Tracey Marie Magrann (parents)
BORN: Dec 12, 1960, Phila, PA
MARRIED: July 12, 2009
SPOUSE: Frank Reyes
DIED:
EDUCATION: Doctorate, Podiatric Medicine; PhD in Biology at Loma Linda University
CAREER: Retired Podiatrist; Currently I am a College Science Teacher; Teacher of the Year Award Letter of Commendation
HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Arts and crafts, music, computer, writing (SEE FAMILY WRITINGS PAGE)
CHILDREN:
NOTES:
TEN QUESTIONS FOR EACH MAGRANN
1. Who do you admire most, and why?
I admire Mother Theresa for her humanitarian activities, living in poverty while helping the poor. I also admire Jimmy Carter for spending his golden years of retirement building houses with Habitats for Humanity.
2. What do you know NOW that you wish you had known THEN?
I wish I had realized that the cause of a lot of my angers, fears, and depressions were caused by lack of appreciation. Once I learned that half of the world’s population is illiterate, without electricity, and that they live on only $2 a day, I began to appreciate my life. My ancestors would have LOVED to be able to get light just by flipping a switch, get water by turning a knob, having the garbage picked up and disposed of by the side of the house. When I compare myself to those who have less, instead of looking at those who have more, I am much happier every day.
3. What are some of your biggest blessings in life?
I am grateful for my health and my level of energy; for having a loving family and a good education. Even my trials and problems have turned into valuable lessons in life.
4. If you could change your past, what would you do differently?
I would have not taken some shortcuts with school to finish so soon. It would have been a good time to pick up a Master’s degree, and learn some more useful job skills with computer, etc. I also would have been more careful about saving photos in a scrapbook, videotaping memorable events, and keeping a journal about my thoughts on various subjects. I wish I had become organized sooner!
5. What is one of the hardest things you've ever had to do, but are glad you did?
Going to medical school; taking 25 units a semester was tough, but now I always have my education and my doctorate, even while I’m changing careers.
6. What do you hope your grandchildren (or the next generation) will learn about life?
Acceptance of people as they are and events as they occur will save a lot of time from being wasted on anger, fear, and depression. Remember, acceptance of something doesn’t mean you have to like it; as a matter of fact, accepting something implies that you don’t like it! Unpleasant circumstances have to be coped with eventually, and the end result is always acceptance anyway. You may as well speed up the process and save yourself a lot of headaches.
7. Who in the world would you most like to meet and talk to (past or present)?
I’d like to talk to Thomas Magrann Sr, who came from Ireland and started our family tree. I’d like to know why he left, who his ancestors were, and I’d like to hear about his travels. I’d like to hear from his brother, Jim Grant, as well.
8. What was the happiest day of your life, and why?
Giving birth to my only child was the happiest event of my life. Becoming a mother made me understand the concept of unconditional love. After that, my whole perspective changed about what love is, and what is most important in life. It helps me love everyone in the world for who they are.
9. What are some of your happiest successes or accomplishments?
Gathering genealogy information, connecting with more and more relatives by email, putting up a Family Tree website, and learning about everyone’s personalities. I also love the computer skills I am learning and putting to use, and I am happy about having written some books and songs. I feel that everything that I leave behind in writing will carry on without me when I’m gone, and my descendents will know a little about who I was and what I’ve learned. I won’t be just a name on a page of a family tree scrapbook, like so many who have gone on before me.
10. What was your favorite vacation, and why?
Going to Puerto Vallarta with my Dad and sister was really exciting, very cultural, fun, and with luxurious accommodations, too! I loved the city tour and shopping for something handmade by the locals that represent the country.
Tell Us About Yourself
Former Podiatrist, but now I am a college science professor, teaching Anatomy, Microbiology, and Physiology.
Fullerton College: AA degree in Liberal Arts
Cal State Long Beach: BS Microbiology
Samuel Merritt College of Medicine (formerly CCPM): D.P.M.
Loma Linda University: PhD in Biology
Cal State Dominguez Hills: Community College Teaching Certificate
American Red Cross: Certified CPR/First Aid Instructor
3. What are your hobbies and interests?
Writing: Short stories, poems, books, songs
Music: Flute, guitar, keyboard
Art: glass etching, woodworking (especially scroll saw), crafts, paper toll
Computer: PowerPoint slideshows, website design, photo touchups
Genealogy
Collections: Inspirational, funny, or interesting writings
4. Do you do any volunteer work?
My favorite charity is Heifer International, which will give free animal husbandry training and a starting batch of animals to families in third world countries. For only $20, they will give one family six chickens, each female of which will lay about 200 eggs a year. With the money they make from the extra eggs and chickens, the family can buy the other food they need, and pay for their children’s education. At the end of the first year, the family must give six of their chickens to another family which Heifer will also train, and so on. Therefore, with one $20 donation, one family PER YEAR will be lifted out of poverty!
I also enjoy tutoring kids in various subjects, giving computer lessons, and helping senior citizens and the disabled. For the American Red Cross, I am a CPR/First Aid instructor.
