|
Today's Featured Biography
Debra Bobst Graves
Hi, Everyone! I graduated from Holzer Medical Center School of Nursing with a diploma in 1979. I moved to Cincinnati in 1979 and continued work on a baccalaureate degree in Nursing at UC, which I completed in 1983. During that time , I lived with Mary Flannery Essell Hoover or near her in the same apartment complex. In 1982, I met Randy Graves through his sister, who worked at University Hospital, where I was also employed as a neonatal icu nurse. We were married in September, 1983, and I became a Kentuckian, though I do not root for the Cats and most of the time, I have to leave the room if there are too many Wildcats fans, because they are overbearing to this Ohioan!!
I am a member of Hebron Lutheran Church and found it to be warm and home-like, when I joined, in 1987. I really enjoy the music incorporated in the worship services, especially now with modern worship and an awesome worship band.
My three daughters are Megan Ashley, who is almost 22 and is a Theatre/English major and a spanish minor, currently at Northern KY University, finishing her 4th year. She had the privilege of being accepted at New York University and excelling there for two years, but for many complex reasons, she came back to Kentucky to finish her education. She had a great experience in the Big Apple, as did we, her parents and sisters, who drove her up and back at least four times to move in and out of dorms. We learned to navigate the Subway successfully, which is the best way to get around NYC quickly and economically. We saw a lot of Broadway shows and ate lots of ethnic foods during those two years. Now, I look forward and worry about Meg's fall semester 2007, as she has been accepted as an exchange student to the University of Leon, in Spain. Luckily, she has had 4-5years of Spanish and has been to Mexico and Madrid, in the past.
Daughter #2, Devon Elizabeth, is almost 20 and is in her 2nd year at Belmont University in Nashville, Tn. She is a Commercial Voice major, with an emphasis in song writing/composing and a major or minor in French. Commercial voice is any type of singing other than classical. Devon has written a lot of songs; most of them are contemporary Christian, but some are rock, blues, folk, bluegrass and other styles. Devon hopes to be a Christian musician, performer and use her music in ministry, whether that be in mission work or in other areas. This is why she is interested in French, so that she can go to Africa or Haiti or other French-speaking countries if the opportunity arises. I am looking forward to her next year of college with stress, because she is in the process of study abroad through Belmont, in a small provincial college in Angers, France. She has had one year of elementary french, but feels that she is ready to go and she wants to stay for a full year. When she gets back to the US, she will focus on her songs and get into the studio to record. She is working with a great vocal coach and teacher this year and she is very thankful to have found her.
Gracie, ie, Grace Victoria, is my 131/2 year old, who is finishing the 8th grade, and has been involved in dance and tumbling since age three, but will be giving it up this summer, because she has inflammatory stuff going on under her kneecaps and her tendons, so after the recital in June, she has to give up everything that causes stress on her knees and rest for about three months, doing the prescribed activities from physical therapy. Luckily, a brand new YMCA was built near us and it has indoor and outdoor pools and a lot of activities that she will be able to do while she can't dance and a lot of her friends will be there hanging out over the summer, so I think she will be allright. It has been a chalenge for her this past year or two in Middle School, where algebra 1 and 2 were available for 7th and 8th graders. It has been a lot of work for her and she would prefer not to work too hard if she possible can, but she has perservered and will be able to take Algebra3 and Geometry in High school as a Freshman--I am amazed because I know what I did not understand in 6th grade, which was pre-pre algebra concepts. I really struggled with fractions, decimals, percents, etc. in Middle school--it was probably my worst time of my educational years. Hopefully, she will enjoy High school, the classes and the activities better than middle school.
I have worked at St. Luke West since 1991, in the Newborn Nursery. We take care of normal and special care babies. I like the convenience of a hospital close to home and not too many traffic problems related to getting to work. I am active in my church, especially in the areas of music, drama and youth ministries, but there has been less volunteering on my part as I struggle to get used to being a night shift worker. I lost my two teen drivers when Megan and Devon went off to college. Grace still had dance, gymnastics and other after school activities for which she needed a driver, so the only way I could manage this was to become a night worker. I really like the atmosphere of the hospital at night, but it is a challenge to get the right amount of sleep. I make myself do it though, or I could not stay awake or feel well at night. Working with families who have just had a baby make it necessary for me to be pleassant and in a good mood, after all they are celebrating the birth of their new baby and they should have nice, competent people caring for them, and I can be that person if I am rested!
My husband, Randy, is a booze-maker!!! for Pernod-Ricard, USA, formerly Seagrams, of lawrenceburg Indiana. Actualy, he is a Chemical engineer, who currently works with Environmental health and safety of the distillery. He has had the privilege of going to Paris, France three times in the last two years, for conferences on environmental health and safety. He was able to tour Paris, Ireland, Scotland, Brussels and a few other places as he toured their distilleries to learn about their safety processes. He almost got locked in the Louvre, because it is such a big museum and it goes out in a lot of directions, once you actualy get inside the galleries. Pernod is about to be bought by a company from Tinidad-Tobago, called Angostura. We hope they keep the environmental engineer, which is Randy, but we'll have to see what they want. He will have to interview, but in his favor is a lot of specialized information that only he knows, because he is a Department of one! Whenever he can, he likes to garden or help his dad on the farm. His parents are 85, and this is the year that his mom has had to go in a nursing home- a real big change for her and her husband, as well as the family.
Good news is that we are going to hawaii on June 13th to my niece, Heather's wedding. We are all excited about that. The bad news is that we won't be back until the night of the 25th, so we are not able to attend the reunion. I appreciate all the correspondence from Pam and the calls from Kim Turner. I have been very busy with a lot of things, and have wanted to reply before this, but was waiting to be sure that we were actually going to go to Hawaii, and we now have plane tickets and a place to stay, so it's official. Many of Randy's family members and some friends are going over, also, so there will be a family group staying in the same vicinity able to sightsee and do some things together.
I hope the reunion is a lot of fun. I amsure it will be. I wish I could be there and I appreciate the hard work that you are putting in to it. I appreciate the web site and all the letters and stuff taht you have sent out. I hope to add some pictures to this at a later time.
Sincerely,
Debi Bobst Graves
VIEW ALL BIOGRAPHIES
|
Indicates an included photo
