PETE PUSATERI WILL BE AT OUR 50th NDHS REUNION. WILL YOU JOIN HIM?

The family of Judy and Pete Pusateri

The photo is from a family vacation in Hawaii. In the photo the people are from left to right:
Michele, daughter in law, wife of older son Mike
Zoe, daughter of Mike and Michele
Yvette, wife of son Matt
Mira, daughter of Mike and Michele
Matt, my younger son
Judi, my beloved wife - Me (Pete Pusateri)
Mike, my older son and husband of Michele and father of Zoe and Mira

So what have I been doing the last 50 years? Well after graduating from NDHS I went to Valley JC for a year, took off a year to dig swimming pools, then returned to Valley JC to resume my educational odyssey. In 1963 I married Judi Chodos and we are still together after all the ups and downs that 44 years can provide. We have 2 sons, Mike and Matt and their wives, Michele and Yvette. The granddaughters, Zoe and Mira, provide us with endless opportunities to spoil and indulge to the chagrin of my oldest son Mike. Payback is sweet!!
I put in my time with Uncle Sam as an Airborne Sonar Operator in the Navy reserve from 1961 to 1969. That meant 6 months active duty for training, then 8 years of monthly meetings at Los Alamitos NAS. Since the VC in Vietnam had no submarines I was not called upon to go over there.
In 1966 I finally finished my formal education at Cal Poly in Pomona and started my engineering career at TRW and then went over to Hughes in 1971. In 1980 I left engineering and joined a small electronics manufacturers rep company so that I would be able to finance the education of our sons at any institution of their choice and acceptance. Since there is an 18 months difference in age, their time in college would overlap by 2 years and this was no small obstacle to address. Both went to private out of state institutions. All worked out well and we sold the company 5 years ago. Since Oct 2005 I have been cruising along trying to figure out what retirement is all about.
My oldest son Mike graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He is now a senior VP of technology development at Disney in Burbank. Matt graduated from Northwestern University and then grad school at The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He is now the senior designer for online communications at the Center For American Progress in Washington DC. Matt and Yvette have assured me that they are working diligently on catching up to Mike and Michele in the grandchild department!! They were married in August of 2006 in Bermuda.
Judi and I are associated with a spiritual group that adheres to the teachings of Ramakrishna, a 19th century mystic in India. I have been to Ghana 3 times since 2003 and Sri Lanka in 2005 visiting various villages, refugee camps, hospitals and schools. We bring donations and try to make a difference in the lives of these people. By doing that we also get a deeper insight into ourselves and our purpose in life. I find these and future trips to be a fitting way to give back for all of the positive and beneficial gifts that I have been given over the years and to realize a higher purpose. As part of a group project, I was involved in the building of a scale model of the U. N. complex in New York City and participated at it’s installation at the 60th anniversary celebration in 2005. If you take the tour there you will see our model on permanent display.
OK, so much for the sermon. I will be in Vietnam until September 17th with an advance team setting up a group visit for January and I look forward to seeing all of you at the reunion.