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Wednesday, December 4, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Of a certain
AGE
Sue Stafford
Columnist
The Unexpected Life
Growing up in the south-
west hills of Portland, in
an area that used to be the
country, I was a child of
nature. Animals, flower
and vegetable gardens, and
the <Hundred Acre Wood=
behind our house provided
hours of outdoor adventure
to engage my vivid imagina-
tion. We were never without
cats and dogs, and I even
raised a baby raccoon to his
full adult size.
Once I mastered riding a
bike, I rode for miles on two-
lane roads with little traffic. I
also spent many happy days
with my cousin in Hillsboro,
riding her horses for long
distances in the very rural
Tualatin Valley.
Portland was pretty pro-
vincial in those days 3 a great
place to grow up. My intact
nuclear family was part of a
much larger extended fam-
ily, 90 percent of whom also
lived in Portland. The role
modeling provided for me
was to work hard in school,
plan on going to college, and,
because I was a girl, become
a teacher or a nurse 3 until I
got married and had a family.
Of course, there would be
grandchildren, and my hus-
band and I would grow old
together.
The mold started to show
cracks when I was about 10
or 11, when I announced I
wanted to marry a rancher
and have five sons. At about
the same time, my career
dreams centered around vet-
erinary medicine. I didn9t
receive much encouragement
for either path.
My individuality showed
up in my choices of schools.
My two older brothers had
attended Lincoln High
School in the Portland
School District. I had
another option with the open-
ing of the new Sunset High
School in the Beaverton dis-
trict, so I chose Sunset over
Lincoln 3 rural and suburban
over city kids. My first two
quarters of college were at
Portland State University and
I lived at home, to be closer
to a boyfriend who wasn9t a
boyfriend by the beginning
of fall quarter. I transferred
that spring quarter to Oregon
State University, not to the U
of O where my brothers had
studied.
I pledged a sorority at
PSU but, when they found
out I planned to transfer, they
wouldn9t initiate me. I had
always thought I would be
part of the Greek experience
and make life-long friends
like my brothers had.
College is when my
<expected life= really began
to include the <unexpected.=
With no sorority life, I lived
in three different dorms and
an apartment with different
people every year. My social
life was on the fringes of the
action 4 a very different
experience from being a big
fish in a small pond in high
school.
I went into college think-
ing I would be a high school
English and journalism
teacher. After three or four
changes of major, I gradu-
ated with a degree in clothing
and textiles with a business
Made in Sisters, Oregon
Tasty THURSDAY
December 5, 5 to 7 p.m.
LIVE MUSIC
Sat., Dec. 7, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Mike Biggers & Jim Cornelius
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PHOTO BY ALEX JORDAN
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Ave. | 541-549-2675
corkcellarswinebistro.com
541-549-9280 | 207 W. Sisters Park Dr. | PonderosaForge.com
732 SW 23rd St., Redmond, OR 97756
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to include your loved one’s name in the reading & program.
See CERTAIN AGE on page 30
Serving the Sisters Area Since 1976
CCB # 159020
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John P. Pierce • 541-549-9764 jpierce@bendbroadband.com
WINTER
TRAVEL!
Tires,
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DAVIS TIRE
Located in Sisters Industrial Park across from Sno-Cap Mini Storage
188 W. Sisters Park Dr. | 541-549-1026 — Serving Sisters Since 1962 —
Raise a Paw for Furry Friends!
rr Friends Foundation,
Fu rry
needs your support to
feed 400+ Sisters area
pets this holiday!
e
Make your tax deductibl
donation payable to
Furry Friends Foundation,
PO Box 1175,
Sisters, OR 97759
Donate online at www.
g
furryfriendsfoundation.or
Pet Photos
with Santa!
Join us for a ceremonial candle lighting
and reading of names, honoring our
loved ones who have passed.
Th ursday, Dec. 12 | 5:30-6:30 PM
Hospice of Redmond Community Room
the storms. Raising children
is what rounded off my cor-
ners and vanquished my per-
fectionist tendencies.
I never expected to live
in Seattle for 33 years, after
moving there with my first
husband. I did hope to live in
Central Oregon at some point
in my life, and 15 years ago I
chose to make that a reality.
It was with that move back
to Oregon that I truly found
home and peace.
Now, at age 75, I am
entering that period of age-
related challenges. A recent
fall resulted in a broken nose
(the first break of my life),
which could have been so
much worse. My doctor and
I are working on reducing
my blood pressure. The pain
in my lower back is being
helped by pain relief patches.
CUSTOM HOMES • RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PROJECTS
Prepare for
We skillfully fabricate your ideas (and ours)
in steel, aluminum, copper
& other metals.
We do repair work, too.
“Your Local Welding Shop”
minor, prepared to be a buyer
for a retail store. Instead, I
joined the National Teacher
Corps, one of LBJ9s Great
Society programs. I spent a
year at Highland Elementary
School in Portland9s Albina
district. Then I moved on to
training as a stewardess for
Western Airlines.
The progression of my
life from there has included
many unexpecteds. My first
husband died of a heart
attack at age 39, after we
were divorced. For 10 years,
I was a full-time stepmother
to four children, something
never on my radar. That mar-
riage ended in divorce. My
greatest joys, the births of
my two sons, have been fol-
lowed by some very difficult
periods in both their lives. It
is those times that have pro-
vided the real-life education
and skills needed to weather
t the
a
Saturday, Dec. 7
from 11 to 2
Sisters Art Works Open House
204 W. Adams Ave.
(Open House from 9 to 3)
204 W. Adams, Ste. 109
541-797-4023 " Sisters Art Works
(next to the Habitat Restore Parking Lot)
FURRY FRIEND S
FOUNDATION
501(c)3 offering FREE
spay/neuter/vaccinations
services and pet food bank
to Sisters area families.
This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper