Jean Eckman Nelson
1525 Lodge Ct / Boulder, CO 80303
Spouse: Scott Nelson
Children: Patrick / Susan
Education:
Bio:
Writing the week before the reunion kind of time travels me back to sophomore year when my procrastinating self would write my English theme during my French class the hour before the theme was due. I’ve improved somewhat over the years, but clearly it’s still an issue.
The friendships I made in my B’ham school years are priceless, and I appreciate the good education we were given. My best life experiences have definitely occurred after graduation, though, and “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” was my theme song. Late bloomer syndrome, I think.
I kind of majored in major changing in college and took a while to get around to graduating, but wound up being a CPA (which I’d never even heard of when I graduated high school). It was more interesting than you might think, as I started out at Peat Marwick (now KPMG) in Phoenix. Our SEC client Del Webb needed audits of not only their casinos in Reno and Las Vegas, but also at four marinas on Lake Powell (which had much more water in it at the time than in recent years). I wasn’t assigned to their Sun City development built for people like -ahem- us now, but I was amused by the tales of at least one golf cart per week winding up in a water hole because the driver wasn’t complotely seber. I switched to the tax department and found that to be quite interesting also. Many people will tell all kinds of secrets about themselves before they will divulge their financial affairs, and there it all was before me! Finding all kinds of creative tax shelters for wealthy businessmen and professional sports athletes, among other things. One client was less than happy when his Cayman Island offshore accounts surfaced, but so it goes.
Anyway, when my husband and I decided it was time to have a family, I worked for a local firm instead, had a wonderful son and daughter, tried being superwoman who could balance parenting and demanding work (it was still a pretty male world with a definite glass ceiling in Ohio at that time) and finally hung it up. My husband’s medical practice was doing well by then and we knew we were very fortunate to be able to be a one-income family and not hassle with day care or au pair or nanny.
My husband decided to retire as senior partner of his 5-man (yes, they were all men) ENT Head and Neck Surgery practice back in 2009 and asked me if I’d like to move to Boulder, Colorado. I responded, “How about tomorrow?” Mind you, we met in Denver in 1979 as he was finishing his last year of residency. The plan as I understood it was that we would leave for 3 years while he set up an ENT clinic in Tuba City, AZ on the Navajo/ Hopi Indian Reservation. We made fabulous friends there with the other medical staff with whom we still keep in touch, but between that and a couple of other stops along the way, it took us 30 years to get back to Colorado rather than 3. What’s a zero here or there in life’s journey? In Ohio we had my wonderful in-laws, the kids got to know their grandparents on that side (my parents died pretty young), and we made more wonderful friends. But I really love Colorado and my nerdy self loves being able to be a “Senior Auditor” at university classes and not having to write any papers or take any tests but just being able to soak up information. Plus very accessible skiing, biking, hiking, and camping. Good stuff even when there is no pandemic.
Our kids (Patrick and Susan) live in nearby towns and love it here as much as we do, so I guess good things often really do come to those who wait. The climate crisis is quite apparent here what with floods, fires, ozone, and an ever-shorter ski season, but IMHO the whole planet is troubled these days. West of the Mississippi may be a particularly unfortunate location, however, as John Oliver so aptly,irreverently, and in foul-mouthed fashion described in his “Water”episode on Last Week Tonight at the end of June 2022. (Available on YouTube for those interested.)
This is already longer than I intended, so it’s time to sign off. Looking forward to the reunion and many thanks to Wood and helpers for all zooms to date and all the work it’s taken to make the in-person reunion happen in these challenging times.
My photos:
Susie and Pat, 1991 / Mt.Kilimanjaro (Uhuru), 19,340 ft., 2011 / King Penguins, Falkland Islands, 2017 / Pat and Susie in Panama, 2018 / Susie, Pat, Scott, Jean, and Bea (Pat’s fiancé), 2021