1970 Class Notes for 2016
Greetings,
We have made it through our first iteration as class scribes. Please note that class notes are in transition.
We mailed out 165 letters. Only 4 were returned as non-deliverable.
We sent out 126 emails, of which 46 bounced back.
We received 21 replies – all via email.
So we now have our base.
Our next step is to verify all email accounts that appear active. If you receive this message, or are reading this in the On-line Class notes, please confirm with a reply to TCDC1970@gmail.com. A simple ‘l got it’ would be terrific.
On a sad note, we have suffered two deaths since our last newsletter. Anne Clark, Margaret Clark Lerchen’s sister, reported that Margaret passed this past May from complications of dementia. Anne wrote that it had been progressing over the last three to four years, which is why she was unable to attend the 45th Reunion. Anne remembered her sister in this way:
While raising three boys, Margaret earned her Master’s in Library Science from Southern Connecticut State University in 1993 and worked at the Fairfield Public Library until 2013. As a children’s librarian, she was dedicated to helping children learn and grow. Although her time with us ended much too soon, Meg’s life was filled with the company of friends, her love of community, and her devotion to her family. Being an accomplished cook and baker, her greatest joy was to celebrate a holiday or special occasion with loved ones, or simply to have a family meal at the beach.
Therese Pasquale Maguire passed away this past July due to complications from Alzheimer’s. She was surrounded by her husband, Davey, and her three much-loved children, Gabrielle, Madeleine and Owen. Therese was a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and so enjoyed her career teaching International Short Story, Fiction, and Film. She also served as the Associate Director of the Residential Academic Programs. While at Trinity, Therese studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence beginning a love affair with France and its language. She earned her Master’s degree in French at Middlebury College and a doctorate in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Barbara Stack Moore remembered Therese in this way:
She was exuberant, intrepid and always ready for the next traveling adventure. Therese was an avid runner, sailor, and skier. She loved to entertain and always had a houseful of her children’s friends, family, and drop-in guests. Therese celebrated every occasion and was a hostess extraordinaire. She was incredibly bright, a natural story teller, quick to laugh, a whirling dervish on the dance floor, and never too busy to comfort and help anyone in need. Her energy and her enthusiasm were unmatched.
Now on to the class news.
The replies to our solicitation were just terrific. There are certain themes – transition to a new freedom as children become independent and careers are modified, reflections on change and, of course, loss. So, without further ado, here are the replies.
Matilda Giampietro: I am teaching Montessori music and movement in the school where I began teaching (Washington Montessori School, New Preston, CT) 33 years ago when my four children were little and attended that school. I have learned a great deal since then, taking lots of courses and workshops, Orff Schulwerk training and certification and earned a doctorate in music. I built a practice of training Montessori teachers how to teach music using the incredible music materials of Maria Montessori.
This work has brought me to China and Vietnam where I have been teaching young Montessori teachers for four years on school vacations. I have also been very happy to work in Burundi (Billage Health Works) and Kenya (schools in Kibera slum in Nairobi) building music programs in fragile communities along with my friend and fantastic musician, Nina Stern. This past June we went to Jordan to work with Syrian refugee children with The Syria Fund.
On the family front, I was married for 23 years and have four wonderful children (I was divorced in 1996). My son Gabe McMackin has his own restaurant, The Finch in Brooklyn, where he is owner/chef (Michelin Star rated) and a one year old son Jasper with his partner FonLin who is pursuing her degree in Chinese traditional medicine. My daughter Rebecca and her husband Chris and two year old son Milo live in Brooklyn. Rebecca is the horticulturist of the Brooklyn Bridge Park and Chris is head arborist of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. My daughter Jessica and her husband Alex Harvill both work for Pixar on animated films, live in Berkley with three year old Oliver and one and half year old Hazel Matilda. My daughter Meghan got married in June to Dan Gregoras. They live in Brooklyn, too, and Meghan is the senior designer of JCrew jewelry. They all are doing so well but I am most proud that they have pursued careers they love and work in fields that they both enjoy and make a contribution.
I am still Catholic (went through lots of struggles). I am the cantor in my little parish and I find inspiration and intellectual engagement with Catholic thinkers but also from many other religions and sources. I listen to On Being podcasts with Krista Tippet (anyone else listening to them?). I’d love to hear what you all are thinking, doing, what you find relevant and exciting.
