I decided to rewrite my bio since the one mistakenly sent in was a rough draft. My husband knows I am not a computer person so he decided to just copy my draft, knowing that I would continue to put it off. Anyway, here goes my life … 1963 to 2008. 

After graduation I started at the Continental School in Syracuse where I received my beautician license. I was hired by Alex Faraoni (Mr. Alex), the best boss I have ever had. I was engaged in 1964 and continued to work for Alex until I married in 1966.

We moved to Rochester, N.Y., where my husband worked for Xerox Corp. 

In 1967 our oldest son John was born. John served in the U.S. Navy before spending time in Philadelphia and Santa Fe, N.M. He now resides in Cortland and is a cook. He and his wife, Kelly, have six children – John, Marley, Casey, Marissa, Mira and Carmela. 

In 1970 our youngest son Marc was born. He has returned to Rochester after working in Washington, D.C., and Albany and is a Design Editor with our Rochester newspaper. He and his wife, Tracy, have two children, Maddie and Spencer. 

I was fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with my two little guys until 1975. I volunteered at the boys’ school at that time until the principal approached me about applying for a job in the Preventive Mental Health Program, a partnership between the Rochester School District and the University of Rochester. It was a wonderful opportunity and after being hired I spent a year training with child psychologists at the UR. It is a program that works with children and their families to promote social and emotional well-being.  

I spent 28 years with the program, working as both an aide and then a supervisor in a handful of schools over the years until my retirement in 2004 … loving the work I did. 

In 1985, my husband and I divorced but remained friends and continued to make our sons the focal points of our lives. 

I remarried in 1987 to my wonderful husband, Don, who has three sons and we started our journey to have a well-balanced, blended family. 

We have welcomed 16 beautiful grandchildren from 1987 to 2005 and are so enjoying watching all of them grow. 

Don retired from the automobile business in 1999. We then built our townhouse in Webster, N.Y., saying goodbye to mowing the grass and shoveling the snow. We still, however, do a great deal of potting plants on our deck. 

We both enjoy retirement – no schedules – just doing whatever we feel like doing day by day with never a dull moment. 

In closing, I do want to say that I loved growing up in Cortland and so enjoyed my high school years at Cortland High, especially the great Class of 1963.  

......Carol Cifonelli Heifferon