Jean
I was born in Seattle and have lived in Washington state my entire life. I met my late husband, Gary, in Ellensburg while attending college there and we were married a year later. We moved to Olympia and I enrolled at Evergreen and graduated in 1978.
Attending Evergreen had an enormous impact on the way I looked at life. I was in the program, “Peace, Conflict and Social Change” with Willie Unsoeld and Peter Elbow. It changed my perception of who I was and what I wanted to do with my life. I began thinking of myself as a citizen of the world. When I read Francis Moore Lappe’s book, “Food First…Beyond the myth of Scarcity” I decided to go to India so I could experience, first hand, what it was like to be in a third world country. But the Universe had a different plan for me because I discovered I was pregnant with our son, Paul, three months before I was going to leave. Although I was upset at the time, when Paul was born seven months later I was so head-over-heels in love with him that everything else paled by comparison.
While attending Evergreen, I also taught Re-evaluation counseling classes (also known as co-counseling) in Olympia. Helping people get in touch with deeply buried feelings and teaching them how to release those feelings was a very enriching experience for me. I have been meeting with four other past co-counseling teachers every Monday evening for the past 24 years. We take turns talking about whatever we need to, while the rest of the group just listens.
In the fall of 1999, Gary was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforma – a fatal brain tumor. The doctors told him he had about 18 months. Then, two months later they said he had only three months, so Paul came home from W.S.U. to be with his father. But, Gary surprised us all by staying with us until October 6th of 2001.
I am an artist and expressing my creativity is a very essential part of who I am. However, when I became ill with severe chemical sensitivity in the spring of 1997, I was no longer able to use any kinds of paints, glues, inks or the photo lab at Evergreen, so it has been necessary for me to find alternative ways for creative expression. I have always loved gardening and it continues to feed my soul. But, Fiber Art is what I really want to do. I have at least a dozen bins full of wool felt in beautiful colors just waiting for me to manipulate them into textures and shapes. I love going to exhibits in galleries and museums and I am often moved to tears by other people’s work.
My son Paul, age 30, lives in Burlington, Vt. with his partner, Sara, who is starting her second year of medical school at the University of Vermont. Paul graduated from Evergreen in 2009 and is pursuing a career in professional photography.
They have a black Lab retriever named Basil. They plan on moving back to the Pacific Northwest when Sara graduates.
My daughter Laura, age 25, works for D.S.H.S in Information System Services. We get along great since we have the same “off the wall” sense of humor. She loves animals, dreams of travel to exotic places and likes to surprise people with unexpected gifts.
My daughter, Christine, age 25, is married to Devon Young and the have a three year old son named Shawn Michael. Shawn loves Brio trains, matchbox cars and eating blueberry muffins at “Gramma JeJe’s” house.