Mollie Shannahan MacAdams: Although I hardly missed a reunion over 46 years I did miss the last one, but hope to make the 50th. Art and I are still living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I’m commuting past Annapolis as a 7th grade social studies teacher. Your recent email mentioned reflection on who we were, while at Trinity. As a teacher, I often think back to the big ideas we talked about in the history department at Trinity. Though trends in big history themes have morphed, I appreciate the critical analysis methods we learned at Trinity. I also appreciate the Sociology themes (Father Matthews) that we studied, casting interesting perspectives on studying the past and present. Our four children plus spouses and significant others and four and half grandchildren, and four “grand dogs” are thriving. They all teach us about the joy of living – which I try to pass on to my students. I saw a study recently that reported that folks over 65 have a higher sense of enjoying life. Amen to that!
Judy Frabotta: Judy is now living in British Columbia and has become a Canadian citizen. She writes:
This (being Canadian) makes it ever so slightly easier to watch the news of the US presidential race. But not that much easier. I’d say the whole world is pretty uneasy.
I keep busy lakeside coaching via Skype. My clients are largely physicians or in some way involved with healthcare, so it’s kind of an extension of the consulting practice I had for years. Also, I’ve recently had one of my dogs, Sophie, certified as a therapy dog and we visit the local hospice together. I’ve done hospice work for more than 20 years, and it really clicks for me. David, my son, is married and living in Philadelphia with his wife, Carrie and my adorable grandchild, Clare. Thank goodness for Skype! Long distance grand-parenting is not my favorite thing. He has a great job doing public relations for Comcast. My Mom is still alive and quite as feisty as ever. She still drives, which makes me nervous but she’s in the gym three times a week!
Joan McCabe Carey: I missed the 45th reunion but had a wonderful time at the 40th. My husband, Kevin Carey, and I are happily retired on Martha’s Vineyard.
Jean Mulcahy Vanek: On April 19th, John and I set out from St. Jean Pied de Port, France. Forty days later, on May 28th, we arrived in Santiago de Compestela, Spain, having walked the 500-mile Camino, a pilgrimage with more than a thousand years of history and tradition. It was an incredible experience on so many levels — physical, spiritual and emotional.
Susan Chamberlin Lom: As always in my perspective, time is a river of varying depth, but always flowing along, sometimes too quickly. Being “snowbirds”, we seem to fly even faster dividing the year so clearly into two halves. I can report that my children and grandchildren (still 4 and 4) are all thriving. We enjoyed a “historic” summer vacation in July at our NY cottage, with every last one of them, as well as a couple of significant others, in attendance (picture attached) – unprecedented! and wonderfully chaotic. Everyone (14 plus two littles) was a good sport about bathroom lines and towel shortages.
I’m thriving, too, when we’re living in FL, more than I’d expected. I volunteer at our hospital in a couple different departments, as well as giving time as a Eucharistic Minister at church and in hospital and homes, which pretty much fills my week. I sneak off to the beach a few times a week, too, which is my secret “guilty” pleasure, taking time by myself. Charlie’s still enjoying his bridge and golf circuit, and regularly beating the competition.
I feel completely happy living at our cottage in NY. Every morning, and every night, I’m grateful for the time we spend here, surrounded by such beauty and peace. I feel complete here, and I don’t know when I’ve felt this way before, but it’s a major blessing. “Where your heart is, there also is your treasure…”
Cathy Largay McCarthy: I took a wonderful Christmas Markets river cruise on the Danube with two friends last Thanksgiving with a couple of extra days in Vienna beforehand and Munich afterward. Heartily recommend the floating hotel. Christmastime was spent in FL with daughter Kate & family, followed by late Easter celebration for Sophia’s first communion and Frankie’s second birthday. They came north for a week this summer, and we did some sightseeing in DC, then a few days in Ocean City where Jay, Karyn, & the dogs joined in. Fun time was had by all. Robyn moved into the District in May and seems quite content. I continue to work a four day week which provides great balance, and that in my estimation is what life is all about.
Kathleen Gallagher: I’m still working as the Safety Officer at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston. I’ve been there eight years and hope to hang in there for another three to five years…..so many bills to pay; so little time. I also happen to love my job, even with the commute, and I’m not sure I would know what to do with myself if I retired.
My girls, Bridget (32) and Halaina (30), seem to have found their way. Halaina finished her master’s degree and is working as a conservator at the National Archives. Bridget is scaling up her photography business in Worcester, MA, as she gets ready, with her husband Mike, to welcome baby number two in February. Javier, my grandson, will start second grade next week and is still my best buddy.
