Live, love, laugh and be happy
Well, I need to end this. Stan, when you mention life’s lessons, I think we all learn this: Life goes way too fast and we’ve all had our mortality set in. So -- live, love, laugh and be happy.
Anxious to see all of you this weekend. A big thank you to all who have worked so hard to organize the reunion.
Marilyn