Other things I do fairly regularly include collecting small, new toys for Spencer’s Treasures, which gives them to kids in the hospital who have to go in for painful treatments. I recently put together donated items for hygiene kits for the Tsunami victims. Project Linus is another charity I work for, arranging quilting parties to encourage others to make homemade blankets for kids who are in orphanages, hospitals, or have lost their parent or their home to fire, flood, or earthquake. I found all of these charities on Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network website. It is very rewarding!
I was born in the suburbs in PA, and we left for Iran from 1966-1972 (1st-6th grade for me). While there, we visited England, Ireland, Rome, Germany, Tokyo, and Hawaii. I have also been to Canada in 1986, when Expo was in Vancouver. I came to California for college and San Francisco for medical school. I now live in Orange County, Ca, near Disneyland.
6. Have you had any memorable pets? What did you love about them?
I had a macaw parrot named Lovie, born on Valentine’s Day. She would sit by the window when kids were passing by as they came home from school, and pop up and down, saying “Peek-a-boo!” She also thought it was a game to pinch me (gently), and I would say, “Ow! No, no!” I would take her to my office and leave her on the perch while I was seeing patients. However, she began to call out for someone to come play with her by saying, “OW! NO-NO! OWWW!, which wasn’t a good thing to hear coming from a doctor’s office, so I had to start leaving her at home.
7. What life lessons would you like to share with the rest of us?
Acceptance and appreciation are the keys to happiness. Acceptance brings a person from feeling miserable to at least feeling neutral. Appreciation takes it to the next level, wherein happiness is found.
8. What are some special memories you have?
When I was growing up, we only had 28 neighbors, and we all pretty much knew each other. I enjoyed going to one neighbor’s house to look at her pansies, the “faces” of which were fascinating. Another lady would always take me in, sit me up on her kitchen stool, and chat while she fed me sunflower seeds, which she always had stocked in a jar. At Halloween, they would invite the kids in and try to guess our names. One home always had caramel apples after you survived a tour of their haunted house. Whenever I would go door-to-door selling things I found in the back of comic books (raffle tickets for prizes), Girl Scout cookies, or Avon cosmetics, people would always buy stuff from me. This increased my self-esteem, so to this day I always buy whatever kids are selling!
One year, when I was 12, I saw an ad on TV that Ronald McDonald was giving out kits to help kids put on backyard Fairs for charity. I got a kit, and all the neighborhood kids and I put on a fair (all the adults HAD to come, since their kids had a part in it!). We had a magic show, a vaudeville comedy act, a ventriloquist, a gypsy palm reader, and game booths with prizes. We made $45 for charity, which seemed like a lot of money in 1972.
9. What was the most memorable holiday your family has had, and why?
I love our annual Christmas Eve parties at my cousin’s house (Tom Jones). He lives near Christmas Tree Lane, where every house for many blocks is completely lit up with lights and animated figures. He hires a two-horse open sleigh, golf carts, or a limo each year to provide all his guests with tours.
10. Have you been witness to any special acts of kindness or heroism?
My mother was always a source of unconditional love to me. She was a stay-at-home Mom, and was always there when I got home from school. She was supportive of all my activities. Every holiday was memorable. The house was decorated everywhere you look with knick knacks for each holiday. She gave us all birthday parties, made Christmas a great memory, Halloween costumes, and Fourth of July barbeque pool parties. She would always get us new outfits (and a homemade coat for me) for Easter, with help in coloring eggs before the annual back yard Easter egg hunts. She gave me lots of arts and craft supplies, and whenever I would draw a picture, she would praise it and put it up on the refrigerator and tell me what an artist I was. When I wanted to take up piano playing or ballet, she took me for lessons. When I wanted to take up archery, she helped me get the equipment with my allowance, and drove me to the archery range. When I wanted to play guitar, she found one on sale that I could afford by myself. No matter what I wanted to try, she was supportive, and told me how good I was at it. I grew up feeling like I could be whatever I wanted to be.
I took all this for granted while I was growing up, but as an adult, I’ve seen a lot of other people suffering various emotional traumas from having mothers who didn’t show their love. I am very grateful to have been raised by parents who stayed together happily for their entire lives.
11. What are your goals (past, present, future)?
I want to polish up all my lectures for Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology at www.drmagrann.com so I can RELAX a little when I get home!
12. DO YOU HAVE ANY FUNNY FAMILY STORIES?
My Dad used to have crooked yellow teeth (runs in the family!). He always wanted the nice, straight white ones which he sports today, and here’s how he got them: First, he was in a car accident, where his chin hit the steering wheel and knocked out the bottom row. Then, during a family/friends party in Iran, he jumped off the balcony into the swimming pool (we didn’t have a diving board high enough to suit him). While he was in mid-air, a girl swam out under him from the shallow end, and to miss her, he had to land in the shallow end of the pool. The dentist said he could make his new teeth yellow like the old ones, but he said, “Are you kidding? I’ve wanted white teeth my whole life!” And that’s how he got his nice set of pearly whites! (The rest of us just get braces and laser whitening)