We’ve heard a number of people say that they felt our 50th
reunion was the best. I’m sorry, but Shirley and I totally disagree. The best
reunion we’ve had was the 20th. Two people that HATED EACH OTHER a
whole bunch got reacquainted and realized that they DIDN'T HATE EACH OTHER as
much as they thought they did. In less than 2 months we will celebrate NOT HATING EACH OTHER for thirty years.
Next Stop Tucson!
Sold! Relocating
It was September, 1986. I’d just sold my barbershop in Rapid City and we loaded my van with my guitars, amplifiers,
a PA system and 3 pairs of clean socks (maybe 4?). Destination -- Tucson, Arizona. One
week later we were married, and the rest is HYSTERIA!
Shirley worked for a
company called Research Corporation (28 Years), and I had to first get an
Arizona barbers license and then a job. I found some musicians and started
playing before my license was obtained, so that helped some.
Barbering in Tucson
My first job was with 2
older barbers that wanted to only work part time, so I was able to work full time
and still have Saturdays off, which made it a lot easier to play Friday and
Saturday nights without having to get up real early Saturday mornings and go to
work.
The fellows that I worked
with were Erik (from Sweden) and Bob (from Canada), and they had both done
quite a bit of traveling. Erik would tell me about different places that he’d
been to, and it sounded very exciting. That may have been one of the things
that got us started. We became very good at getting lost and have experienced
this in places such as:Rio, Beijing,
Shanghai, Moscow, Istanbul, Cape Town and others.
Ahhh! Just a little Bite My Sweet!
Last year we did kind of a
sentimental trip. When I was a kid, I saw as many of the Dracula movies as I
could and loved them all, so we went to Transylvania (Romania). The area is
very beautiful, but as they say, “Time changes everything!” As we were leaving
Dracula’s castle, I noticed this gorgeous ski resort. I hadn’t remembered it
from the movies. Oh well, that’s progress.
35th Reunion: Shirley & Al in middle, Mike Murray far right
One thing I hadn’t
realized when we got married was that Shirley is an excellent singer. She can
also harmonize with gas. (That’s better than what I might have said.) We
haven’t done a lot together musically (not as much as I would like to have
done), but we’ve had some good times doing as much as we have. One of the
really fun nights we had was playing for our 35th reunion in
Scottsdale. We were also fortunate to have good friend and fellow classmate, Mike
Murray, play with us that night.
We both retired about 6
years ago and feel that sooner would have been better, as I’m sure a lot of you
feel also. One of our hobbies is going to estate sales. Several months ago we
were on the way to some sales and passed by the fairgrounds and noticed they
were having an RV show. We had plenty of time so decided to check out the show.
To make a long story short, we ended up buying a motor home and are waiting for
the weather to cool off a bit so that we can take our kids:Carmen Louise (6 year old Chihuahua), Hunter
Louise (16 year old Westie) and Howard Louise (2 year old Border Terrier), load
them up and go camping. At our age, when you use the same middle name for all
of your kids, it’s easier to remember.
Al & Shirley Breaw, Happy in Tucson!
I guess it’s time to close
and, although we preferred our 20th reunion for obvious reasons, we
had a great time at the 50th. If any of you are planning to be in
Tucson, send us an email, and we can possibly get together and lie to each
other. Our email address is:sbreaw@hotmail.com. It’s probably better
to send an email than to call as we’re not quite as “Phoney” as we used to be. Take
care!
