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MY PARENTS RUTH RUSSELL TIM RANDY ROLLY PAM SANDE
My brother Tim is 16 years older than I am. I really didn't know him much as a child but he had an interesting life. He was in hte USAF in the Vietnam years. His records actually say he was in Vietnam, but since I was a little girl at that time I really cannot remember any of that.
Tim got married in 1969. His wife, Doni, already had a son, Craig, and Tim adopted him, loved him as his own. Then Tim and Doni had 4 more kids, a set of identical twin sons, Damien and Cameron, and two daughters, Carri and Dana.
His sons, Cameron and Damien, can be seen in this photo. I have to admit, though, that I took it from one of their blogs.
Tim went to college and he went as far as getting a Masters degree in Education. That afforded him some opportunities that he may not have ever gotten otherwise. He taught on a reservation in South Dakota as well as in a 2 room school house in the plains of South Dakota. He spent some time in American Samoa, teaching for the Department of Defense. Then he went to England and taught there and was a vice-principal of a Junior High, I believe. He loved to enter contests and did it religiously. He had it down to a science. He did it pretty good, though, as he won things like tickets to amusement parks, etc. While he was in England he was on a TV game show. They did a short write up about him in the Military magazine the "Stars and Stripes." I believe that Tim had the nomadic blood that I have, and that many of our ancestors had. He seemed to glow when it was time to move again. He seemed to need that in his life. I am sure that his family didn't always agree that it was good to move, but I think Tim needed it. When I was pregnant with my eldest son I lived with Tim and his famliy.
They showed me unconditional love. Tim and his wife Doni, were wonderful to me, showing me that life does go on, and that I can make the best of my surroundings.
Tim encouraged me to finish college, to make the world better for myself. One summer Tim worked at Yellowstone National Park. Here is a photo of him and his family that summer:
Below are two pictures of Tim as a child, one in my mother's arms and the other one at age 6.
Bertha and Tim
