Big Birthday

My Aunt Jean celebrates her 80th birthday this week. She said it's hard for her to believe she's attained that advanced age. As someone approaching age 60 (in less than 2 years!) I totally get it. Inside my head I'm still 45ish...in the mirror? Ugh, not so much.

A file photo I had on hand - from a few years ago Jean and Bruce

Anyway - hats off and party horn honks for a great aunt who has had a positive impact not only on my life and my sister's lives, but lots of peoples'. Jean was a teacher in the Cherry Creek School district in Denver for  many years - Third Grade. A popular teacher, no doubt. One claim to fame was that she taught one of John Elway's kids, when he was the Broncos quarterback. Big stuff! We loved hearing stories about parent teacher conferences.

I was always jealous of my Denver cousins because they got to see Jeanie and her husband Bruce more often than we Iowa cousins. Luckily, we had the grandparents, so there were lots of visits to Iowa. I have fond memories of Jeanie and me driving around Atlantic with in my grandpa's VW bug.

My sister Cindy credits Jeanie and Bruce for helping her see beyond high school when times  were tough one year. Mom sent her out to Denver to visit them when she wasn't making the best choices. She had a good time, and got her head on right and knew she could handle high school - there was much to life than that. Smart move by our Mom to ship her to Denver to Auntie Jean!

Bruce and Jean stopped at our house in West Des Moines the last time they came back for Jean's AHS class reunion. I hope to see them again soon. Love them!