PONDERING MY LIFE I was hatched in 1953...I think I came home from Paul Kimball Hospital via DeSoto. I probably should have known at that point...life was going to be funny. My sister Francine (whom I referred to as Giggy in my childhood), was about 9, maybe 10 years old already. My parents had another little girl after me...her name was Adrienne, but she only lived to be about a month or so old. She never came home after birth. I really would have liked to have a little sister to go along with my big sister. All through growing up, I never knew about Adrienne...my parents were devastated and never told me about her or why she died. She never had a funeral or a burial...and I dont know where her body is (or isnt). I believe she died in a Brooklyn hospital. It may have been 1954, possibly 55...and I think it really sucks! Closure is generally important to people these days...back then, I dont know if closure was a big issue. I know, for me, Id like to have some closure...something that I can believe...something that allows me to put it to rest. I like the era I grew up in...primarily the 1960s...and 70s. I spent so much of that time without any direction to follow...without anything solid to believe in. My father, Leon Pevovar, was a young immigrant to the USA, from Odessa, Russia, where he was born Dec. 22nd, 1911. My mother Freda Gindoff Pevovar was born in Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 13th, 1918. My father served in the US Army, Battery C, 522 AAA Battalion, CAC. Together, my parents owned and operated Lakewood Furniture Mart on 2nd. Street in Lakewood. We had a furniture store and moving company, a few trucks and few workers...Wes and Shorty. Wes always called me Sporty! My mother worked at the store too...all day long...it was a good business and it seemed to be well managed...as I thought as a kid hanging out there. My father died about a month before my 11th birthday, on 18 February 1964. My wedding anniversary is 18 February...married in 1973 while I was in the US Navy getting much needed discipline...and training. Weird, huh? My mother remarried Canard Traeger a few years later...and then she developed a brain tumor and passed on September 6th, 1968 as I entered Lakewood High School at 15 years old. I then lived with my step-father Canard (Ken)...until I entered the military to grow up and do great things. My wife, Christine, was my girlfriend back then...we married soon after. My Uncle Bernie was at the wedding, in Pt. Pleasant Boro, NJ...he held the shotgun! Chris was already pregnant...I felt it was time NOT to run from things that scared me...maybe getting married was the right thing to do...for me. On may 19th, 1973, we had a son...KEN...it was the proudest moment of my life. Everyone said wed never stay married...we were kids with no education and no direction...and we were doomed!...Destined to become one of those BAD statistics. A year later, we had a beautiful little girl, Faythe Lynn, on 24 May 1974...we were truly blessed with healthy, wonderful children...and 100% committed to their health, wellbeing and their education and success. We celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary, so I guess THEY were wrong! I thank the family clan for always having so much confidence in me...I thank you for being so wrong about me for so many years...its YOUR loss, not mine. All of us, except Faythe, graduated from Monmouth University...me with degrees in Biology and Criminal Justice, Chris with her BBA and Ken with his Baccalaureate in Biology/Chemistry...like father, like son...both of us were on the Deans List many times and both were inducted into the Biological National Honor Society (Beta Beta Beta, or Tri Betas for short)...Chris and I went on for more...she did her MBA (Accounting) at Georgian Court University...I went as well, and did my Masters in Education (specializing in Instructional Technology). But I wasnt done yet...I completed my ND (Doctor of naturopathic Medicine, Homeopathy) and the Ph.D. in Clinical Nutrition...and I should mention that I hold an older degree as well, the BSEE (Electrical Engineering), an A.S. in Criminal Justice (Brookdale) and a minor in Paralegal Studies as well. Later I did the DrPH (Doctor of Public Health)...and Im once again thinking about doing more training or education...when I figure out what, if anything, still has my interest. Certainly, I am a lifelong learner, an educator with 4 teaching certifications, an author and have been the owner of 5 successful businesses, including a restaurant. And Im not ready to pack it in yet! I want to do more.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 03:35:03 +0000
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