Janet Grant Dukes

I lived at home with my mom until the age of 18. I never told anyone that my mother was a hoarder which made it very difficult during my school years. My first job was as a live in nanny for two twin boys. I also worked at Dow Chemical on Date Avenue doing filing and got to know Robert Nidy. I also worked at Bob's Big Boy as head car hop on the night shift. I met the love of my life when he pulled into the back of the the lot. He asked what was good and I replied a little girl no dress. He said he was going to pull out and go around so he could pull up front to see what I looked like. We started dating and would have been married 9/13/1969 but nine days before the wedding I got cold feet because we planned on buying my mother's house and I could not bare the shame as to how I had been living. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Speed and I will always be in each others lives. I was the youngest young woman to work for the Salvation Army as a secretary. I married Stanley Mayer and went to work for Title and Insurance & Trust as a branch manager's secretary. When the housing market failed I went to work for John Frank Mitchell, Inc., for almost 30 years when Frank passed away. At about the same time my marriage ended. I was set up for a blind date with my current husband George L. Dukes who owner of G&H Diesel. We have not been apart since that first date and I could not be happier. I also worke for Jeff Kearns at Wildwood Pools until my health took a turn for the worst and my doctors told me I could not work any more. I am currently working on a book about my life, something my friends that know my story have wanted to do. I look forward to seeing everyone this month.

I loved going to the games and the after game dances. My dance partner was the bomb and I just loved dancing on Friday nights.

I always loved singing in the choir especially the Feast of Lights. The choir trips were also fun. If my memory is correct on our last choir trip we got in trouble for being unruly in the hotel and Mrs. Edwards said it would be a long time before the choir would be taking any out of town trips. I do know I had laryngitis after the trip and I don't believe it was from singing.

Like everyone else in the world I remember that I was in Mr. Swanson's class when word came down that President Kennedy was murdered.

I skipped class a few times to go with a girl friend in her woody to Millerton Lake.

I had a very touching moment when a young man sent me an Easter Card while we were dating. I had never gotten an Easter card and I never forgot about it and the young man that gave it to me. I still have the card which shows that the simple things can be the most memorable.

At my ten year reunion a couple sat across from us. The wife was a Clovis gal and her husband used to date me while he was at Cal-Poly. Stan my husband at the time got pissed because the fellow kept talking up a storm about all the fun times we shared. When the server came to clear the tables she asked Stan if she could clear his plate. He said she could remove all but his knife because he might need it before the evening was over! That was just the way Stan was.