I am Vickie Reti. Clinical Supervisor in the Antelope Valley Outpatient Clinic. I have been at Penny Lane for almost 20 years. I have been married to Steve for 25 years. We have three children and two granddaughters. We love to hike, go to museums and the beach. We also like to travel. Our most recent excursion was to Spain – Barcelona, Madrid and Granada.
I am Northern European, Irish, German, but I identify as American. Many generations of my ancestors have lived here. My father’s family arrived from Ireland in 1745 and worked as indentured servants on farms in the Carolinas. My father joined the Navy after high school. He was stationed in San Diego and met my mother on a blind date. They had been married for 40 years.
My mother’s family emigrated from Germany at the turn of the 20th Century and worked as servants in California. My mother and her mother were both born in Los Angeles and grew up in California. She graduated from Venice High School.
I grew up in Saugus, California –now part of the City of Santa Clarita. Saugus was a rural farming community where there were corn and onion fields and dairy farms. I went to school with the kids of the farm workers. We hiked and camped in the hills around my home. I still live here, blocks from my childhood home. The farmland is gone now, Santa Clarita is now an upper middle class bedroom community, but to me, it’s home.
I come from a large Catholic family – 8 children – 4 boys, 4 girls – 29 first cousins. Most of us are artisans of one sort or another. My siblings have all moved to other states, but we try to have a sibling’s reunion every year. My Dad worked in Aerospace, and he loved to play golf and make custom golf clubs. My Mom made quilts, toys, pottery, and did embroidery. She taught needlework and quilting. As my Girl Scout leader and she taught us how to sew and do embroidery. She loved to travel and took needlework classes all over the world.
We learned a lot about creating from our parents. I learned needlework and embroidery. In the last 10 years, I have taken up quilting, which is another family tradition. My Dad’s mom was a quilter, and my cousin remembers how her quilting frame hung on the ceiling and was lowered by pullies. I have a particularly close relationship with my oldest sister, Teresa, who lives in South Carolina. We love quilting together. We go to quilt retreats and quilt shows and take quilting classes. I recently entered a quilt at the local Quilt Guild show and won a third-place ribbon for excellence in piecing.
My mom was a great cook. Dinner was eaten at the table – 10 of us and we all had our own spot at the table. She made homemade pizzas six or eight at a time – 2 foot square. She had big flat handmade cookie sheets made by my dad out of industrial steel. At Christmas she made bread, cinnamon rolls and Kringle. We still make Kringle every year and post pictures on our family Facebook page. “How many are you making? Did you use pecans or walnuts, dark brown sugar or light brown?” When we can get together, we still enjoy big meals and sitting at the table.
My family enjoyed gathering at the holidays and sharing big meals together. My cousins gathered for Easter Egg hunts in our grandmother’s backyard in Santa Monica. Once my siblings and I had our own kids, we had Easter Egg hunts in my mother’s backyard. Decorating Mom’s house for Christmas was a tradition. She loved to hang ornaments on garland all over the house. There were so many homemade pieces. I have many of them and have sent many to my kids and grandkids.
My first experience with therapy and mental health was after I was divorced. I had two young children and found myself navigating educational and mental health areas with them and myself. I decided that I wanted to be able to help families navigate these areas as well. I went back to school, got my degree and started as a school-based therapist at Penny Lane.
-Vickie Reti, Penny Lane Centers
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