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Gretchen
(Koenig) Aerstin
4839 Anna Ln
Sanford, MI
(989) 689-3896
frankaerst@aol.com
Frank&Gretchen: on 40th anniversary trip to Hawaii (2005)
HikingArizona: me on a hike in Arizona last winter
MaggieHerding: our oldest dog Maggie, working
RoyHerding: our younger dog Roy, working |
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2011
I regret that I won't be attending the 50th reunion.
Grandparent duty will prevent me from being there. Since my last post
here, we FINALLY have two grandchildren, Luke (4) and Grace (almost 2),
with a third expected on September 21. We promised our son Mike and
daughter-in-law Monica that we would arrive at their home in Peachtree
City, GA a couple of days prior to the scheduled C-Section and remain
there for about two weeks to help with the new baby (another girl) and the
older children, etc.
We still travel back and forth between our two homes in Michigan and
Arizona, spending about seven months in Michigan and five months in
Arizona, enjoying the best of both climates and avoiding the worst. I
guess we'll continue this way until we get tired of it or are no longer
able to do it, whichever comes first. We are thankful to be blessed with
good health, so far, so that we can continue to enjoy traveling, other
favorite activities and, of course, our expanded family. Our dogs are
aging too but they're doing well and they travel with us.
My Best to All,
Gretchen
2007
When I last
saw many of you (at the 25th reunion) I was working for a retail computer
business that my husband and I were involved in. That took up much of my
time and much of my husband's spare time (it was just a sideline for him)
during most of the decade of the 80's. Prior to that, going way back to
the 60's, I spent three years at the University of Colorado at Boulder and
one year in a study abroad program at the University of Bordeaux, France.
I graduated from C.U. in 1965 and, soon after, married fellow alum and
chemical engineer, Frank Aerstin. Frank had come to Colorado as a foreign
student from Trinidad (W.I). After he completed his M.S. we moved to
Midland, Michigan where he had accepted a job with the Dow Chemical
Company. We have lived in the area ever since except for a year in Ann
Arbor and three years (1976-79) in Brazil while Frank was on foreign
assignment for Dow. After losing a child in 1966, we were blessed with
daughter Amy in 1968 and son Mike in 1970. I was a stay at home mom all
during the 70's and even during most of the time that I was bookkeeper for
the Midland Computer Shoppe. I was able to do most of that work at home
untill the last two years of my involvement in the business and by then
both of our children had graduated from high school.
I always enjoyed volunteering, but as time for that was somewhat limited
before 1990, I didn't do as much as I would have liked. So after leaving
the computer business that year, I became more involved in the community
and have continued to be ever since. I have particularly enjoyed my
experiences as a tutor for the Literacy Council of Midland County. Over
the course of fifteen years or so, I worked mainly with ESL students and
found that to be very interesting and gratifying. Other activities
included working with first and second graders in a reading program called
Lunchbox Learners, helping with an after school program for disadvantaged
kids, working at the local food pantry, helping in the box office for a
local music organization and working with an arts organization in putting
on summer and winter art fairs, as well as volunteering in several
capacities at my church. But now, I have entered a new phase of life.
Ever since my husband retired from Dow in 1998, we have been looking for
another place to at least spend part of our time. Frank has been involved
in a consulting business since leaving Dow, first as an owner and then,
since 2005, as an associate. At the end of last year, he decided he would
limit his consulting to only the things that really, really interest him.
Also, last year, we purchased a home in southern Arizona and spent this
past winter out there. Prior to discovering the Tucson area, we had owned
a townhouse in Destin, FL. We enjoyed the time we spent there, but it
just wasn't quite what we were looking for; so in 2002, we sold it and
looked toward the southwest. We love the mountains and the drier climate
of the Sonoran Desert and find it a fascinating place to spend time. Now,
of course, we are contemplating a possible permanent move there. However,
that is a difficult decision because, for the past eleven years, we have
enjoyed living on a lake just a few miles from Midland and we love it here
in the summer. So, for now, we will travel back and forth.
Living in Michigan, we have enjoyed a number of outdoor pursuits in our
spare time, including golf, sailing, skiing (both downhill and x-country),
camping, fishing, and hiking. We find Arizona to be a great place for
lovers of the outdoors as well, and we enjoyed golfing and hiking there
this past winter. One activity I haven't yet mentioned and which has
taken much of our time for the past several years, has to do with our
Border Collies. We have owned several over the past six years but have
now stabilized at two. Training them has been a hobby for Frank and
exercising them helps to keep us both in shape. After doing obedience and
agility with the first dog, Maggie, Frank looked for something more
interesting and challenging and began taking herding lessons which led to
competing in sheepdog trials. That meant acquiring some sheep and, of
course, some pasture for them to graze and for the dogs to work them on.
We have been renting some acreage for several years now, with access to a
larger area for more extensive work, as well. We go to a few trials each
year, mostly in Michigan and take our vintage Airstream which we acquired
just for that purpose. We never did buy a farm, though we considered it.
Frank has made contact with a couple of handlers in Arizona and has been
able to take lessons there but there aren't a lot of trials in that state.
If we sell our Michigan home and move to Arizona full time, it might not
be for long because our first (finally!) grandchild will soon be born in
Georgia. Both our children live in the Atlanta area and our son Mike and
his wife Monica, whom he married last year, will become parents in early
September. So, at the very least, I'm sure we will be making frequent
visits there.
Well, that kind of brings us up to date. I've bored you long enough.
Hope to see many of you in West Lafayette at the end of June!
Gretchen (Koenig) Aerstin
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