Genealogy Data Page 18 (Notes Pages)

Smith, Gloria Joyce {I342} (b. 23 NOV 1949)

Note: I was born November 23, 1949, in a hospital in Chicago,
Illinois. I have a few memories as a small child. I do
remember only one thing about Grandpa Smith. When he would
kiss me, he would put me on his lap and smooch on my cheek with
his whiskery face. I always had positive thoughts about him.
I have fond memories of Grandma Smith coming to stay with us
for several months, and she would bake Johnny cake, make
butter, teach us how to make paper toys, play her 33 1/2
records for us. My Mom loved it when Grandma came to stay with
us. I was very shy as a child. We moved quite a bit when I
was a child. I remember having my appendix out when I was
about 11 years old. I hated being in the hospital, because my
parents could not stay with me all night. I have fond memories
of living near my Grandmother (my mother's mother) and my Great
Aunt Gerry. She would have us kids over to her house for lunch
or dinner, and we would have rich chocolate milk and cheese and
crackers. Something we usually didn't have at home. We moved
to Missouri which was very difficult for me. I was 12 years
old and was teased alot by boys on the bus. Dad would come
home every other weekend. He worked in Chicago and he could
only come home once in awhile. I remember crying while I
watched him drive down the road knowing I wouldn't see him
again for 2 more weeks. Eventually, Dad moved us to Chicago
when I was in the 7th grade. We stayed in Chicago long enough
for me to graduate from high school. Then we moved to Hammond,
Indiana. I do remember trips to Michigan. Sometimes Dad would
let me take a friend or two. When I was 18, I got my driver's
license and a used car and began driving to my new job as a
secretary to the chief engineer of a plastic company. I met
several of my friends there that I still see to this day. We
try to meet once a month for dinner and alot of talk.

After we moved to Indiana, I got a job downtown Chicago as a
secretary at a large insurance company. I took the train every
day - there and back. I met my first husband, go married and
traveled with him while he was in the Navy. I lived in San
Diego, California; National City, California; Boston,
Massachusetts; Fall River, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, Rhode
Island. After 5 years of marriage I got pregnant and gave
birth to my first child - Eric James on 12/15/74. Then got
pregnant almost immediately after Eric was born and gave birth
to my second child - Jacob Allen on 11/27/74.

After being divorced for almost 2 years, I met my current
husband - David Diatikar. We've been married for 20 years,
Eric and Jacob do not live at home anymore. Eric's girlfriend
(soon to be wife) has gifted me with a grandson - Joshua Jacob.
He's now 5 months old and one of the most wonderful things that
has ever happened to me.

David and I have done alot of traveling over the years. We've
been to Tennessee, California, Florida, Hawaii, Alaska, the
Caribbean Islands, and our last trip was a riverboat cruise
down the Columbia and Snake Rivers for a week, then back to San
Francisco, California for a week.

Besides being a secretary, I was a Tupperware manager for 9
years, then went to a business college and got a legal
secretarial certificate, and I've been a legal secretary at the
Lake County Prosecutor's Office now for 9 years.

Birth: 23 NOV 1949 Chicago, Illinois

Reference: 342

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Smith, Joan Marie {I343} (b. 29 JUN 1953)

Note: Ladies and Gentlemen, a brief history of an average woman. I
was born on June 29, 1953. My parents were renting a small
house on Miller Beach in Indiana. Mom already had a 5 year old
and a 3 1/2 year old, so I imagine she was pretty busy. We
soon moved to East Chicago, Indiana, where my first
recollections are: I had 13 stitches in my ankle from riding
on the back of a cousin's bike, I caught my ankle in the
sprocket. Mom always told the story of how brave I was because
I watched the doctor stitch me up. I remember discovering
mint, and that I was allergic to sunflowers, liking to play in
the dirt (I still do), and Volkswagon Beatles all before I was
5 years old. When I was five, we moved to Chicago. Mom
brought Tim home from the hospital soon after we moved in. I
started Kindergarten. My maternal grandmother, great aunt and
great uncle lived next door, and I can remember some great
times with them. Iced tea and crackers and cheese for lunch,
learning how to crochet and Elvis Presley (they were big fans).
When I was in third grade, we moved to Independence, Missouri.
We were only there a little over a year, but I discovered
school buses, mice (because we lived in the country), and alot
of tornado warnings. We were in the basement alot. Soon we
moved back to Chicago which was ok, because we didn't see dad
alot when we lived in Missouri, he was traveling alot. We were
able to stay put at our next home in Chicago for 7 years. My
memories are most vivid at this house. I graduated from 8th
grade in 1967 and became a freshman in high school in time to
experience the whole sixties movement. I was a total hippy and
dug every minute of it. Dad grounded me for two weeks, because
I was downtown Chicago when the convention riots were taking
place. In the beginning of my junior year, we moved again to
Indiana. I thought this was the biggest bummer ever happened
to me. But soon I met my closest friend to this day - Diane.
She was a new kid from Rhode Island, and we were inseparable.
After graduation, we moved to Idaho together. We had great
times there, but both eventually came home to Indiana and got
married and had our families.

I met my husband, John, in 1977. We were married four months
later. As usual, he was a long-haired musician, and Dad and my
brothers weren't too sure about this whirlwind courtship. They
survived and so has our marriage. Twenty-two years later with
our 20 year old son, Ian. Ian was and is the cutest little red
head, with a happy-go-lucky nature. We all get along pretty
well in our little house on Kenilworth. It hasn't been a bad
life, as a matter of face, I feel I've been truly blessed.