Today's Featured Biography

Debra Stickle Breeding

I cannot believe it has been almost twenty years!

I am really looking forward to seeing everyone again, if we are able to make it to the reunion. While my husband and I are planning to be there, I will believe it when I see it. Sometimes life has a way of dictating what shall become of each day. I fly a lot for work; In doing so I have learned that, with the best of intentions, sometimes the airlines do not get you where you need to be (when you need to be there) so I never believe anything will come to pass, until it does; especially, when it comes to cross-country travel.

Times have changed drastically and I am sure every one of us has changed, quite a bit, in many ways, since high school! We are not kids anymore, are we?! Thank God for aging! I would not go back to my teens for anything. What about you? Does anyone wish they could just be a kid again? I wouldn’t trade my wrinkles for all the money in the world! When I was in my early twenties, I once heard an older woman say, “With wrinkles, comes wisdom.” and I never forgot that saying. Of course, in my youth, it sounded absurd! Who would ever delight in wrinkles?! As the years passed and I often prayed for wisdom, I began to understand that older woman. God blessed me with wrinkles, as well, with the wisdom, but I truly cannot complain. In my opinion, it is a fair price to pay; it is actually a bargain, I would say!

I never want to stop learning, growing and becoming more of who God created me to be. I definitely think that every year, people usually get better and better. Not just mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, but physically as well… even without cosmetic surgery! It is nice to be able to appreciate who we are as adults and how we got here… isn’t it! I am thankful that through self-educating and using today’s medical and nutraceutical technology, we can all live longer and healthier than generations that came and have gone before us. I am shooting for somewhere around 104 years old. Anyone else planning for their elder years yet?

I currently work for a Private Consulting Firm, conducting seminars and counseling families of college bound teens. I am also in the process of building a Health and Wellness Practice. My husband is a Chiropractor and Acupuncturist. Nine months before we met he was in a tragic auto accident; his car caught on fire with him inside of it. It was a miracle he lived through it, has recovered and been able to speak about it. SeeBio...


That accident left him in a wheel chair for a time. After ten years of successful practice, as a Chiropractor, he was forced to drop out of practice and now to start over after a long recovery. However, that accident inevitably led us to meet one another and without it, we likely never would have met. After I was divorced the second time, and planning never to marry again, I decided to stick to my guns about men and celibacy. I vowed to remain single forever and devote the rest of my life to my kids, work, and other passions. One of which is writing and singing. Since Ed was recovering from his accident and had time to devote to his music, we ran into one another while looking for music partners. Had he been working crazy hours, as he did prior to the accident as a doctor, he would not have had time for his music and we never would have met. We became friends, business partners and then husband and wife. In some ways, his accident brought blessings. In and of itself, it was a blessing in disguise that we were able to find one another. My children love him and I love his little girl as my own. Our family is always very busy, to say the least, with five children between the two of us, work, starting a new practice, and working on our music ministry.

As for the name, “Hope”, hardly anyone ever calls me “Debra or Debbie” anymore; unless it is family or someone from Round Lake, of course. I have been gone since 1989 and have not set foot on Round Lake soil, since Austin (my second born) was a tiny baby. For many years, after leaving Round Lake, I worked as a Licensed Private Investigator and Children’s Advocate. While working with disadvantaged youth, a group of associates and children started calling me, “Hope” and it caught on. “Building hope in little hearts!” was my slogan and daily goal in my work. Building hope in the lives of troubled children built up hope within me, and my children, as well. It was a wonderful period in all our lives and we miss so many of them being with us. However, life also sometimes dictates career changes, despite how much we love the field we are in, and we must ‘go-with-the-flow’ moving on to other things. My past careers had their time, and place, and I am grateful for those years of growth. My biological kids needed a break and so we have been taking some time off to allow them to grow up without so much chaos. The kids I cared for in my work had extreme challenges and not a day went by without outbursts and conflicts that my children often had to witness. While my children still say they are ready to begin again, after two years off, I know that what they really need is their time with me, and within a more peaceful environment, growing up. Since I cared for high-risk therapeutic level children, day in and day out, a normal "peaceful" household could not be while continuing in my work. However, I am still in a field working with children and families (outside of our home) and I enjoy it immensely!

With a new marriage to an incredible man and both of us having career changes, my husband and I talk of someday going back into my old field. We would like to operate another children’s home as our part of our ministry, after retirement. Once our own children have grown and moved out, we can take something like that on again. He also has a heart for kids. For now, however, we are hoping to add another baby or two to our blended family sometime in the next two to five years… before our clocks tick out. Our kids would also like more siblings, so we are going to have to start relatively soon if we are going to space them appropriately. We know that God has final say, but we are going to give it our best shot!

Any one of you wishing to reunite, and chat for any reason, please feel free to write me. I enjoy hearing from old friends and even those of you who were only acquaintances in school. Let me know how you are and what’s been happening in your life!

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