Cheryl has no problem with confessing that after attending the University of Iowa for a year, she was given the status of being "asked to stay out for a year." Looking back, she admits that her year at Iowa was one of the greatest learning experiences of her life. She could go home and hang her head in shame or get right back on the horse and gallop. Three years later, she graduated from Augustana College after discovering that, in a small school, you have full professors who are there for you, not themselves. Cheryl majored in Spanish hoping to work for a large company but learned that women didn't get those kinds of positions. The closest she came was being offered a "stewardess" position with Pan Am Airlines that would require a move to Chicago. About that time, a government representative came to Augustana to conduct testing for civil service jobs. Cheryl was hired to work for the U.S. Army Weapons Command at the Rock Island Arsenal. Her job was to sell weapons to foreign countries, specifically Australia, one of our biggest allies during the Vietnam War. She did that for four years. Through high school friend, Patty McCullough, Cheryl met her husband, George Potter, a 1960 graduate of Moline High school. Cheryl and George were married in 1967. They bought a nice older home in the Morgan Park area of Moline. Cheryl and George loved living there and refurbishing the house. In the end, it was a great place to raise their family, complete with an extra lot and a fully-equipped game room in the finished basement. Their son Jason was born in 1970 followed by daughter Heidi in 1972. After Jason's birth, Cheryl left her work at the Arsenal to be a full-time mom. However, a friend suggested that she get her real estate license and just "putter" in real estate to whatever extent she chose. Cheryl did and grew to dislike the real estate business intensely. She kept her license but said it "wasn’t worth the hassle." Then, another friend suggested that she look into teaching reading and writing in a classroom for the cognitively challenged. Cheryl began teaching there, and it worked out perfectly with her schedule, allowing her to volunteer at her own children's school. George worked at International Harvester's Farmall Works, and in 1985 when Farmall closed, the Potters were relocated by IH to Springfield, Ohio. Once they were settled in Ohio, Cheryl began teaching at a facility for cognitively challenged children. It was tough and tiring work. Her students in Rock Island had been somewhat functional. In Ohio they were aggressive and highly challenged. Cheryl remained there for five years and says, "It was the best training you could get for teaching special education." In 1990, she moved to teaching special ed in the city schools at the elementary and high school levels. While in Ohio, Cheryl earned a master's degree from Wittenberg University, a small private school in Springfield. Son Jason graduated from Ohio State and moved with his girlfriend to Spain where they both taught English for a few years before backpacking around Europe. They later returned to the U.S., settling in the Washington, D. C. area where Kiran earned her master's degree at American University and began teaching. Soon after, she and Jason were married and moved to Baltimore where he entered law school. Cheryl's daughter grew tired of college and accepted a position as an au pair for a family in Cambridge, Massachusetts but would occasionally visit her brother and his wife. She met Kiran's brother, Jit (sounds like Jeet), who was attending medical school in College Park, Maryland, and they later moved to Chicago and Cleveland where Jit did his residency at the Cleveland Clinic. Those two married and also moved to Baltimore. So Cheryl's son and daughter married a sister and brother with roots in India, although both were born after their parents moved to the U.S. Both couples had two weddings, a Western/Christian wedding and an Indian wedding. Jason is an attorney in Baltimore, and Kiran is an ESL teacher in a turnaround school. Heidi is a full-time domestic engineer, and Jit is an anesthesiologist in Baltimore. Jason and Kiran have two sons, Millen, 4, and Curren, 1. Heidi and Jit have three little girls, Ella, 6, Hanna, 4, and Sajel, 3.
Cheryl and George heard Baltimore calling them (Good morning, Baltimore?) so they left Ohio and bought another fixer-upper in Northern Baltimore County - a few miles from their children and grandchildren - a smaller home this time, one they thought would be less of a project, but they were wrong. Cheryl retired a year before moving to Baltimore. She thought she might return to teaching but changed her mind. Special ed was stressful even in the public schools and became more so after the No Child Left Behind Act entered the picture. She picks up a different grandchild from school each day for one-on-one time with the kids. She volunteers at the National Aquarium Baltimore and lunches with fellow volunteers one day a week, noting that it's not as easy to make friends at this age as it once was. "When you move when you're older, you have to make an effort to make friends." She adds, "Baltimore is not a retirement Mecca. People come here for a reason." George has retired from IH, and they plan to stay in Baltimore County. Cheryl was lunching at a McCormick & Schmick's with friends on August 23 when she noticed her purse dancing on the floor. She was getting a little concerned when one of the friends, who'd experienced earthquakes, said she was sure that's what was happening…bad for the East Coast because the buildings are so old. Buildings were subsequently evacuated. Traffic was bad. You could get out of the parking garage but had no place to go. Cell phones were jammed. Then on August 27, Mother Nature hit them again, this time with Hurricane Irene. Cheryl and George traveled to Spain when their
son lived there. They also spent a week in Paris and a week in
London. When Jason was in high school, they had an exchange student
from outside of Paris. When they visited Paris, the exchange
student's parents showed them around and took them to an American
'60s party. They were the only Americans there, and it was the best
time they'd ever had. They've also been to Mexico and enjoy
traveling in the U.S. They take an annual golf trip with four of
George’s friends - one of them Greek. Cheryl hopes a golf trip to
Greece is in her future.
They like collecting antiques up and down the East Coast. This goes hand-in-hand with refurbishing another home. Cheryl loves to read and laughs as if we should all know that her hobbies "do not involve athletics." She says, "George is into athletics, tennis and running, and now golf." Years ago, Cheryl and a couple of other classmates used to go to New York to visit classmate Charlotte Frick. Near the time of one visit, Charlotte was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a few months later. Cheryl remembers Charlotte as an amazing, independent friend and says they had wonderful times together in the city. In high school, Cheryl loved going to the games and dances. She remembers the guys being there but just "standing around." And she recalls how the girls danced with girls. One incident she recalls is when her boyfriend told her he couldn't go out one weekend because he had to study. Cheryl went to the drive-in with a girlfriend. They got their car parked and all situated at the drive-in when she saw her boyfriend's easily recognizable white Ford pull into the parking place in front of them. She waited a moment and then walked up to his window and said, "Hi." He turned a pale shade of white! Jan O'Melia Dusek is one of Cheryl's best friends, and they met in Annapolis recently. She also sees Ginny Cale Payton and Carla Hammerlund McGreevey once in awhile. Cheryl attended class reunions up until the last two, and she plans to be at the 50th. She would like to hear from old friends and classmates at grcapotter@yahoo.com. |
