Janet Toy Vafis

1/21/03...
Hi, Sherry

The new site looks great. Thanks so much (again) for all the time you have spent on the NUHS65 web site. I, for one, greatly appreciate it.

We went to Australia in November and I thought we were going to be somewhere near Doug and Nadine Hume.  I re-read and printed out their Christmas letter from 2001/02 to reacquaint myself with their situation.  We corresponded by email and found out that they were
about eight hours away from a quick stopover in Brisbane, and it wasn't going to work out to be able to "swing by" and see them.  I was
thinking they lived in or close to Brisbane.  My point . . . had it not been for the web site, we would have never known where Doug and
Nadine were.  (Doug's mother and my mother used to work together.)

Your photo (with your adorable dog) is awesome. Thanks for sharing.

I really enjoyed the story about Chris Dabis & Paul - a truly incredible love story. Please extend my gratitude and thanks to them
for giving the domain and hosting the web site.

I also enjoyed reading about Bonnie Dorville and Tom Bonivert. What a great photo of the two of them!

I had no idea what Susan Burns was doing - and was surprised to learn she is apparently in the San Diego area.

I love Nyla Haddy's web site and it was interesting to see what Chuck Woodbury is doing.

Where's the link to your web site?  I remember looking at your Mini-Mokes (sp?) and learning about them for the first time in my
life.  Your link should be listed with everybody else.

Thanks again, Sherry.  I wish you continued happiness and health in 2003.

Jan

7/1/2000
Hi, Class of 1965 ! ! ! I am so sorry I can't be at the reunion. We will be on a trip from July 7th through July 16th - a spear fishing trip that was arranged many months ago. Per Millie’s request for a 500-word essay, here is a quick summary of my life since high school:

8/65 to 11/66  Worked for the law offices of Todd & Bishop in Grass Valley.

10/66  Married my high school sweetheart, Mike Davidson (Class of '65).

11/66  Drove to our new home in San Diego in my little red VW bug (with Gale Henwood).  Mike was in the Navy in San Diego. Got a job as a legal secretary for a solo practice attorney and earned $500 per month - an excellent salary in those days !

09/68  My best buddy, Janice Lee, and I attended the funeral for our good friend, Lynda Renfree. Very sad.

04/69 - 12/90  Moved to a 5-lawyer law firm and started out as a legal secretary and also worked as a paralegal and office manager. Ended up as the firm's Legal Administrator overseeing 23 lawyers and 50+ staff.  Retired from the law firm at the end of 1990.

12/69  My precious, beautiful daughter, Sandra Lynn Davidson, was born.

05/74  Mike and I divorced.

02/85  My father, Doug Toy, passed away.

1990-Present  Worked in the office of my best friend and significant other, George Vafis.  I manage George's dental practice and it allows him to enjoy doing what he loves - dentistry.

01/99  Got married to George Vafis. Yes!  I’m a newlywed ! ! !  We were a couple for over 25 years. We lived together for nearly 20 years.  For our honeymoon we spent a month in New Zealand. We rented a car and drove all over the south island, did a lot of trout fishing, and plenty of hiking.  I even went tandem parasailing (with an experienced guide). The cable behind the boat that took us up was released when we were at 1700 feet and we drifted down on our own, doing some acrobatics on the way. It was awesome!!!

Family  My daughter lives in San Rafael and graduated 05/99 from College of Marin (with honors!).  She got accepted to the nursing program at College of Marin. She was a late bloomer as far as college is concerned. Before getting serious about college, she worked in law offices.  Although she has had a few boyfriends, she is still single.

Mike Davidson lives in Santa Rosa and works in San Francisco. He has two children by his second marriage.

My mother, Jean Toy (age 78), has been ill for the past few years. 1999 and 2000 were especially bad years, but she is hanging in there.  She has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema.  She is currently at an assisted-living private residence in Concord.  Since 01/99, I have been making monthly 5-day trips to Concord to be with my mother and to give my sister a break. My sister, Carol Toy Zugnoni (Class of '57) has lived in Concord for over 35 years.

George has three children (ages 35, 37, & 39) and six grandchildren (ages 4, 6, 7, 7, 9, & 11).  I am very happy to be their Grandma. Four live in San Diego, so we are very close to them.  The twins live in New York.

For Fun  We have traveled extensively and it is usually to a destination where we can go spear fishing and fishing. We spear only fish that we can eat. My husband is excellent at free diving (holding his breath) and spearing fish. I am usually right there with him to assist if he needs help. I carry a spear gun and have speared fish, but I prefer to watch and help him.  George's biggest fish speared was a 236 lb blue fin tuna.

We also do some SCUBA diving - but we do mostly free diving because we can stay in the water longer and in most places it is illegal to spear fish while on SCUBA.

Our travels have taken us to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Philippines, New Guinea, Palau, Virgin Islands, Roatan, Belize, Bahamas, Tahiti, Tobago, Cozumel, Ixtapa, Cabo San Lucas, and the Sea of Cortez.  Our motto is "work hard / play hard."  We bust our butts for a few weeks and then we travel for a week or two.  We have talked about retirement, but George loves dentistry too much.  So . . . our "work hard / play hard" philosophy is kind of like semi-retirement.

My very best to all of you.  Feel free to email me.  I would love to hear from you.

Sincerely,
Jan Toy Vafis (pronounced “VAY-FUSS”)