Ellen Ector Orr

Daughter Shelly's children:
*Megan, born 1994--23 in February of '17; graduated in May, 2016 from Baylor U in Texas--loved college and those Baylor Bears. She already has a job in her field --international business and finance in Austiln, TX, working for Oracle. Studied in Spain the summer of 2015. Married September 7 2020 in Austin; we attended. Married in September of 2018 to Landon Dory in Austin—we attended that as well. She and Landon are having our first GREAT GRANDCHILD the first week of September, 2021 :-)
*Maria, born 1997--workng on MS in Edu at UT in Austin--double major--magnificent photographer/movie maker. She graduated with MA in education Univ TX in Austin—already has a job at the University! Her new goal is to join the public education field--loves the idea of teaching in the public ed arena as I have for so many years! She will spend the 21-22 school year teaching in Spain; she is bilingual. Next year she hopes to find a job in public education in Austin, Tessa.
*Simone, born 2000~~an incredible club soccer player~~also is training with olympic coaches for sand volleyball--has a full-ride to Pepperdine in California. We watch her when we can--next, driving to Miami Univ March 28 of 2020. Her sport season cut short due to Covid virus; starts junior year at Pepperdine fall of 2020. She is a senior at Pepperdine this year and still playing on the Pepperdine VB team and loving it!
*Seth--born 2007--their brother--a surprise as our daughter was already 45 when he was born--delightful middle school student in Austin TX, and is loving school, baseball, and soccer.

Son Brandon's children (blended family):
Tiernan, Ava, and AJ--born 2005--all love school and are in 8th grade:-) in Bloomington, IL--at age 14, Tiernan is taller than ALL of us! He loves all subjects and excels in all of 'em and in in all this school dramas. Ava and AJ are twins only a week older than Tiernan--also love school and do well. Ava is in track; AJ in wrestling. School begins again mid August and process is still uncertain due to the virus. Whole family spends several weeks with us in Minocqua, Wisconsin each summer :--) We missed all family this year in Wisconsin due to Covid.

Not yet :-->. September 5 or 6 is the date of Megan and Landan’s first child, our first GRAND!

Our first great grandchild, a boy, was born September 2, 2021–named Henry Woods Dory—to be called Woods. Will see him when I fly to Austin for a girls’ day with Shelly and Megan as we go to the theater to see TOOTSIE February 24th—back home to work the 27th :-)

*Graduated from ISU with BS in
1965; MA in 1971; +48 in 1973
*Taught at Bloomington Junior High
School 1965-1994
*Taught--ISU 1994-2003 fall semesters
*1994-2003--winters in Florida
*2003 sold Illinois home; bought home
on a canal in Bradenton, FL
*2003-2008--taught high school English
at Saint Stephen's College Prep H.S.
*2008 Sub teacher at Saint Stephens School
*2009-2014 taught HS English to the U17 American soccer team at Saint
Stephens School
*2014-2021 Individual tutoring of second language students
*Taught early-morning (5:30 A.M.) aerobics classes for years--quit in 2012 to have 2 separate knee replacements--too much impact for too many years!
*Travel during the summer months with Brian.
*YIKES--I just got a new job--teaching the English
strand of the Under 17 US Youth Soccer group of
40 15 and 16-year-old boys. They are training in
Bradenton, Florida, from 8-noon daily; from 1-5 P.M.
they will come to our private school for an intense
high school program. In 3 days, I created a
curriculum for the year, learned how to teach via the
virtual classroom as 20 will be gone intermittently on
international soccer tourney trips, and they will be
"in school," keeping up with the rest of their group
while they are gone. This is all new and exciting to
me--retirement--what's that??
*Signed a contract for 2013-2015 to teach the
U17 American National soccer boys' team for another 2 years :-).
*2015-16--Signed a contract to teach one girl as if she were an entire soph class--World Literature course; she is training for US Olympic Trials in pairs skating, and I teach her at 4:30 each day.
*2016-2017--Singed a contract to teach my ice skater one more year--Junior
English curriculum this year as she continues to train for the Olympics.
*Also tutor 4 ESL people: Grade levels from 4-12--all Chinese or South American
*Retirement??? Hum...word does not compute :--). I have several
tutorees who have scheduled me for this coming school year. :-)

*Thank goodness for our yearbooks! I look through them about once a year, and happy memories are jogged about assemblies, football and basketball games, choir rehearsals, student council activities, homeroom activities, favorite classes--math and English--and good friends.

*Now I enjoy checking our Limestone site once a
month; it's great to note where everyone is & what
they are doing. I missed our 55th reunion as Brian had surgery and could
Not travel. He is fine--successful surgery--looked forward to the reunion this September 11-12, but definitely understand why it was canceled.

*We attended Brian's 55th reunion in August 2014 but missed the 60th this year; TIME FLIES.
We leave Florida for 6 weeks each June. Trip to Illinois to see friends/family for 2 weeks and then spend 4 weeks fishing and R&Ring in Minocqua, WI--we do this each summer.

Brian and I take our annual Christmas road trip—heading back Christmas Day—LITTLE traffic😜—go through our favorite Florida panhandle areas—Pensacola, Destin, Navarre Beach. Then off to Mobile. In Biloxi now, trying to visit Brian’s former AF base. We do this road trip each December. This year, 2020, we DID NOT fly to Austin, TX for a family gathering at Christmas--ZOOMED instead.
We are watching the progress of the COVID virus and staying safe!