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Classmate Profile:
Ted Bryson
| Well, after graduating I worked for a year in the grocery industry (anyone remember GEMCO?). Then one day, all of the constant parental lectures on the importance of a college education finally sank into my thick head. So, thanks to my Dad I was able to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder (Go Buffs!) for pre-law (BA=Classical English and Elizabethan Literature), but in my senior year I realized I didn't like lawyers or what they did, besides Colorado was just too cold! So I returned to San Diego and enrolled at SDSU and got a BS in Criminal Justice Administration and wound up - go figure - as a bar manager! I worked at such fun places like El Torito Mission Valley and La Mesa, Lehr's Greenhouse, Who-Song & Larry's, Garcia's and Diego's. Talk about a kid in a candy store... During this time, I also worked as an adjunct professor to SDSU's PE department and I taught basic, intermediate and ocean sailing. What a great time... sailing all day and in a nightclub all night! After five years of this kind of fun, somehow, and to this day I still don't know how, I magically appeared in the business of consumer electronics. I did time at Panasonic; PDS/POS and Business Systems departing as Director of Operations and Support. I also met my future wife at this time. I moved to Philips/Magnavox;EWD Director of Sales for the Western US and the Republic of Mexico, but again I had to leave because my bosses kept trying to promote me. I come to find out that promotions mean double the work, double the travel, but not necessarily double the money. So I took a new position with Sharp (you know From Sharp Minds Come Sharp Products,) I sold microwaves, Viewcams, TVs and such to places like Tweeters, Costco, other large chains, co-ops and many distributors. Just too much traveling and time away from my family! Things were going great. I got married to a wonderful and beautiful woman, Inez. I adopted her three kids (James, Stephanie and Angelica) and in 1997 we brought my incredible son Andrew into the world. He is now nine and in 3rd grade. He is an all-star Little Leaguer in Poway. He likes: gymnastics, soccer, paintball, skateboarding, surfing and his iPod. It's amazing to have a kid who likes GreenDay, Zeppelin, the Beatles and Blondie, rather than hip-hop and rap. He's a very patriotic kid, too. He makes me a very proud dad! We had it all, a great family, a big house in Poway, a great job and two dogs. Then the shoe dropped, I started having health problems and wound up taking long-term medical leave to figure out what was going on. Crohn's Disease was what they said. A serious, but a manageable immune system disorder. Unfortunately, serious health issues take quite a toll on relationships, including my marriage. But, I continued to have odd symptoms that didn't seem to match the original Crohn's diagnosis. I continued to undergo waves and barrages of medical tests. Then the other shoe dropped. November 2004, after another year of needles, electrical shocks and MRI's, I was told that I also had ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. So, I retired. I took my son to Disneyworld and then on a cruise to the Caribbean. I coached Little League. I volunteered at my son's school and spent as much time as I could with Andrew and my family. My Buddies from high school, family and friends have rallied around me and have supported the last two ALS Walkathons. I am now mostly homebound and an advocate for the local ALS chapter. And, I got to spend time with Mark Lorreta San Diego Padres All-Star! (before he got traded to the Boston Red Sox this fall). I hope that all is well with you and yours! God Bless & Take Care, Ted (Profile written March 2006) Find out what's new with many of our other classmates by attending our next Reunion! |
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(Butterfield) Dike, Cheri
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Cecil
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Future Classmate Profile
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