Clewley, Carol

The descendant of Colorado pioneers, I was born into a family of eight when my father owned the Pine Valley Dairy, now part of the U.S. Air Force Academy. After surviving bulbar polio (90% deadly), I managed to grow up in 1950s Colorado Springs, an innocent, fun time of my life. I went to work for HQ NORAD at age 17, married the love of my life when I was 21, and lived happily ever after until I was 40. Then my world crashed and burned.

My life descended into hell and, had I not been made of the tough, inner core of my ancestors, I'd have given up. Drawing upon the strength of lessons learned from my roots, my divorced parents, and the dogs in my life, an unexpected but lonely blessing occurred when I was 58 years old. It all began in 7th grade at East Junior High School on Union Boulevard.