Tammy (Carlson) Francois
June 2009::
It's kind of daunting to try to figure out how to sum up 30 years in a paragraph or two, but here goes...
I moved to Connecticut to go to school in the fall after graduation and ended up living there for 13 years. I returned to Duluth with my husband, Bill and three daughters in 1992, we bought a house and had our two sons here. Our kids are now 26, almost 20, 18, 16, and 13.
Our oldest daughter Amanda graduated from college, married and is an Industrial Chemist down near the Metro. She and husband Joe live in Northfield and had their first child (our first grandchild) in May of this year. Any of you who have seen my Facebook page know that I am shamelessly uploading photos of her after every visit... I'm a little obsessed!
Daughter, Orley, will be 20 the day after the reunion. She's graduated from high school, but seems to feel that higher education just takes too much time and will interfere with her creativity (rolling eyes here) She's a musician and plays around Duluth. She was the Friday and Saturday evening pianist at Northland Country Club and played a couple of years at the Homegrown Music Festival, too.
Daughter Annika just graduated from Perpich Center for Arts Education in June. Perpich is an arts high school in Golden Valley with a boarding program for out-state students. She is going to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the fall. Bill and I are currently deciding which one of us will have to sell a kidney on e-bay to pay for tuition :) Maybe Orley has the right idea after all!
Our son Will is a junior at Harbor City International School. He loves film making and cartooning. He's our gentle giant. He even started out in life as a bit of a giant... 12lbs 10 oz at birth. No caesarean. No kidding.
Aaron is 13 and would spend every waking hour of life fishing if he could. We homeschool him as it seems to be a better fit for his learning style. He also loves music and plays a little of several instruments, skateboarding and any other outdoor activity.
Bill is a musician, but a facilities/ operations/project manager to pay the mortgage. He recently lost his job due to a corporate buy out and is getting pretty tired of DIY projects around the house. He says to let everyone know he's open to any and all job offers! He is from Connecticut, but has adjusted well to Northern Minnesota. There was kind of a steep learning curve with the way we talk and some of our expressions, but now he sounds like the rest of us!
I am a program coordinator for PAVSA (Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault) in Duluth. I have been in this position for just over 3 years and before this I was the education and training coordinator for a battered women's program for several years. I am also a doula. I provide support to women during labor and delivery. I am thinking lately that it's about time for me to find a job that doesn't require sleeping with my cell phone and getting out of bed in the middle of the night in the Minnesota winter, but so far I haven't found anyone who's willing to pay me for napping, knitting or reading!
It has been fun to catch up with some our class on Facebook! I look forward to seeing you in July.
Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard on the website and on planning the reunion!