.329 | to Jan Bretz, from Randy Bretz
Grateful for my life companion, Janice Cruse Bretz
A 1966 summer romance during college eventually led to a proposal, and ultimately to our marriage, December 16, 1967. The next summer I was drafted and assigned to Ft. Clayton in the Panama Canal Zone. We were fortunate, because instead of Vietnam, it was an assignment which allowed her to accompany me. Our first son was born in the military hospital in the Canal Zone. So there she was, the wife of an Army draftee who was not bringing in much of an income, in a tiny apartment with a new child. She’d had plans for a professional career in education and after our time in Panama set those aside over the next couple of decades to raise our three sons, support me in my career in Indiana, agree to a move to Nebraska in 1979 for my career advancement and to further my education. One experience she had says a great deal about her. She was driving one afternoon in Indianapolis and blurted out “So here I am, driving a station wagon with fake wood paneling, married with a house in the suburbs, wearing double knit pants, and three noisy boys in the back seat.”
This woman not only dedicated herself to our family, she continued to encourage and support me through several career changes. The early years in Nebraska, she was so focused on our family that she still wasn’t able to pursue her dream to teach. As I reflect on those years and look at our sons now, I am so thankful for her dedication to our family. True, I was there, but it was really Jan who really was the person who had the most influence on our sons.
Eventually she did teach in a local high school and many of those students still keep in touch even today. After less than 10 years teaching, she “retired” to dedicate her time and a monthly run to Indiana to help her parents. Eventually, we moved her mother to Nebraska and that involved yet another decade of Jan giving of herself for her family.
There’s a whole lot more to this story, but here we are 54 years later, our sons are married, we’re blessed with 15 grandchildren, five of whom are married and 6 GREAT grandchildren. She’s been a phenomenal wife, mother, grandmother and now a great grandmother. I get misty eyed as I reflect on our time together, how she dedicated herself to our family and supporting me, and the wonderful times we’ve had together. We’ve been able to travel, we enjoy times with our family, and we have many good friends. All that and we’re still in love with each other. My heart swells with gratitude when I think of this woman who just happened into my life the summer of 1966 and has been with me all these years.