Connie Kilmark, who has a consulting business and lives in Milwaukee, visited this past July and we spent a lot of time on my deck trying to find a breeze and catching up. She traveled cross country to meet with a Harvard grad student that she has been mentoring and, since I’ve been proclaiming the wonders of the Worcester Art Museum, we had to spend a day there, too.
After the summer heat and the drought that we have had locally, I’m looking forward to a snowstorm to shovel.
Grace Doherty De Latour: After 40+ years of working full time, I retired almost two years ago. I love being a retiree. My life is filled with spending a lot of time with Michel and our two sons as well as golf, other sports, reading, cooking etc. Alex, our oldest, is getting married in October here in CA so I’m busy planning the wedding. Last year Michel was immersed in chemotherapy and surgery for colon cancer but thank God, he is now in remission, so we are a happy group.
I know it’s been 46 years since we graduated. I’ve done so much living and now it is getting more difficult to remember it! Warm greetings to all our classmates. We’d love to see you when you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, so don’t be shy about contacting me.
Carol Leffson Baker: Hail to the Greens of ’70!! Great memories still around since reunion. It really was a weekend to remember. Hope all are well. We are still living on the water and God has been good to our family. My daughters are doing well. Church ministries and kindergarten reading program keep me busy. Larry and I are going on a cruise. I heard from Mary Beth Marquardt and Susan Chamberlin and they are traveling and enjoying their summers and also I had a nice call from Janet McCabe and it was good to catch up. I’m looking forward to the 50th and all the plans. Stay safe and keep healthy.
Mary Beth Turner Marquardt: Traveling has become the thing for me and my husband, Rod Coleman. After not traveling much during our work years, we are trying to make up for lost time. After reunion we went on a land/sea tour of Alaska and then took a two-week tour of Italy. As I’m writing this we are headed off to our biggest adventure yet: Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji! We decided we should not put it off since we are healthy and can still get around pretty well. Some of our other interests are keeping fit, golf, and socializing with the many nice couples we have met in our community. Of course we try to stay in touch with the five grandchildren, ranging in age from just under two to a sophomore in college!
I really enjoyed the 45th reunion, maybe even partly because it was a small group. The dinner at Clyde’s was special. It was nice to catch up at least a little with everyone.
Patricia Hillmann Shields: Just like the old Trinity days – sliding in right under the deadline with my news!
The last year has definitely been full of transitions! We sold Rich’s dental practice here in SW Michigan a year ago, and bought a second home in Asheville NC (near my 94 year old mom) a month later. We were commuting back and forth every month or so between MI and NC, and found that we were not creating new paths into our retirement. So, we decided to put our Michigan house on the market, and I am enrolled this fall in botany and ecology classes in the Blue Ridge Naturalist program at the nearby NC Arboretum. I also plan to pursue volunteer opportunities, using my social work and human service administration background, and maybe find part-time employment. I just don’t want to be in charge of anything anymore, with demanding deadlines and personnel issues! Letting go of being gainfully employed has been a significant challenge for me. I’d love to hear what other women from our class are experiencing. I agree with the sentiments of the 45th reunion – our college years were an amazing time of growth and transformation, both for ourselves and our world! I love to share those experiences and insights with younger people. And to think we went through all that without cell phones and computers!
Lorena Meunier: I’m happy to report that I reunited recently with Trinity friends. In July, several friends of Thérèse Pasquale Maguire came together to say farewell at her funeral. This very sad occasion was marked by the love of her husband David; their adult children Gabrielle, Madeleine, and Owen; her sisters and their families and friends; her college friends Carolyn (Po) Foster Locke, Barbara Stack Moore, Pixie Sheets Vogel, Joanne Leary, and me; and with so many who had the pleasure of knowing the vibrant, witty, and unflappable Thérèse. She was petite in stature but an amazingly strong and gifted woman. Sometimes being a friend means being there to support each other through sad times. Everything else that could be written seems unimportant in comparison.
I’ll mention one adventure though: In March, Bill and I traveled to Alaska for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod in Anchorage, flew by bush plane to see mushers at the second checkpoint, did sight-seeing, and tried mushing with an Iditarod veteran.
Janet McCabe Maley: Somehow life seems busier and somewhat more complicated since the children graduated and started on their life journey. Are we ready to retire? Are we ready to downsize? How our futures will play out is still very much a part of the unknown. Hopefully, we will remain strong and healthy so that we can make our own decisions.
