Jan Cavalieri

Born Jan 1961 in Salina KS. Move to Topeka when I was 5 or so. We were very poor. Later on both my parents got their real estate license and were major sellers, they also flipped houses. Then they divorced when I was 19. Mother change fields to social work, my dad continued in Real Estate. I got a degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology. Went to Graduate school at Univ of OK, did a number of feeding studies on rats as well as managed a grant for the impact of alcohol on the hippocampus. Became lab manager. After many years of being "all but dissertation" I got fed up and moved back to Topeka to the job I listed above. Had 1 daughter with husband 1 and she's expecting in June. She got married a year ago in the PENGUIN EXHIBIT for the KC Zoo. The minister's side kick was named "Elvis" and stood by his side the whole time. Other penguin's watched with great interest. Was married to my 2nd husband who had been a System Software Engineer for IBM before getting laid off and came to work for the state. We also owned a company called Cavalieri Computing. He had 8 heart attacks over our 19 yrs of marriage, then he slipped on ice that shouldn't have been there and fell backwards - hitting his head and bursting a blood vessel. Almost bled out but was on life support for 12 days before we made the tough decision to let him go. I won a semi decent settlement. No replacement for my soul mate. Shortly after that my dear much loved Basset Hound had to be euthanized for Lymphoma, and 2 weeks later my dad died basically of old age but after withholding all but comfort care. I have an elderly cat that I hope dies before I do, an African Grey Parrot I dearly love but after this last month it looks like I will never be healthy enough to get him back from an exceptional sanctuary. I got into fish because I was deeply depressed and thought their deaths wouldn't upset me as much as chopping heads off of rats, euthanizing family pets and watching loved ones died. It's now starting to be too much work (I have 3- 29 gallon tanks and a 5 gallon hospital tank and for a while it got me in shape but I'm sick again and weekly water changes nearly kill me. I'm so grateful for the friendly and helpful assistance I have found here. I wasn't ever very social so I have few friends.