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My mom's side, the Purdy's, are from Peekskill. Dad's side is Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
 
Steve played baseball, softball, bowled, tennis, really gifted in coordination and love of exercise. Really good hand eye coordination...

We played many mixed softball tournaments together and would run together. I was never as fast as he was but I could run a long time. 5 to 8 mile runs were common.

When we lived in VA, we loved the Outer Banks of NC. At the time there was little developement and National Seashore. It was wonderfully primitive. Never really found a favorite spot in Baltimore. Florida is so blasted hot most of the year it is draining just to walk outside. I really dont like the weather here. We always had plans to move to Portsmouth,VA after I retired. Love Hampton Roads!

As a photojournalist in the army, Steve did survival training in Alaska, was recruited for the CIA, and visited the Middle East . He loved history and Egypt and Israel provided lots of opportunities. He attended a midnight service in the crypt where Jesus is believe to have been born.

Steve believed in the good in people and was amazed by all the highschool, college, and work friends that came to visit on his journey. He was a blessed man to have retained those friendships thru the years.
 
Kim , Pete and Goose

I was born in Watertown NY, lived in Syracuse for awhile, mainly grew up in the Albany area, now I live near Lake George

Lake George is such a beautiful area. I remember many drives from Port Henry to Glens Falls passing Lake George. That was before I-87. I think I drove Rt. 9. There were some tiny theme parks called Animal Land and Storytown that my dad took me to and I took my nieces to throughout the years.

Anyone remember Frontier Town? I worked there during high school.
 
Lake George is such a beautiful area. I remember many drives from Port Henry to Glens Falls passing Lake George. That was before I-87. I think I drove Rt. 9. There were some tiny theme parks called Animal Land and Storytown that my dad took me to and I took my nieces to throughout the years.

Anyone remember Frontier Town? I worked there during high school.

Kim, believe it or not now Storytown is a Six Flags, it went from Storytown to Great Escape and a few years ago Six Flags bought it
 
WOW......I guess kids aren't impressed unless they can get the ultimate thrill.
 
Yeah Kim...

I went to Frontiertown....
 
At 17, I joined the Navy and served overseas for 10 years on 5 different aircraft carriers.

I sat in the back of a carrier-launched spy jet and operated electronic spy gear.

We flew off the coasts of commie countries. It was peacetime. One time, the North Koreans sent up a fighter jet which shot a missile at us. We ducked. They missed. These things are not reported to the news.

Another time, the cockpit filled with smoke, and while another guy and I were trying to find the fire, the lower hatchway opened and the other guy suddenly disappeared in front of me, at 800 feet over the Pacific. I grabbed his collar as he was going down and pulled him back into the plane. He was scared terribly and started to cry. I don’t know why, but I began to laugh uncontrollably. We became really close friends.

In Japan, I learned to fly Cessnas and Pipers and ran the base photo hobby shop in the evening. Wrote for the base newspaper each week. Went to a lot of night school.

In 1982, I worked as an electrician, installing the wiring for a brand new thing called EPCOT.

Then I went to college, joined the Air Force, and went back overseas for 10 more years.

In the Philippines, I witnessed the Philippine People’s Revolution first hand. There were guns everywhere. Even the children carried guns. All US military was ordered to stay indoors. All flying was cancelled. But at midnight my housemates and I heard some helicopters flying low and fast over our house from an unusual direction. “That’s Marcos!” we all yelled. We got in my car and zoomed to the base, and we stood on the runway for awhile. Then a giant cargo jet and a medical evacuation jet flew dictator Ferdinand Marcos away to exile.

The next day at work, I needed a helicopter ride to another base, and like a miracle, a helicopter landed right behind me on the grass. The pilot was a college buddy of mine. He was the one who flew Marcos from the palace, over my house, to his evacuation.

One time, military police called me to a house where one of our drunk sergeants lived. His Filipino wife had thrown every one of his possessions out of the house. I saw a photo album laying in the grass. She had used a cigarette to burn out the face in every photo of his young son by a previous marriage. He now no longer had any photos of his boy. The cop said, “Wow, that’s mean.” Then I said, “Find him and arrest him. We need to prevent a murder tonight.” I committed him to an alcohol detox and got them both some really tough counselors. A month later, the couple brought cookies to my office and thanked me for saving his life and their marriage.

In Korea, I got lost walking one dark rainy night and accidentally found myself in a special bomb storage area. Two South Korean guards stuck their M-16s in my face, screaming in Korean. When I calmly turned around to leave, they cocked their guns and screamed even louder. I simply walked away and I guess they didn’t shoot me.
In the late 80s, I backpacked alone around communist China for 3 weeks with a camera and a change of underwear.

