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Here,
we can read detailed news from our old friends and classmates!
From
Lou Cherniss:
I'm doing pretty
good, trying to keep a positive attitude toward the big "C"....but it
is a tiny bit disheartening. I am going in Aug. 14 to have the prostate
removed and hopefully that will be the end of it.
Hopefully while I'm recuperating I can correspond with some of our old
classmates. It's exciting to have their addresses....especially emails, so
we can keep in touch. Email is so great because we can take just a few
minutes like this to keep in touch. I doubt I would keep in touch with
half the people I do without it.
You are a good example...we've been within an hour of each other for forty years
but as our lives go in different directions we lose touch. It will be fun
to renew old friendships and find out what others are up to.
After reading the other notes I felt like I kind of shortchanged you. It
was really neat to read the others. Let me fill you in on some more
details on me if you want to add to mine.
After high school I joined the Navy and was in the Submarine Service for four
years. Spent most of my time on the east coast visiting Florida, Cuba and
the Atlantic Ocean. After that I came back to Stockton, worked for Pacific
Bell for about three years and then decided I should go to college on my GI
bill. Went to Humphreys and graduated with a BS in 72. Worked for
several companies in Stockton and Lodi before finally getting my CPA license in
1980. Then spent four years working for a small CPA firm that specialized
in auditing and accounting for independent telephone companies in California and
Nevada. In 1984 I opened my own practice which I maintained until 1990
when I took the position of Controller here at Calaveras Telephone Co. in
Copperopolis. It was a good opportunity to secure some retirement benefits
and move to the foothills, which I had always wanted to do. The
independent telephone industry is thriving and we have managed to sustain a
growth rate of about 8% per annum, so I have lots to do and continue to help the
company grow and expand into internet and long distance businesses among others.
I really function more like a CFO but the company is family owned and the
daughter gets that title. We have been in business since 1895! operating
under the same family ownership all of that time. Our current GM/VP is a
third generation owner.
On the personal side I managed to get married and divorced three times before
1988 when I met Natalie, who is quite the prize. She is from Thailand and
moved here Thanksgiving day 1988. We will have been married 14 years
October 8. We have no children, but I have two boys from my first
marriage. The youngest lives in Sacramento with his mother....he was
recently diagnosed with clinical depression....so Joyce isn't alone in dealing
with children that have problems. My oldest is 36 this year. I haven't
seen him for over fifteen years. Tried my best but you just can't wave a
magic wand .
Natalie and I have a great life up here. We moved here in 1990 shortly
after I took the job with the Phone Company. We waited for several years
for them to build our golf course up here and bought a lot as soon as they went
up for sale. If we had waited we wouldn't have been able to afford to live
there now! We finished our house last year about this time. I think
I sent you a picture of it didn't I?
Of course we belong to the golf club and spend most of our time around here. We
are pretty much home-bodies, as I get to travel quite a bit with the Phone
Company and she accompanies me wherever I go. In the past couple of years
we've been up and down the state on numerous occasions, off to Hawaii twice, and
over to Las Vegas a couple of times also. Not much need to take vacations
because we prefer the three to four day business trips and would rather spend
the rest of our time here.
We are going back to Thailand in January however.....Natalie hasn't been back
since the fall of '97....We bought a Mariott timeshare a couple of years
ago and are trading our place in Newport Beach for the Phukett Beach Club in
Thailand for a couple of weeks. Should be hot but fun.
Natalie is a wonder. She has a home sewing business that thrives because
she is probably the world's best seamstress. She does all kinds of sewing
from making wedding dresses to alterations and is developing quite a following.
One of her customers is from San Francisco and brings stuff up here several
times a year. She is also the world's best cook among her other talents
and is a pretty darned good golfer when she takes the time to play. I'm a
pretty lucky guy to have finally found someone as great as she is. For a
while I didn't think I would ever get it right.
Well, my fingers are cramping up!! Just kidding.
LC
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