(Gordon),+Grace+Harris

2117 W Bogey Dr. Mission, TX 78572-8514 (956) 584-8367 sleetmute2@gmail.com (after Aug. 15, 2009)
 * Grace (Gordon) Harris**

**1969: **Five months after graduation I met my future husband, Richard, from Kokomo, Indiana, and we became engaged in 1960.  Charlotte Youngquest and I went to San Diego in September 1960 and were gone over a month until our money ran out so we went to Seattle where we got jobs and an apartment together.  Dick and I were married in 1961.  He was working at Todd Shipyards and I was at Standard Oil.  Our first child Kevin was born in 1962 and shortly after we moved to Great Falls, Mont. Where Dick had taken a Civil Service job with the FAA.  In 1963 our second child, Tracy was born.  In May 1965 we moved into our “dream” house of our own design.  In 1966 our third child was born, Timmy.  <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Uncle Sam decided in 1966 that FAA didn’t need as many electronics technicians as it had so we moved to Madison, Wisc. Where Dick went to work for the Air Force as an electronic Training Specialist. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We really enjoyed Madison but the base was due to close down so we started looking for another home. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ended up in Anchorage in Sept. 1967, in our second brand new home. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We bought the kids a Samoyed puppy and found an old dog sled so the wintertime found us running around on that crazy sled. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dick travels around to the remote radar sites and we enjoy bowling and bridge. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We plan to be here 3 more years.


 * 1979:** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have done a little moving since our last reunion. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Alaska we came to Rosemount, Minnesota for a year, then on to Oklahoma City for 8 ½ months. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My husband, Dick, was going to computer school there. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then on to Farmington, Minnesota, where we bought a home. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will have lived in Farmington for six years in June of 1979. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our oldest son, Kevin, is now 17 and hopes to graduate this year. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His big interest is cars and racing, so he has to work to support his interests. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our daughter, Tracey, is 15 and a sophomore this year. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is our busy one—cross country running, gymnastics, and track. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She has received two Most Valuable awards in cross country, one in gymnastics and holds the school record in the high jump and the 400 meter run. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She is also a member of the high school band color guard and the concert band. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The high school Marching Tiger Band performed at the Indy 500 this June—one of only 12 high schools nationwide. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was quite an honor! <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our youngest, Tim, is 13 now and in the 7th grade. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the winter, his big interest is bowling, while in the warmer weather he loves to golf. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He is in the middle school band and is the drummer for the Stage Band—the Super Group. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His real love is drumming and he says he is going to be the best in the world. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has started his own little group and they practice here so he doesn’t have to transport his drums. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consequently, it’s never quiet around here. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We snomobile in the winter and everyone dkis. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dick and I golf and love bridge, which we play every Friday. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farmington is smaller than Mount Vernon and we enjoy it here where we have a happy life with our kids.

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-tab-count: 1; msotabcount: 1;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My husband, Dick, has already retired from the Federal Aviation Administration in December 1996. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, I’m not old enough yet, so he went back to work for the FAA as a contractor, twice. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-tab-count: 1; msotabcount: 1;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We still have our three grown children close by, but two of our three grandchildren moved to southern Minnesota with their mother. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We get to see them on holidays, but we really miss them. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our youngest finally got married in 1998 at age 32, to a great gal—a nurse with degrees in Psychiatry and Criminology, as well as Nursing. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No plans for any kids on their part, yet. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Darn!
 * 1999:** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-tab-count: 1; msotabcount: 1;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last five years have certainly flown by, taking both of us closer to the day of retirement and endless journeys in our motor home.

In 2004 we joined a motorhome caravan to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island--the Canadian Maritime provinces. Had a grand tour and if you are ever in Halifax, Nova Scotia the first full week of July, you have to take in the Halifax International Tattoo. It's three hours of solid, non-stop great entertainment. In 2005, we sold our house in Minnesota and became full-time RV-ers. For two and a half years, we flitted around this great country, seeing sights and meeting some great people. In July and August 2006, we joined the motorhome carav an again for a tour of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island), Newfoundland and Labrador. Newfoundland is definitely a place you have to experience in Person--we never met a stranger there. In September 2007, as diesel fuel approached in $4 per gallon mark, we decided that full-timing was getting too expensive, so we settled into a small house in Mission, Texas and remain there to this day, although we do spend four months in Minnesota in the summer, living in the RV and seeing what we can of the family. We have three children who are rapidly approaching our age, five grandchildren, ages five to twenty-six, and two great-grandchildren. It's a bit hard not to be in Minnesota for Chgristmastime with the little ones, but Christmas 2008 found us still in the Rio Grande Valley in the small vorder village of Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, where we, and the group we joined, passed out toys and food to 2,700 kids ranging from infants to 12-year-olds. The group is Los Amigos de la Ninos de Mexico--The Friends of the Children ofs Mexico! Quite a rewarding experience. In April 2009, we started our 49th year together, as we celebrated our 48th Anniversary. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Big Five-Oh Reunion!
 * 2009:** Wow! Where did those 50 years go? Where to begin? We spent our first winder away from the snow and cold of Minnesota in 2000/2001. We were gone seven weeks and stayed in Pharr, Texas (Rio Grande Valley). After that, we got hooked on warm weather during the winter months. Have never spent more than 10 days at a time in Minnesota cold since.