Cathy (Bieniewski) Lynch

So whatever happened to “little” Bieniewski?  Well….

After graduation I headed down to NMSU 88’-90’ where I studied; or not so much for two years.  I transferred out to ASU Summer of 90’ studied a bit more fervently and continued on for two more years- pulled an Oprah and have a few classes left for a Marketing degree; was hoping to write jingles in commercials- I am famously excellent at this to this day- but my talents were never discovered and I ended up with a simple degree from the School of Life instead.  Turned out to suite me just fine though.  While living in Phoenix, (actually Mesa/Chandler) July 5th of 92’ I married SuperMan aka Patrick…as a life partner this guy is phenomenal- our family has tripped up laughed over, cried through, and stumbled into some of the absolute best times imaginable. May of 93’ 10 months and 5 days after the big wedding we met our first born- Tiana. This kid was born goin’ places…I think it skips a generation or something- because she is the epitome of over achiever, 4.25 GPA plays volleyball for the RAMS, varsity swimming- JV tennis…I could write a whole page ~and we are seriously hoping there wasn’t some sort of mix up at birth because we have know idea where this comes from?  August of 95’ was the big intro to our Son Tyler.  Talk about a heartbreaker… he has the most incredible character- from the moment we met him he has had a sweet calming effect on the entire family…which stems up from one of the purest hearts I have ever met.  He manages a 4.0, ready for his Eagle Scout project- golf nut, runs track for the RAMS, swimming fanatic and a smile that everyone wonders what he is up to.  Moved to Louisville Kentucky 2 weeks after we brought Tyler home- where we proceeded to meet some of the most colorful people I have ever encountered…it’s a good thing our stay there was not meant to be- we loved every bit a tad too much- that Midwestern hospitality is no farce.  After the first tornado warning I got to wondering about hangin’ around a town where things can fly by and into your window at alarming rates of speed so we headed back to Los Alamos to grow up a bit more-and interestingly enough a month after we moved our old neighborhood was torn up by a big Tornado and lot’s of our friends suffered damage, but thankfully only property.  We left Los Alamos July after the Cerro Grande fire- Pat was commuting back and forth from Los Alamos to Rio Rancho where we ended up settling in – August of 2001…11 months and 8 days after arriving in Rio Rancho while I was waiting to meet our third child in the hospital- he and his buddy Jeff were trying their darndest not to miss the momentous occasion stuck in the worst traffic complications in history- he decided to check out Sandia National Labs after that, where he is still currently working.  He made it in time to meet Ms. Tara Katelyn at the same time I did, which was a good thing because this one had her Daddy wrapped around her finger from the moment he set eyes on her!  She is the free spirit in the family, kind of wondering if the whole over achievement thing takes a break with this one- only time will tell~ but we  totally see her surfing in and through her future finding cash for surfing wax at a sidewalk vendor…snow cones or maybe watercolor pictures. She melts each of us with her antics and keeps us on our toes.  -In the Fall I will be starting a new job as the Registrar/Receptionist for the New Elementary School just up the street from our home.  This is the longest we have lived in one place-Pat seems to get the bug to overhaul our lives every 5 years or so whatever wild hair he discovers next- we are just hoping to hang out here.  Suppose it’s one of those stay tuned intervals…After having spent the last years volunteering for everything imaginable I am looking forward to stepping out of the box.  With these beautiful children of ours I manage to find myself humbled each and every day.  My family has been the best gift ever, and I can not imagine the last 20 years any other way… ok maybe earning the Noble Peace Prize (stinkin’ Gore did NOT even deserve it) and they keep skipping over me every year (living through Drivers Ed with your kid TOTALLY deserves the Noble Peace Prize…at least an Oscar or something!)

So that’s whatever happened to “me”… Peace Out and here’s to another awesome segment through the next season in our lives.

Have to say my jaw hit the floor when I first signed on to check out the web site- I was truly in shock- took me about 3 weeks until it finally sunk in that Les was gone…pray for his Soul each week at Mass-probably always will.  I learned quite a bit from Les- trying to keep up with that long lumbering gait of his- hoping against all hope that he stayed true and didn’t conform…rather like to think he didn’t.  I do know that he took a piece of my heart with him when he had to check out early.  I will always be grateful for what I learned from Les Armstrong he is a big part of who I am today.  Even at the risk of sounding too Fall out Boy-ish” I would sincerely like to just whisper into the wind and hope it carries far, and wide enough for him to hear “thanks for the memories…”