I was born in Champaign, IL in 1964. When my parents divorced, I moved to a small (and I mean small) 
town called Chestnut, IL. I became a fan of REO Speedwagon's when I heard 'Sophisticated Lady' coming
 from my older brother's room in 1971. In 1979, I moved to Kentucky with my family. It didn't take me
                     long to find a Rock 'N Roll station out of Nashville, TN. I didn't hear much air  play of REO's music 
until 1981 when 'Hi Infidelity' came out. Needless to say between 1979 & 1981, I got pretty 
homesick for REO's music.

I returned to Kentucky in July, 1988. I have 3 beautiful children. They have probably heard 
more REO songs than they would like to, but they don't complain. Over the years, the radio stations in this 
area have changed. Several years have gone by without any of them playing REO's music, but now hardly a
                     day passes that I don't hear REO on one station or another. I have to admit, the songs bring back a lot of 
memories (mostly good ones).

                      I returned to school after the factory I worked for went south. It wasn't easy getting used to it again 
after being out for 16 years, but I have seemed to manage. One of my class projects was to create 
a PowerPoint presentation. This is where I decided to do it on REO Speedwagon. I got on the
 internet and found REO Brigade (now named REO Bridge), met a lot of wonderful people and
 got what information I needed on REO to finish the project. Naturally, I received an A on the 
presentation. I later did another PowerPoint presentation on REO Speedwagon for my 
Technical Writing class since there was a lot I didn't get covered in the first one. After some 
discussions with Jordan Taylor and Becky Rushing, I decided to create Gratzer Central. 
When I started the site, I  was taking a course in HTML and used it for a class project. 
With a lot of help from Jordan, I got an A on the project.

After being married and divorced twice, I have found a man that actually fits the bill
I've wanted since childhood. A man that makes me feel the way Gary Richrath does when he plays guitar. lol
I'm currently living in North Carolina. Couldn't believe it after NC beating the pants
of UofI in the NCAA Finals last year, but the move has been worth everything that I gave up.