Not wanting to grow up or grow old

T.D. at 6-1/2 months, aka Timothy. My parents were the only folks who called him Timmy. Friends and other relatives called him Tim or Timothy. And his godparents called him Timmer.

Tim was born July 29, 1972 in Colorado. Before he turned two, we moved to California, so Tim does not remember living in Colorado.

Here is Tim celebrating his 5th birthday.

Summer of 1982 - (Tim is 10 years old) - we took a tour of the Hershey plant, located in Oakdale, Calif. And Tim's t-shirt said "Have a Hershey Kiss."

May, 1986 Tim was confirmed by Pastor Bestul. Pastor Bestul is still the pastor of our congregation. He and his family came to our congregation Dec. 1983.

Fall of 1986 Tim started high school. If memory serves me correctly, the only "subjects" Tim liked was extracurricular sports. Before high school Tim always enjoyed playing AYSO soccer and Little League baseball. Once he was in high school he enjoyed being on the JV wrestling team.


While in high school, Tim would always score high grades in aptitude exams, including the SAT. Here is one of those awards. As for Tim's regular classes, he always was disinterested, therefore, he would only do the absolute minimum to barely get a passing grade.

But here is Tim on graduation day, June 14, 1990. The fun part about that day was that I also graduated from DeAnza Community College with our commencements only a couple hours apart. Good thing the high school was only about a mile down the road from DeAnza. We were also fortunate that my husband's parents came out for a visit to attend both commencements. Quite an exciting day for the entire family.
Shortly before graduation, Tim completed all the requirements for earning his Eagle. We then attended the ceremony in August, 1990.

Beginning Fall semester 1990, Tim started classes at West Valley Community College. He found college classes more interesting than high school, but he was never in a hurry to take his life to the next level, namely a four-year university to earn his bachelor's degree. Tim enjoyed attending West Valley and for several years helped students with their math by working part-time in the Tutorial Center, even while he attended the University of California in Santa Cruz. When Tim finally graduated from UCSC, with a double major in math and physics, he decided to pursue his masters degree in math and decided to attend the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. While living in Alaska, Tim taught part-time in a private high school. Before finishing his masters' degree, Tim moved to Barrow, AK, accepting a teaching position for a community college. After a year in Barrow, Tim then moved to Portland, and taught part-time at Portland Community College and Vancouver, WA. He then finally completed all his classes to earn his masters degree in math from UAF.

Here's Tim grading papers on Christmas Day 2004 when he came home for a holiday visit. Tim was teaching a couple of math classes in the Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA areas.

The summer of 2005, Tim was offered a teaching position at a community college in Saranac Lake, New York. Saranac Lake is about 5 or 6 miles from Lake Placid in the Adirondacks. And Tim lived in Bloomingdale, a borough about 5 miles from Saranac Lake.

And then last summer Tim moved back home. After a month or so vacation in Alaska, Tim then had to start looking for work. He didn't get any teaching positions for the fall of 2005, so he found a part-time job working for REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc). He did get an offer to teach a couple math classes for the spring quarter at DeAnza College, and then taught one more math class this summer at Evergreen College. He is now preparing to go back to Alaska for a month's vacation to bike and to fish. He will leave in a few days and then his dad will join him another week later. But first, we are all going to Santa Cruz today for an art festival that my nephew (Tim's cousin) is participating in. So, here's to you, Tim. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!