If
you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. I tried many roads before I figured out where
I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.
College wasn’t for me, I figured I was probably too lazy to be a farmer,
and I disliked working in factories. Eventually,
I went to drafting school and then drifted (or stumbled) into product design
and development. I found that I liked it,
I had some talent for it, and people were willing to pay me to do it. So, for the next 30 years or so, I designed
and invented products of various kinds, a lot of which were medical and
surgical devices. It was very satisfying
and enjoyable for me and it was also the easiest way I knew to make a
living. I retired at age 58 and have
become very good at retirement.
Franny
and I have lived in Hudson, WI for the last 30 years and enjoy our lives here
very much. Our two daughters and one
grandson bought houses in our neighborhood so we see one another nearly every
day. That is a good thing for us and,
they assure us, for them as well. We
have 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Our two little great-grandsons live in Rochester and we see them often
too.
We do less traveling now than we used to but in years past we enjoyed visiting many places around the world and the U.S. I was in Scotland this February while our older daughter was working there.
Franny did not come along with me
this time and I was without adult supervision for a couple of weeks so I used
my time constructively, searching for and sampling single malt.
Each
summer I, along with a grandson or two, work on Habitat for Humanity for a
week. I demonstrate the psalmodikon
musical instrument for a couple of days each July at Nordic Fest in Decorah, IA
and often attend the Experimental Aircraft Association convention in Oshkosh. I enjoy bowhunting and pheasant hunting. I have not flown or ridden motorcycle for
awhile but my oldest grandson is trying to convince me to buy a Harley so he
and I can go riding. Good luck sneaking
that one past Franny, huh?
As
you all remember, we in the Brandon Classes of 1956 and 1957 graduated before
the new school building with its improved facilities was opened. Some of us actually started our education in
one-room country schools. We were all
“disadvantaged” in that respect yet we survived and succeeded despite having to
endure these primitive conditions.
Amazing, isn’t it? We did well! Congratulations to us all!
Floyd Foslien
