2005

Divorced from Evan (Jerry) Wright for 19 years. My dog, Shadow (a lovely Dalmatian) is my constant companion. He’s a better friend than my husband was!

Little red is my red-headed, petite daughter Amy, and her sports number was always 45, thus my email name. I tease that when I was 15 and babysat a lot, I had a “conversation” with the almighty and told him (or is it her?) that someday I wanted a red-headed girl. I lost 6 pregnancies before Amy and I have been paid back by her “temperament” every since. Actually she is getting better in her “old age and has turned out to be very nice and thoughtful. This is her first year teaching and she has learned to appreciate me as never before.

I used to teach the severely emotionally disturbed and violent (yes, physically so) students but after my mother was murdered in a home invasion robbery, my doctor insisted I teach regular education. I miss the special students, but am really enjoying all my second grade students. I am thinking about retiring next year, but who knows? Teaching has become much more difficult with many pressures under the No Child Left Behind Act. It’s still one of the best professions around.

Susan Johnson Wright
Received June 15, 2010

WISCONSIN HIGH 50th REUNION

I am retired after 30 years of teaching both the severely emotionally disturbed and regular elementary education. I hold California credentials in both  subjects and retired as a mentor teacher. I am passionate about reading for children and teaching problem solving social skills for young students. Substitute teaching is something I do part time for fun.

Another of my interests is in establishing Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants that already live and work in the USA. I believe a qualifying process should be set up.  Many of my students were born in the US but could have their parents deported and be in limbo.  When I get to know their families’ experiences I know how difficult life has been for them. Legal immigration needs to be made easier and sponsoring sources opened up.

I am the proud grandmother of 2 girls, 4 and 1. My redheaded daughter is a teacher also and her husband is from Afghanistan. His father was the Dean of Economics at the University in Kabal, until the Soviet Union invaded, and threw him in POW camp and tortured him.  My 4 year old granddaughter is trilingual in English, Spanish and Farsi.  Mixing of cultures has opened up my world a lot.

I am divorced after 20 years of marriage and own a home in Silicon Valley. The economy here is still in a terrific downturn, but the San Francisco Bay area is a great place to live. Those terrific winters are a long ago memories.

I lost 2 sisters this year to breast cancer, so I support getting frequent Mammograms.

True life crime is of interest to me, having been married to a detective turned attorney. I read a lot about cases all over the country. My own mother was murdered in a home-invasion robbery and being familiar with the justice system got our family a better sentence for the murderers.

My dogs are a source of pleasure for me-I have had 5 Dalmatians and 3 Beagles. I can’t imagine life without a canine companion.  I plan to live the rest of my life in CA. If you come to the Bay Area, give me a call:  (408) 272-1136.