Greendale

Truly I have been blessed with a full life.

Starting in my junior high school year I taught accordion to 66 students in a music studio in
Milwaukee. After graduation I worked in the bank in Hales Corners until I married Les in February
of 1955.

We worked the fields harvesting produce for all the major chain stores.

During the next 9 years we had 5 children; Cindy, Les (Butch), Kathy, Connie and Chuck.
These were my major accomplishments in life. They were such a joy.

Les built greenhouses during these early years when he could spare the time.

In 1964 and 1965 we flooded out and lost all our crops. The expansion of New Berlin was
encroaching on our fields.

Driving semi for a chemical company was Les' next venture and I continued with the greenhouses. It
was a life saver as we had just bought our first home in 1964.

Trap shooting was our passion. We joined a league. I was high lady every year (the other ladies
weren't very good) and Les has many trophies also. He missed high man by only 3 "birds". Our team
was First most years. Our oldest son also joined our team. The highest I shot was 24 out of 25. To
cut down some of the expenses we did our own shotshell reloading.
Now we have a grandson following in our footsteps. He's the youngest to make the Wisconsin All
State Trapshoot Team for 12 year olds. He is also shot the May ‘08 U.S. Open in Sparta, Illinois.

In 1971 a piece of property became available in New Berlin and we started a garden center. Today it
is still there as "Nature's Nook". We sold it when we bought out in Cassville. Now we had a home,
greenhouses and a floral shop to keep us busy. Our customers were chain stores and garden centers
within a 100 miles radius. On becoming a florist I did all the weddings, funerals and general floral
arrangements. I also played the organ for all the weddings for 2 years in all 6 churches.

There was no trap shoot club in the area of Cassville, so we started one. It grew to the largest in
southwest Wisconsin.
Trapshooting is my favorite form of entertainment.

Two years later Les found another piece of property at Prairie Du Sac. He decided they needed a
garden center. Eventually we ended up with 8 acres on that sight. Now we had two shops 100 miles
apart.
Next Les bought a Cherokee 180 airplane, something he had always wanted to do. We both took the
written test and both got our temporary licenses. He went on to finish and get his private ticket, but
this was not my calling. I did take some lessons and could fly the plane, but I liked my feet on the
ground. I stayed and ran the Cassville shop while Les managed Prairie Du Sac. The plane came in
handy as Les would fly between shops and save time.

In 1979 I moved up to help with the PDS shop. By this time our children were married except for
Chuck. Kathy, Les (Butch) and Chuck all worked with us. It was a "Family affair". Now we had 16
greenhouses, a floral shop, garden center and landscape services. Along with 11 full time and 35
spring time employees.
To cut down on expenses Les invented a seeder. We started the Seed E-Z Seeder Company and are
now selling to 29 countries. A germination chamber, dibble board and a plug popper were added to
the line of equipment. Other equipment included an automatic transplanter, a tagging machine and a
watering system. These were back when computers were in their infancy. It ended up with too much
training to the user and time we didn't have. Eventually these 3 were dropped from our line. We
averaged 10 trade shows a year for 10 years traveling to Japan, Argentina and Canada.

We went to Hawaii, Aruba and Las Vegas for our vacations. We usually went to Aruba in January for
3 weeks. It was the only time we really could get away for a real vacation. A few trips to Las Vegas
were squeezed in each year and we paid our dues to the gaming gods.

Our low point in our life was when Chuck was killed on a motorcycle in 1989 at the age of 25.
No one should have to bury a child. You do heal but it takes a long time. There is a part of your
heart that belongs to each loved one and no one else can fill that void. You have a choice to stay
in that hole you are in or pick yourself up and make the best of your life. I chose to go on living.

In 1993 we retired to Lake Placid, Florida. We flew our plane from Wisconsin to Florida in one day.
It was smooth as silk. Les flew and I did the navigating. We had a GPS and it was fun checking for
the nearest 10 airports. It was hard leaving the family, especially after losing Chuck. We did make
one more round trip to Wisconsin with our plane to visit the kids. We got back as far as Tennessee
and had to spend the night because of bad weather.

Florida was as close to being in Heaven as you could get. I golfed, swam every day, bowled, joined a
bunco club and met with 80 women once a month for a luncheon. Since I love crafts I painted
ceramics, made a porcelain doll and painted my own cards. Doing glass painting was another hobby.
Give me anything and I will paint it. We lived on a canal with access to three lakes so of course we
had a pontoon boat. My favorite outing was July 4th, taking the boat out at night and watching the
fireworks. 80 CC scooters were another fun toy. Our drivers licenses now read motorcycle as that
was a requirement.

I made some wonderful friends whom I miss dearly now. I spend a lot of time on the phone keeping
in contact with them. It is great to be back near my kids. They tell me they are really happy to have
us back. They never lied to me before so don't think they are now.

Les had cancer in 2001, but didn't need any treatments. They got it all . . . along with the kidney and
some other parts.

He also bowled in a couple of leagues and we did many tournaments. He was very good. I did hit 600
a couple of times. Sure can't do that anymore. We had a beautiful wall painting in the house on an
upper ledge which Les painted and decorated with ships and a lighthouse. Woodworking was his
passion and he made lighthouses and decorative wall pieces which were sold in a furniture store.

I had to give up a lot when I tore the rotator cuff and had spurs. I didn't opt for the surgery so you
live with it.
Some more bad health in 2007 brought us back to Baraboo, Wisconsin in September ‘07.
After 5 months of great tests but no treatment in Florida and a loss of 22 lbs. my doctor back in
Wisconsin had me eating again. Both Les and I are feeling pretty good now. Age knocks at the door
every once in a while to remind us of how old we really are.

Our son retired in 2004 so he closed Tesch's Flowerland in PDS and we are running the
Seeder Company again. It's great to still be in contact with the outside world. Thank goodness for
e-mail as I am not fluent in other languages. It is a full time job January thru March. Check our
website at www.sezsdr.com I do all the bookkeeping and sales while Les does the drilling,
manufacture and packing.

Now my time also involves crossword puzzles, sudoku, scrabble, free cell and rook. All these require
brain activity. They say this is important. Physically we have two bean bag games in the basement
which are challenging. I have a treadmill. It looks good standing in the basement. My life revolves
around a little chihuahua named Tiny. I walk him twice a day.

Along the way we also acquired 10 grandchildren and 3 great granddaughters. Among these are a
spanish teacher, physician, pharmacist, florist, mother, sales rep, semi driver, a computer tech and
two more in high school.

What's with all the snow this winter?

Did I mention God has blessed me with a full life?