Jeanie (Cooke) Cooke-Fredlund LADC

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My name is Jean Marguerite Cooke-Fredlund. I was born to Gordon Guy Cooke, Sr. and Barbara Jean Carpenter-Cooke on January 10, 1949. In 1954, Barbara (my mother) left daddy (Gordon) and mama, Patty and I lived with mama's parents in Kasota, MN. Daddy had, at that time (and that Barbara knew of) two older children, Gordon Guy, Jr. and Cathy. Their mother had passed away from an incurable illness. As it turned out, daddy had been married three previous times. Being a musician, and a very famous one in his day, relationships seemed to have "come and gone". I entered school in Kasota then transferred to the St. Peter School System for the first grade; where I attended Catholic School. My younger sister, Patty, followed suit. Daddy died not long after at the U of M Hosp. in Minneapolis. Mama, of course, had to get a job to support us and went to work as a Nurses Aide at the St. Peter State Hospital. Those were very rough years financially for us and we seldom saw mama. We later moved to St. Peter (I was in the seventh grade) and lived there until mama met the man who would become our step father. We then moved to North Mankato MN. The following years were even more rough than before, since our step father had a problem with alcohol. Consequently there was much bickering. I could hardly wait to leave home. Thus, before long, became pregnant and married at age 16. Once again, Patty followed suit. I mourned the loss of daddy for many years - throughout my childhood really. I'm 73 years old now, and in retrospect, I don't believe that I ever overcame that loss. Later in my life I found my half-sister Cathy who lived in another state. She and I got together and celebrated our finally finding each other. I also later found my sister, Bev from another marriage of daddy's. She was an absolute darling but not very well and so our time together was limited. I just know that daddy was smiling somewhere up above at these encounters with his other children. I have two children with my first husband, and no more later on. My daughter, Shannon Jeanine is beautiful and now into her 40s. She and her husband have two children who I adore. My grandson, Jeremy, is the light of my life. My son, Gary Lee, Jr., had one child - a lovely daughter. Throughout the years I have maintained two careers: a Licensed Therapist and Dog Trainer, part time. I remained single for 22 years following my second divorce and was determined to never marry again. Finally, however, I found and married the most wonderful man I know , , , my husband, Ralph. He was Director of Finances at the State Capitol before retiring. Needless to say, I'm very proud of him. We have two beautiful dogs who are our fur children, Chloe and Trudy. They add incredible amounts of love and laughter to our life together. We have four acres in Lakeville with lots of lovely trees. It's a virtual paradise. I am very blest, and thank God everyday for my many blessings. Well, there you have it! That's the story of my life in a nutshell. Whoever is reading this, may God bless and keep you always, ~Jeanie Cooke-Fredlund