JenRespage

I was born and raised in Central Ohio. Born into a family of five children, the youngest of which was already almost 8 years old. The oldest was a brother (he now lives in Bellingham, WA with his wife), then three sisters and another brother (they all still live in Central Ohio). Four years after I was born, Mom & Dad added one more, my little sister. Yep, that makes 7 kids. We are the stereo-typical Catholic family! And proud of it! Anyway, we have lived in the same suburban town in Central Ohio for all of my life. My side of the family we have 13 nieces and nephews and a great niece and two great nephews. (2 nephews and 2 greats live in Virginia and one niece lives in N. Carolina)

I have great memories of my childhood. Since the first five in the family were so much older, my younger sister and I were the only two at home most of the time when we were growing up. We had very few kids in our neighborhood, but fortunately, the youngest two of the kids right next door (Catholic family with six boys!) turned out to be great friends!

I attended public school for Kindergarten, (that's where I met my best girl friend!) then Catholic school for the next eight years. For high school I was back to public school and, on only the second day there, met my husband! He was in my last class of the day and I knew the minute I saw him (in his N.J.R.O.T.C. uniform) he was special. Of course, my best friend tried desperately to warn me off but......well, the rest is history.

I graduated in 1983 and Randy and I were married in May of 1984. Our plan was to buy a house around our 2nd anniversary and start having kids (only 2) around our fifth. Well, Jake was born one month after our 2nd anniversary, Joe 2 1/2 years later and we finally bought the house in August of 1990. (That's right, things don't always go as planned!) Now, if you have been on my site long, you will know that we didn't stop there, 6 years after Joe we were blessed with a bit of a surprise....Katy!

I have had a few different jobs during our marriage but usually secretarial type work. I am currently, and hope to remain for a very long time, the Prevention Secretary at the local Fire Department. A job I am not only very proud of, but that I also enjoy very much. It is not as stressful as jobs I have had in the past (Benefits Coordinator for a nationwide retail store for example) but it is very rewarding. I work with the Fire Safety Inspectors, who inspect commercial properties in the area. Two of those inspectors are also the Fire/Arson Investigators so I assist in preparing reports on local fires. It can be a very interesting job!

After much searching in my life, I found that I was missing out on a wonderful gift. Although I have always (well, most always) attended church every Sunday and followed the basic teachings of my church, I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! What began as a search for a more contemporary church, ended in a realization that it was not a church but that relationship that I was looking for. It has been, and still is, a growing experience for me.

I have always thought that my husbands life has been much more exciting than mine. My favorite line is "I have no life". He was born in a town Northwest of where we now live. A town known for it's Amish/Mennonite population. His mother was from this population! He moved to my hometown when he was in elementary school and has lived here ever since. His family was much smaller than mine and, unlike in my family, both of his parents worked. He did much more traveling as a child than I did. He had been to almost every state in the country by the time I met him in 1979.

Randy has one brother, 2 years and 5 days older (he lives in the Kansas City, KS area with his wife and 2 children) His 2 kids are the only niece and nephew on Randy's side of the family. Randy's Mom lives about two miles from us. Unfortunately, we lost Randy's dad to heart desease in October of 2001. We miss him very much!

Although Randy's mother had been raised Mennonite, his parents raised the boys in the Methodist church. Randy always attended public school. He was never in any real trouble but he certainly flirted with it. (That's why my girl friend always tried to keep me away from him.) When I met him he was much different than the boys I knew. Okay, so I was attracted to the bad boy in a uniform....so what!?

Randy was a Sophomore when we met. We began dating toward the end of that school year (up to then, he was dating someone else).
Randy joined the Army Reserve when he was 17 and went off to Basic Training between his Junior and Senior years. One of the best vacations I ever went on was when I accompanied his family to his Basic Training graduation! He was in Germany for six months during Deasart Storm and "celebrated" his 10-year anniversary the day President Bush declared war. This past winter, he retired after 22 years!

One year after we were married he got a job with the State of Ohio as a Corrections Officer. He has been there ever since. He is involved as a member of the Special Tactics And Response Team as a Tactical Rifleman. He has begun working on a dual degree in Adult and Juvenile Corrections, which should lead to some great opportunities.