Family Migration Project
Scotland and Germany
My story begins with a dancer from Scotland and an enlisted man from Chicago stationed in Germany.
My mother dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, but sadly she did not have the required body type. So, she took her talents and joined her friend Valerie in the European USO.
She travelled all over Europe and finally met my father in Manheim, Germany in the early 1960’s. My father ran the Enlisted Men’s Club where my mother and other acts entertained soldiers. My father left the Army and became entranced with show business. He wanted to become an talent agent in Germany.
My mother dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, but sadly she did not have the required body type. So, she took her talents and joined her friend Valerie in the European USO.
She travelled all over Europe and finally met my father in Manheim, Germany in the early 1960’s. My father ran the Enlisted Men’s Club where my mother and other acts entertained soldiers. My father left the Army and became entranced with show business. He wanted to become an talent agent in Germany.
The Phone Call
My father called his mother in Chicago and told him he met my mother and they were planning to stay in Germany. She begged him to come home and claimed she was ill and wouldn’t last much longer, which was actually a bit of a white lie as she didn’t pass until 1986.
Chicago
After that, my parents moved to my father’s hometown of Chicago and got married. I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1966 as my father took a job with a great deal of travel and my mother wanted to go home and be near family. She did the same thing when my brother was born in 1968. My family moved out to the suburbs of Chicago to Hanover Park in 1971 right before I was to start kindergarten. My brother Bobby was born in Chicago in 1976.
Florida
After numerous vacations to Florida, my parents decided they wanted to live there. We moved to the Orlando area in 1981 and I attended high school there. At the time, my father was a consultant for Ross Laboratories in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating high school I attended the University of Florida. As much as I loved Gainesville and the college life, I was directionless and didn’t do well in my studies. My father told me about a wonderful art school in Columbus called Columbus College of Art & Design. I decided to transfer there in the spring semester of 1986. After that semester, I withdrew as my relationship with my father became strained and moved back to Florida, basically picking up where I left off… floundering again.
College
I grew weary of having no goals in life and decided to go back to CCAD, this time on my own terms. I supported myself through college by working part time at a restaurant called The Bogey Inn, where I met my husband Jeff. He was a rock drummer and I fell in love hook, line, and sinker!
Meanwhile as I moved back to Ohio, my parents moved back to Florida after my brother Bobby graduated from high school.
Meanwhile as I moved back to Ohio, my parents moved back to Florida after my brother Bobby graduated from high school.
Ohio
Originally, the plan was to move back to Florida right after graduation, but I fell in love. Jeff had a good job at the City of Dublin and he felt he couldn’t leave Columbus because of it. We married in 1994 and had two children and began to grow roots here.
I always thought I’d want to move back to Florida, but now I’m not so sure. I love living in a family friendly city with great schools. And, we’ve made so many wonderful friends and connections here. My mother also moved back to Ohio to be close to us. Family is important to me and I'm glad to have mine here in Ohio!
I always thought I’d want to move back to Florida, but now I’m not so sure. I love living in a family friendly city with great schools. And, we’ve made so many wonderful friends and connections here. My mother also moved back to Ohio to be close to us. Family is important to me and I'm glad to have mine here in Ohio!