A day (or more) in the life of Diane Storm Allen.
I will start from the most recent to - wherever I stop. I'm in a godforsaken town in Arizona (Sierra Vista). I moved here because one of my daughters was moving here (Cindy) and she and sister, Carrie, thought it would be best if I was close to family. I loved NC and had an excellent job teaching 3rd grade...only 15 students...but after about three weeks I had a meltdown and took a medical retirement. Before that (after 19 months in the hospital) I taught several grade levels in Fayetteville, NC. My son, Kevin, joined the Navy for a while, but he had similar problems, moved in with me for a while and then his sister bought him a 1 way ticket to Seattle. He finally found a place to settle in Portland, OR.
In 1968, I graduated from Vermont College (it used to be an all girls school, but is now connected to Norwich University). Terry Steenberg and Lynne Gibson also attended during that time. I was really into theatre but didn't have the guts to move to NYC alone.
I took a year off and then returned to school with a psychology major. Another 9 years off (I had gotten married in 1970 to a LT in the Army...Me and the army - somehow we made it work.) and I finished my teaching degree and some graduate work. So we did the moving thing and I loved every minute of it: from San Antonio to D.C to El Paso, TX to NH while my then husband spent a year in Korea...Next was 3 years in Denver, a short jaunt back to San Antonio and then to Massachusetts.. Nope, not done yet. Georiga was next where the family stayed (we had three girls by now - Kim was the oldest) while Bill did another tour to Korea. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to visit...severe cultural shock!!! Another tour down and we found ourselves in WA. At first, I thought I was going to die from the rain. But the summers made it worth the rain. Almost done - Bill's dad got sick so we moved back to MA. Had child #4 in WA. in 1985 (my baby, Kevin). He then got orders to Germany (unaccompanied) so we stayed in NH where I taught 2nd grade. We ended up taking three trips to Germany to enjoy the 'old world charm' that is very real. Our last stop before Bill retired was to Hawaii - our longest tour - I loved every day, the aloha spirit, the flowers/fragrances. Not a day went by that I did not stop and smell the flowers, breathe in the plumeria laden fresh air. No industrials=fresh air. Sometimes you could even catch a whiff of pineapple from the Dole factory! So, blah, blah, blah...I could write a book! For now I volunteer at NAMI, (National Alliance on Mental Illness), read voraciously, swim when I can (we have a year round heated pool so don't let anyone tell you AZ is all sunshine - we have an ugly winter, spring monsoons, summer heat (100+ degrees day after day). I'm also into photography, which I must confess, I am not very good at! Bill is still in NH with a new wife and family and I get to do what I want, when I want, without needing permission. I just keep on keepin' on, just like everyone else...
