Rodney Dodig

All my friends have full lives also and hopefully I am able to share a little of that here with everyone. The storm in May obviously affected almost everyone but thankfully no one was harmed. Art and Lydia Hazel and the kids are doing well as are Joe and Maria Hazel and kids. Jim and Mary Ellen Twomey are also doing well and daughter Casey is doing great in college. I managed to meet up with the old gang this past year before starting my travels. I didn’t see Linda Abbott this year but hear she is doing well. Mona and Kelly Stevens had a rough year. Mona’s Dad passed away and their son Aaron has been having some health problems. As of this writing he is doing better though. They did go to Thailand with me, so there was some fun also this year. John and Cyndi Lindl also traveled to Thailand with me. Jim Moake is doing well and seeing someone seriously. Mary and Abby Voss are doing great. Mary is very happy and dating someone new (John) and Abby has returned to Southern Illinois to attend college here. Abby also has her own apartment now. Chris Geigis married his girl Ashley this year and they are happily living in Carbondale. They are also pregnant and Ashley will be delivering soon after I post this.  David and Laura Chamness and the girls are doing well. Gavin and Marin are shooting up like weeds and sooo cute. Robert Hepburn and Lisa are proud parents of a new baby girl Haylee Jean. Their son Hayden is very happy to have a baby sister. Robert has been my life saver while I am out of the country and is watching my house for me. I didn’t run into Chris Cody this year so I don’t know if he and Ashley married yet. I saw Scott Fuertwengler at Chris’s wedding and he is doing great. If I remember correctly he is working at a University in Texas now. Mike and Connie Solliday are doing well as are their kids and grandkids. They are still enjoying Saluki Football. Mike Daily is doing well and enjoying working in IT for SIH. He is one of my friends that had major damage from the storm. Bonnie and Joe Hickey and daughters Makenna and Peyton are just super. Brenda Lavender and David Grey are doing well. Brenda is enjoying her work as a nurse and David still manages Food and Nutrition at Memorial Hospital. They came to visit me here in Peru this year. Cheryl Green had a great year with lots of travel. Her sons Josh and Jason and their families are well. Josh was in Iraq till June 2009. Hopefully he has made it home safely. Kate and Doug Laczynski and Colin and Gracie are doing well. Kate graduated as an RN this year and looking forward to a long career in healthcare. Les And Erika Lange and the kids are doing well. Les had a rough year in 2008, which I didn’t realize, with West Nile and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Top that with a new job and you can imagine what 08 was like for them. All is well now though. David McCabe is still going strong. The last I saw he was losing weight and trying to get in shape. Monique Leonard and daughters Jamie and Stephanie are doing well. I have no news about Brian but only hope life is treating him well. Haitham and Erin Gasim are doing well; I saw them at Chris’s wedding also. I also talked with my good friend Devin Santel this year. He’s doing great, still enjoying his Harley. Donna and Howard Crawshaw are doing well, still boating in the summer and enjoying life. I also saw Herbie Voss and girlfriend Lesa at Chris’s wedding. They seem to be happy and doing well. Diana Gualtney is doing well and practicing in her new office. Jon and Lisa Zapp are doing well. Work on their home progresses slowly and I still get a wonderful newsletter from them every year. Mike and Chris Murrell are still doing well. Busy as always. RJ and Deb Schuller and daughter Rachel are doing well. Carmen and Grant Morgan are well and seem happy. Todd and Karla Patterson and daughter Kayla are doing great. I saw Todd twice this past year and Karla once. They look very happy. Lennie Pitcher is doing well, I saw him a few times this year also. He went to Africa on safari and did a shark dive. Bill and Vivian Doerflien and family are well. Bill is off doing military duty. I didn’t hear from Jackie Mifflin this past year. I hope she is well and still enjoying making the bears for the ER.