Linda Adams (Linda Haas Or White)

Laguna Beach High School

Class of 1974

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Linda Haas Or White - Class of 1974 - Laguna Beach High School

First Name	Linda
Last Name	Adams
Maiden Name	Haas Or White
Graduation Year	Class of 1974
Gender	Female
Current Location	Minneapolis, MN USA
Hometown	Laguna Beach, CA
Relationship Status	Married
About Me	I married Francis Xavier Dragun in 1976. We lived in San Clemente, CA, while I attended UCLA, commuting to classes scheduled Th/Fri/Sat In 1978, we moved to historic Lexington, Massachusetts, where my husband became VP of Memorex Corporation and I completed my graduate studies in clinical psychology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, earning my masters, doctorate and PhD in clinical psychology. Son Daniel Francis Dragun "Buddy" was born August 5, 1978 at then South Coast Community Hospital in South Laguna, 1 month prior to moving to Lexington, Massachusetts. We moved back to Laguna Beach, CA in 1984, where daughter Damara Marguerite Dragun was born, followed by daughter Caitlin Marie Dragun, 1986 and Francis Xavier "Frankie" Dragun, 1988. We moved to St Helena (Napa Valley Wine Country, CA) in 1990, where son Stephen Matthew Dragun was born, followed by sons Alexander William Dragun, 1994 (devastatingly full-term stillborn; I held him long enough to memorize every precious detail of his being) and Henry John Dragun, 1995, a tiny preemie born at 26weeks gestation! My "miracle baby" survived and thrived, and is NOW my tallest kid at 6'4". On December 10, 1996, my first born son, Daniel Francis Dragun, tragically and unexpectedly died at age 18yrs old from a pulmonary embolism. A piece of me went with him. I will get that piece back when I see him again in heaven. He would had turned 43yrs old in 2021... Shortly after my firstborn's death, we moved from St Helena to the town of Sonoma, CA (Sonoma Wine Country). I was separated from my first husband in 2000. In 2007, I met my future & now husband, David Michael Adams, an attorney who specialized in Mergers & Acquisitions and was a VP of M&A for medical device giant Medtronic, for 17+ years. I moved to Minneapolis, MN, headquarters of Medtronic, with David Adams in 2007. I was divorced from my first husband in 2010. I then married David Michael Adams in 2010, our honeymoon in our beloved Venice, Italy. In 2007, we bought a converted loft in an old mill building, built in 1906, with a view of the Mississippi River from our private top floor deck, in downtown Minneapolis, 2 blocks from the US Bank Vikings NFL Stadium and less than a block from the Stone Arch Bridge which crosses the Mississippi River over to St Anthony Main. We also have a house on the lakefront of Leech Lake, with a natural pond which flows into our huge lake, part of the Mississippi River watershed, up in Walker, Minnesota (our sanctuary!) which we bought in 2009. Leech is a trophy fishing lake where my personal best was a 52" muskie, caught on 10lb test using a pink Rapala - I was trolling for walleye. We moved out to Newport Beach, CA, for 2 years, 2015-2017, never selling our homes in Minnesota because my kids and grandkids had moved to The Twin Cities to be near us. When people move to Minnesota to be "near" you, that's LOVE, LOL, so even though we travel the world and are both 2million plus milers on Delta, Minnesota will remain home base for us. My husband is now on the board, and COO, of an Australian based medical device company which brings us over to Australia (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne) at least once a year. The U.S. Company headquarters are in Carlsbad, CA (San Diego County) so we are also in Carlsbad at least 15 days EACH month of the year, oceanfront, at Cape Rey Resort. I know. Tough life. I have 5 surviving children, now adults: Damara Marguerite Dragun: 37 yrs old and married to James Towns, parents of our 2 oldest grandkids, James, turns 17yrs in December 2021 and Marie, turns 15 yrs in March 2022. Damara has her master's from UC Davis in viticulture & enology (grape growing and wine making) and business. She currently works directly for Elon Musk at Tesla, in the capacity of innovation development. Daughter Damara and her family have lived 25 minutes from our downtown residence in Minneapolis since our two grandkids were 4yrs and 2yrs, giving us the great, good blessing of having had them both grow up in our lives. So many memories and both summers and winters spent up at the lake. Caitlin Marie Dragun-Bianchi: 35yrs old and married to Joey Dragun-Bianchi, parents of our two grandboys, Giuseppe Francesco, turns 7 yrs in February 2022 and Lyov Barak, turned 4 yrs in October 2021. Daughter Cait has her undergrad, masters and PhD in electrical, solar and nuclear engineering from MIT, currently employed by Raytheon in Tucson, Arizona, running her own department in their nuclear