Hi. We are Mike and Maureen Krol. We were asked that we write our first column to introduce ourselves.
I can say that we are mostly opposites—Mike is a neatnik and I am not. Mike grew up on a farm in the south suburbs and I was a city girl, born on the south side of Chicago and later lived for years in the DePaul area. Yet we have been happily married for over 23 years. Like many other couples we have worked out our roles. Mike is the gardener. I can kill plants faster than anyone. I cook and Mike cleans up (complaining all the way!).
We actually met at Illinois Bell in 1975. I had a credenza piled up with Wall Street Journals that I hadn’t read yet – Mike had a desk that did not have a piece of paper or a pencil on it. Things didn’t change.
We knew each other at various jobs throughout Illinois Bell and then Ameritech. Finally one day a common friend realized that we were both divorced and suggested that we get together – and history was made. We married in 1990. Mike was already a Naperville resident and I moved into his house. It was a shock to my system to get used to living in the suburbs, but eventually I fell in love with Naperville as much as Mike.
Long story short, we retired from Ameritech at the end of 1999. Note to wives: Don’t allow your husbands to retire on December 31 when golf is not available. Luckily, Mike decided to get more involved in photography, especially digital. That greatly helped my state of mind.
Then Mike decided he was going to combine his first two loves – golf and photography – and he made a goal to golf in all 50 states. Somehow after two states, he decided WE were going to golf in 50 states.
We originally tried to do it in one year, but it was too hard. We did accomplish this goal in three years and greatly enhanced our travels by visiting as many national parks and monuments as we could. The amount of photographs Mike ended up with was amazing.
Mike and I will be writing a column to share our experiences with people and places in Naperville. And we will also be sharing some of our travel adventures as we continue to explore new locations (and golf courses).
