I am the world’s worst when it comes to staying in touch
with people! Sadly, I had lost touch
with everyone from my childhood and High School years. Now, through the magic of Facebook, I have
reunited with my high school BFFs, as well as other classmates, some of whom I
am getting to know for the first time. I
had a blast at the Look Who’s Turning 60 Birthday party! It is so hard to believe that we have all
turned 60! Somehow, it seems like just
yesterday that we graduated high school, and at the same time, it was a million
milestones ago……
My father owned Ed’s Deli on Merrick Road in Massapequa,
catty-corner to All American. When I was
born, my family lived in an apartment above the Deli, but when my younger
brother came along, we moved to a house in Harbour Green. I don’t remember a lot about this house, but
I have some memories of cutting through the vacant lot (that would one day be
the site of the new library) to get to Bar Harbour to shop at Grant’s or
Kresge. We loved to go to look at the turtles
and fish, or to buy penny candy. When we
were flush with change, we splurged on an egg cream at the luncheonette.
Life as we knew it then changed suddenly in the summer of
1959 when my 51 year old maternal grandfather was robbed and murdered in his
Islip delicatessen. My family bought a
mother/daughter house in Nassau Shores, so that my grandmother could come to
live with us. Even though tragedy
brought us to Nassau Road, it was a wonderful neighborhood to grow up in. There were lots of kids to play with and we
rode our bikes everywhere, sold lost golf balls back to the golfers and set up
Kool-Aid stands near the course. We
played outdoor games like hide-and- seek, cops-and-robbers, red light- green
light and kickball. I would not trade those
memories of my childhood for anything.
I loved the social part of High School, but was not crazy
about the education part. My favorite
teacher was Mr. Rizzuto who took the time to see me through three attempts to
pass Geometry. I will never forget his
patience and dedication. Another teacher
whose words had an impact on me was Mr. Eliot Palter. I had him for Driver’s Ed and to this day, I
still hear him when I get behind the wheel.
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| Me in High School |
I had a lot of great times with my High School friends,
camping, horseback riding, playing Spades on Friday nights, Prom, Senior Day at
Tobay, shopping at Mays, walking everywhere before we got our licenses,
parties, concerts, taking the LIRR to NYC, and just having fun. In my junior year of High School, I skipped
school for almost 3 months straight. My
parents were livid, but I was able to pass all my Regents Exams and was
promoted to 12th grade.
Looking back, I wish I had taken my studies more seriously.
After High School, I attended SUNY at Cobleskill, enrolling
in classes to become a Legal Secretary.
I really wanted to be a lawyer, but my Mom talked me into becoming a
Legal Secretary instead. My birthday is
not until November, so I was only 17 when I went off to college. Being immature and “free” for the first time, I partied for 4 months, came home for Christmas and
never went back. My Dad gave me 2 weeks
to find a job, and I did. I got a job as
a Clerk Typist for the Hartford Insurance Group in Garden City and made $77.00
a week. I was in the money! I stayed there for a couple of years until I
attended the wedding of a friend in Virginia.
It was there that I met my first husband.
We dated long distance for about a year and then got engaged
and married just before I turned 19. He
was 26. I was in love with being
married, having our own house and starting a family. Our daughter, Jennifer was born in January of
1976.
My parents convinced us to buy a Drive-in Restaurant in my
Dad’s hometown in Tennessee. We sold our
little house, packed up everything and made the move. Unfortunately, the restaurant was barely able
to support us, and it put pressure on our struggling marriage.
Our identical twin sons, Jeremy and Jason were born in April
of 1980. I hadn’t even realized I was
pregnant for quite some time and the news that it was with twins was shocking
and scary! They were born nearly a month
early, and had to remain in the hospital for an additional week. Running a business, caring for a toddler and
two premature infant boys was more stress than our marriage could handle and my
husband left our little family. When the
boys were 9 months old, my husband decided he missed us, and I foolishly let
him come back. We sold the business and
went back to Virginia.
Four years later, I found out I was pregnant again with
another set of twins! I worked until I
was six months pregnant and was put on bed rest. I went on Disability and found a job typing
at night. I typed all night and took
care of the kids during the day. Justin
and Jared were born prematurely in August of 1984. They were not as healthy as
their brothers had been and had to remain in the hospital for about a
month. They were sent home with monitors
and we were trained in infant CPR.
To put it mildly, life was tough, but my babies survived,
although the marriage did not. I managed
to secure a position with the Federal Government, but it just wasn’t
enough. I found a second job in a
department store at night and on the weekends.
I climbed the ladder in my Government job, from Clerk Typist to GS-11 in
Information Technology. After several
years, I went into private industry because it was more lucrative. I built a good life for my kids. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we had a
lot of love.
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| My kids in 1987: Twins Jeremy and Jason are standing behind Jennifer. She is holding Justin and Jared. |
I met my current husband, Ed at a local bar that had live
music and dancing. We dated for four
years before we tied the knot at sunset on the beach in Nags Head, NC in a
simple but romantic ceremony in August of 1994.
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| This picture of Ed and me was taken in 2014 |
Ed did not have any children and I still cannot believe that
he didn’t run when he heard I had five kids!
I continued to work, and Ed was a full time soldier in the National
Guard. He was sent to Bosnia on a
peace-keeping mission on September 10, 2001.
The events of September 11th the following day changed his
mission to a wartime mission and he was responsible for about 200 18-19 year
old kids. The mission affected him
deeply, something he didn’t talk about for a decade. He would later be diagnosed with PTSD. In July of 2007 he retired from the military
and began working as a Contractor.
I continued to work as a Computer Programmer/Analyst until
2005. At that time, I took a few years
off and then became a school bus driver.
I did this for 7 years until we decided to move to Florida in an effort
to relax and live a simpler life. Ed still
works for the company he worked for in Virginia in a Telecommuting
program. He continues treatment for PTSD
and we continue to strive to attain the life we long for!
My passion is my Faith, which is central to my life. My five children have blessed me with 9
beautiful granddaughters: Katrina, 14;
Brooke, 13; Hailey and Hannah, 12 (identical twins!); Maddie, 11; Sarah, 10;
Alyssa, 8; Addison, 5; and Tamberlynn is 6 months. I recently started to crochet an afghan for
one of my granddaughters, and I hope to make one for each of them.
I am passionate about
Dog Rescue! I rescued Beau, a 10 year old Jack
Russell mix, and Auggie, a 5 year old Cairn Terrier from a woman who ran a private
non-profit Rescue group in Virginia. I
ended up working with her and I have done everything from bathing, socializing,
transporting, and running Adoption Events to creating flyers, marketing tools.
and designing and maintaining their website.
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| L to R: Beau and Auggie, my furry babies |
My life has been a series of ups and downs, hills and
valleys, good and bad, but all of the things I experienced have made me the
strong and happy person that I am today.
All in all, I have been extremely blessed.
-written by Carolyn Hammer through emails with Laura
