This is caretakerray
Hello I am caretakerray. My real name is Raymond H. Van Hoff, but I’ve always been the one people come to for answers and help. Combine that with 11yr. As a personal health care Provider and you can see where the nick name comes from. I was born in Ft. Dodge, Iowa (U.S.A.), the oldest of 5 sisters and two brothers.
My father, rest his soul ,didn’t have much of a formal education yet he was the smartest man I ever knew. He taught himself to read using comic books and the few times he did write, he would look up the words in a comic and copy it. Very innovated.
He successfully raised all eight of us despite his losing a career as a butcher with amour and company when they simply close their doors on his plant. He also had several heart attacks. My mother , may she rest in peace, was instrumental in this as you can well imagine. My dear mother worried about all of us, as mothers do, but she saw a kind of rebel in me. I have always been a bit unconventional. She made sure I got a General Equivalence Diploma at 16 yrs old, and she is indirectly responsible for my first enlistment in the United States Navy in 1968.
My younger brothers and sisters have all don just fine, except my youngest brother who died about 2002. He is loved and missed by all. The family is somewhat scattered from Washington State to Calif. To Texas, to Louisiana to Iowa. With myself here in Michigan.
As I said before I joined the Navy in 1968 despite being exempt from the draft (yes there was a draft back then). I didn’t like Vietnam so I volunteered for submarine duty and was attached to a Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine. Since these types of submarines have two crews, I alternated between Charleston S.C. And Holy loch Scotland. When I wasn’t actually on the sub, I was in some sort of school. Since school was always easy for me (I have the type of mind that easily stores information), I learned everything from sound powered phones to oxygen generators to Conolog- a computerized type of ships steering. This kept me out of trouble. I did get to see Scotland, England and some of Spain during my off time. I also saw Russia and Jamaica through a periscope. Join the navy and see the world lol.
When my first stint with the Navy ended in ’73, I did some traveling. Mostly through the lower 48 states and some of Canada and Mexico. During this time I did a variety of jobs. I was a construction worker in S.C., a tree cutter in Ga., And partnered in a landscaping business in TX. I finally ended up in Boise Id where I got a certificate in Sales, Marketing, and Management and help an established company get established in that area. While in Idaho I was blessed with a son. His mother suffered Post Morton Depression for a while so I took on the task of raising him.
Later, when he went with his mother to Michigan, my depression got the best of me and I went into a slump. A few months later when his mother lost control of him, she sent him back to me. So here I was homeless, ringing a bell for salvation Army, and no idea exactly what I was going to do! Thank God for friends! I managed to go from homeless to having a place and driving a cab in about 3 months.
I then conned a catholic services outfit into paying half on a certified Nursing Assistant course and got Health and Welfare (that’s what they were called back then) to pay the rest. Viola! I now had a career with flexibility. After a few years we went to Michigan so he could be near his mother who loves him very much.
So why am I telling you all this? Because I I want you to know who I am and where I come from. But more importantly, I want you to know there is always hope. Always a way to get where you want to be. I had no real direction, no resources, and no idea what I wanted to do at first. Yet today I am semi retired (semi by choice), I work in a pizza place part time because food is my second passion, as well as life skill teaching. I am content and at peace with my life. I wake in the morning looking forward to what the day will bring- both the good and the bad! I love my life! I consider it successful. I didn’t do it all alone. My friends and family and my God had a hand in it all. The point is if I can do it so can you1 I want to share the experience, education and insights I have been blessed to achieve. Take my hand and we will make the journey to your success together. It won’t be easy, it takes hard work and persistence, but together we can do anything you truly want to. I did it and so can you!