In Germany, at 5 in the morning, I was on the autobahn going to work, when I saw an Army convoy of trucks and tanks. I also saw a black Mercedes with blacked-out windows and the license plate said it was a Soviet diplomat. The headlights were turned off in the darkness. They were following the convoy to its base! So I jammed my car in front of theirs and cut them off from the convoy. They turned around and flash! They were gone like warp drive. When I reported it to intel, they told me that the Soviet “diplomat” was illegally trying to sneak onto the facility.

I visited communist East Berlin a lot (with orders, in uniform). One time I missed my train stop and found myself illegally in East Berlin, without orders and in civilian clothes. I quickly bought a map, found a train back to the West, and found myself sitting exactly across from 3 Soviet soldiers who were eyeing me. (Americans look different than Europeans.) But before they could engage me, I ran off the train and got back into the West. The next year, the Wall fell, and I used a hammer to get a piece.

I like history and natural history museums. In Germany, I went to the Neander Valley (Tal) to see the original cave man (the cave itself was destroyed and used for limestone). I visited Troy in Turkey. In Kenya, I saw Lucy, the first human.

I like scuba diving in and out of sunken shipwrecks once in a great while.

And as of 9/11, I switched sides. I'm now a godless liberal.
 
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Mike,
Thank you for serving our country. Something about your post made me cry.....not sure why......but you have my permission to laugh.
I liked the sunken ships, too. I only have these two pictures of me diving. Long before good underwater cameras were reasonable. Back then I had negative buoyancy and didn't need a weight belt. Muscle can turn into fat quickly...especially when one eats a quart of ice cream twice a day.
 

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Wow. Kim, is that a puffer fish? How did you survive that encounter?

Wish I was living near the beach. In Wash State, I sailed all the time. Would love to dive more often here, but Orlando is a long way from nice water.
 
Yes, I had no idea the amount of toxins those fish carry. I guess you have to ingest them to die. My best dive was a night wall dive in Cayman. Oh how I wish I had a camera for those fish that lit the entire area up. It was amazing. I did run into some scary critters diving but I'd do it again if I had the gear and thought my vestibular system could take the pressure. After diving, snorkeling just doesn't cut it. It's like taking a bath with your clothes on.
 
Ha. I love the opportunity to brag. Lol

I have a law degree and an arts degree.

I played clarinet for years and got to a really high level. One of my life regrets is not doing a music degree.

I worked in marketing for a large telco.

I have my certificate 4 in breastfeeding education. I used to volunteer on a helpline and teach classes to expecting parents.

I have 3 awesome kids aged 7, 3 and 1.

I have a lovely partner.

I used to knit and sew.

I was a runner. 1/2 marathons were my best races. Never got to do a marathon.
 
So I guess I'm pretty boring.

Never did anything too exciting.

I used to be very involved in the church growing up. I taught Sunday school, youth groups. I read in church, used to clean the communion cup every week...

I'm a tap dancer, flutist and piano player...well I was.

Lived in the UK for two years.

Had interesting jobs. My favourite two were licensing cars, and working in a school library.

When I had kids I did parent help all the time, was involved in everything from t-ball coach to the annual fete committee.

I think that's what I miss most. Being involved.
 
Sorry - I hit the enter key by mistake and posted my entry too soon. Most of the time I type a long message and then lose it. I will try to be more careful with these weak fingers of mine.
 
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Pete, I think you are a funny, creative guy and I love reading your posts.

I married the love of my life 42 years ago.
I have a son and daughter - 40 and 37 years old
We lived in Michigan in the same house for 25 years and then moved to Reno, Nevada because I was offered a job here. We have lived in Reno for 16 years
We thought we were moving away from the kids, but they followed (glad they did)
My daughter met my son-in-law at 16 years of age and they have 3 children - two girls and a boy
My son and daughter-in-law have one son
We are a very close family and both my children are fighting for custody of me and my husband
I started working for the court system when my daughter was a year old. Mothers in the neighborhood would call me and tell me what a horrible mother I was. I knew better.
I, also, continued with my education and have a Fellowship, all while working, raising the kids, cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. I was "Super Mom".
We always took the kids on a couple vacations per year - camping, Cedar Point, Disney Land and Disney World
My husband and I went on several cruises
We are both certified scuba divers
I have worked in management for most of my working career (UGH - glad I'm out of that circus, but proud of how I managed)

Deb
 
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I'm also from Upstate NY! Utica...and lived in Syracuse as well. Small world!
 
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