engineering division. She and husband Joey moved from Massachusetts to Vail, Arizona in May 2020. Francis Xavier Dragun: 33yrs, undergraduate degree in Latin, Greek, Classics from UC Davis. Masters and PhD from Boston College in Latin, Greek and Roman Law. Currently a professor of Latin/Roman Law at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Stephen Matthew Dragun: 31yrs, undergraduate degree in Japanese Language from University of San Francisco. JD from University of San Francisco. Passed the state bar of California and is currently working as an attorney for a Japanese law firm in San Francisco. *Henry John Dragun: 26yrs, engaged to Mai Der Yang. Undergrad degree from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in microbiology. Henry attended medical school at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where he is currently completing his Residency. During the onset of Covid, he was working as a doctor with Covid patients, in 48hr split shifts, at the University Medical Center. Ironically his area of focus, since undergrad, has been virology. I have survived stage IV cancer twice, after having been given 6 months to live each time (metastatic uterine and metastatic spinal cancer). I have had three major spinal surgeries, most recently three years ago, at Twin Cities Orthopedics, a spinal fusion from L4 down to S3, the area of my spine where metastatic cancer tumors were removed from my spinal cord along vertebrae. The fusion on my spine replaced a Medtronic X-Stop medical device, implanted in 2008 after the cancer tumors were removed. 4 years ago I had bilateral TKR surgery, also at Twin Cities Orthopedics, where both of my knees were entirely replaced in one surgery. Horrific recovery, to say the least, and my bionic knees will never feel like the real deal, but hey, over four years in, they are as strong as the titanium they're made from and they ROCK, allowing me to walk miles each day and live a BEYOND normal life. In April 2020, I had Covid 19 and nearly died, having thrown multiple pulmonary embolisms and barely able to breath. I had NO idea I was moments away from being put on a ventilator with a temp of 94F - NO FEVER. I spent 11hrs in the ER at Sanford Medical Center in Bemidji, Minnesota, as we had been isolating at our lake house after having flown back from San Diego on March 12. I cleared the Covid in 10 days, but the multifocal pneumonia that was a complication of Covid, lasted until mid July, 2020. As a result, both of my lungs are horrifically damaged by what is known as a "shattered glass" scarring. Tangent: I was entirely blessed on our last trip to southern California in March 2020, to had met up with former LBHS classmates, class of '74, D'Anne Purcilly (D'Anne and I had a sleepover in Oceanside ~ So much FUN) and meeting up with '74 classmate Pete Cottam. Then two days later, arranged by D'Anne, I met up at the restaurant C'est La Vie ON Main Beach, in Laguna Beach, with Julie Cabang, class of '73, Lesley Johnson, class of '72, Merrit Lori McKeon, class of '75 and dear friend Vangie Crockett. A MOST EPIC and MAGICAL LUNCHEON for US ALL! Thank You, D'Anne!! A month ago, October 15th, 2021, I had cancer surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to remove squamous cell carcinoma from my face. I required a skin graft after, which took (thank God) and I am healing beautifully. I will be undergoing another round of chemotherapy as soon as the surgery area completely heals. I hate chemotherapy, but I hate cancer far worse. I'll get through this. I have before :) I also have been diagnosed with Lupus SLE and have ongoing Lupus Nephritis (kidneys) which I manage via my team of doctors at the Mayo Clinic. I LOVE the Mayo! To look at me, one would never know I have had ALL of these illnesses and invasive surgeries, as I do not allow cancer or ailments to define me, rather I live life joyfully and out loud. I was born happy. As my kids define me: "Mom knows no strangers!" Truth. Oh, one more thing: I do have BLUE hair. Not sort of blue, rather Dark, Royal Blue. My natural color is now pure white, but my 14yr-old granddaughter begged me to try a blue when husband Dave and I were headed to a destination wedding in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, so my hair would match my dress. YES IT DID and I have kept the blue ever since. Why Not??!! :D Update March 2021: I had major abdominal surgery on March 1, 2022. A large piece of my liver was surgically removed, due to a lesion noticed on my liver during a contrast dye CT Scan. The biopsy of that lesion showed metastatic liver cancer (malignant), but luckily only stage 1, not having attached to any lymph nodes or blood supply. For the rest of my life I will have my blood tested for AFP (sign of returning liver cancer) as well as liver imaging, 4 times/year. I feel extremely lucky this cancer was detected and removed at...(read more)