My purpose in establishing this web page is to maintain the camaraderie and friendships we enjoyed while working together in this

My purpose in establishing this web page is to maintain the camaraderie and friendships we enjoyed while working together in this great organization!

We in Nuclear were promised a “matrix” of years of service vs. age, that would give us low rates for medical, if we stayed with the company until they laid us off. The “retention package” was used to stem the flight from the company in the final couple of years, and it worked well. What they didn’t tell us was that when we were walking out the door they changed the rules, saying the company could change the benefits, and you had to agree not to sue for any reason - don’t sign, don’t get the package! Although those weren't the terms when we agreed to stay a year earlier, of course everyone signed; then FE came on the scene and they started cutting back the medical benefits and raised the price.

We went to several lawyers, but they said they couldn’t do anything because of the agreement to not sue.

What options do you have with First Energy and their benefits for GPU retirees? I know GPU promised to pay a 6% increase in costs every year. I have that documentation somewhere. I wonder what their actual costs are and are they living up to the 6% increase in their contributions. GPU made that commitment in the 90's when they changed it from full paid coverage for the retirees as long as they were still offering health care.

Did you see the following notice on your “First Rewards” newsletter last September? Very important if you don’t take coverage when you are eligible!

Another erosion of the “benefits” we were promised when we stayed at GPUN until they let us go.

Important Information About Coverage and the Access-Only Rule

Eligible retirees and their dependents who qualify for Company-subsidize medical and prescription drug benefits — and who decline coverage for a specific plan year — may elect access-only coverage in any future plan year. This means that if you do not elect medical and/or prescription drug coverage during any election period, you will be required to pay the full cost of the coverage for you and your eligible dependents in the future. Here are a few examples of how this rule applies:

• Retiree Sally has elected not to carry FirstEnergy medical or prescription drug coverage for 2007. As a result, Sally will no longer be eligible to participate in subsidized retiree medical or prescription drug coverage in the future. However, if Sally wants to elect FirstEnergy medical or prescription drug coverage for 2008 (or any future open enrollments), she will have to pay 100% of the cost.

• Retiree John has elected FirstEnergy medical in 2007, but not prescription drug coverage. Under this new rule, John will be eligible to continue subsidized medical in 2008, however, will only be eligible to elect prescription drug coverage in 2008 (or any future open enrollments), at 100% of the cost.

Prayer Request:

Following is a prayer request for Fred Hafer, former Met-Ed President and CEO of GPU, from Carole Snyder (Senior Vice President -FE):

I received a call from Martha Hafer this morning with sad news about Fred. He has been diagnosed with cancer. He has a tumor in his lung and spots on his spine and in his liver. A biopsy of the spine area shows it to be malignant. It has also affected his lymph glands. Fred has been doctoring this pain since mid-November but the diagnosis was not made until last week. Martha is as positive as she can be that there is a way out of this.
They are in the process of trying to get Fred evaluated by the experts at Sloan Kettering.

Martha asked me to get this information out to those I thought might provide support to Fred in the way of prayer and cards or notes. She also asked that I inform anyone else who may want to know. I thought that all of you should have this information as the word gets out in the community. While the Hafers are not encouraging a lot of phone calls (simply because of the time it takes to bring each caller up to speed), I know that both Martha and Fred would be buoyed by prayers and notes from those who know Fred.

The address:

Fred Hafer
1730 Meadowlark Road
Wyomissing, PA 19610

Thanks,
Carole (Snyder)

I haven't contacted you in a while, but that does not mean that I have not thought of the times we had together.

You and GPUN impacted me in so many positive ways. I believe we all recognize how very fortunate we were to have Phil and Gary. Our GPUN experience would have been very different without them. If you haven't told them so yet, now may be the time.

We always leave a piece of ourselves any place we go. I know that I left a piece of myself with you. The older I get the more I "reflect" as to what is important and what will be my legacy.

Lisa Beamer on Good Morning America- If you remember, she's the wife of Todd Beamer who said 'Let's Roll!' and helped take down the plane that was heading for Washington D. C. She said it's the little things that she misses most about Todd, such as hearing the garage door open as he came home, and her children running to meet him. She's now the Mom of a beautiful little girl, Mary.

I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there. With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, Class is over, I would like to share with all of you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important.

Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end.

It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is the powers’ way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day.“

Her eyes began to water as she went on, “so I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.

Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at anytime...it can all be taken away.

The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester.

Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."