Dick’s software developer work has been cut back dramatically, so the retirement decision might be made for us. Jennifer, our oldest and only daughter, has a daughter (two-years old) and a son due in February. She lives in Ketchum, ID and operates a small organic soap business, Aspen River Soap Company. She loves all of the outdoor activities that this area has to offer. John, our oldest son, lives in Clarksburg, MD. He works as an environmental engineer designing water treatment plants for HDR, Inc. Since he lives so close, we get to see our granddaughter (three-years old) at least once a week. What a joy this is. I wish that our other grandchildren lived closer. Michael, our younger son, lives in Williamsburg, VA; however, he and his wife are in the process of relocating back to Pittsburgh, PA for his job. He works for Bechtel as a nuclear engineer at the Bettis Atomic Laboratory. They plan to buy a house and hope to start a family.
As for me, I continue as the Treasurer of both the bowling league and the Women’s Club that I belong to. Life is all about family and friends now and making the most of the time given to us.
Justine Foley Croteau: I haven’t been in touch in a while mainly because since I retired I don’t remember deadlines! Over the past few years I have gotten involved in doing genealogical research into mine and my husband’s ancestors. I have found some interesting relatives and fun information, including a great-great-great grandfather who fought for the Union in the Civil War with an Irish Massachusetts regiment. He came home from the war and fathered 16 children! Mostly it’s like a puzzle and I am seeing how many pieces I can find.
On a sad note, my mother passed away in May at the age of 98. She lived with us for the past 11 years and although I knew she was getting weak physically her mind was sharp right up until the end. We chatted just a few minutes before she passed and we were thankful that she was able to be at home with us. She had a long, full life and left a large, loving family.
Bob and I have been blessed with three grandchildren and enjoy our time with them. We have been heading south to Florida the past few winters for about six weeks and hope to continue that as long as possible. As much as I love New England, I don’t miss the winters at all. Hope all is well with members of the Class of 1970.
Carolyn (Po) Foster Locke: My husband Steve and I completed our 15th Pan Mass Challenge, the largest athletic fundraiser for cancer research in the U.S. this past August. We are nearly at $200,000 total over the years. We usually cycle from Wellesley to Bourne and back, a distance of 180 miles.
Therese’s (Therese Pasquale Maguire) memorial service was a powerful testimony celebrating her remarkable life and devoted family and friends. I will be officiating at her daughter Madeleine’s wedding in June 2017. I welcome suggestions for my “ministerial” garb.
Barbara (Barbara Stack Moore) and I attended the wedding of one of Pixie’s (Julie Sheets Vogel) sons in Colorado in July. Sadly her husband, Bob, beloved by all, had died in December on the eve of my grandson Alastair’s birth, so I am convinced he carries some of his wit and wisdom, though must give credit to my son, too!
I have left my higher education decanal duties after 40+ years as of August. It was time, given all the travel, projects, volunteering for literacy interventions, and training I have planned to get back into competitive rowing and tennis. Cycling will be my constant as I travel the world. May we all have health and laughter in the years ahead.
Eileen O’Connell Andary: I missed last year’s reunion because it was the same weekend as my niece’s wedding. That was a happy occasion – one of three great family weddings last summer, including my daughter Maureen’s, in which I gained a wonderful son-in-law. But, prior to that, in the spring of 2015 we had lost my dear husband Bob to an awful cancer, which he (we) had been fighting for more than three years. I’m so grateful for the nearly 43 years we had together, most of which Bob spent in public service as a federal and local prosecutor and later in inspector general and law enforcement fields. At virtually the same time, my 90-year old mother (Trinity ’45) also passed away, so needless to say I’ve spent the past year in recovery and rebuilding mode, with the great support of family, neighbors and friends (notably Ellen Gloninger Murray, who promises to write shortly).
I still work full-time in non-profit management and human resources over the years in various DC-centric tourism and service organizations. I’ve started looking at options for scaling back or branching out, but haven’t quite visualized full retirement yet, and would love to hear our classmates’ experience and ideas about this next transition.
Ellen Gloninger Murray: I am currently serving as Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources at the US Department of Health and Human Services. I had the honor of serving under our classmate, Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius. In January, my term will end as we usher in a new President. It was a great honor to serve in this administration.
We moved to Capitol Hill after raising our boys in Alexandria, VA. Rich is retired and loves it. He volunteers at the Washington Jesuit Academy twenty hours a week tutoring students in math and tries to get 15,000 steps/day. My son, John, and his wonderful wife, Carolyn, live in the DC area and are the parents of my two grandchildren, Conor and Cate. They attend Holy Trinity School in Georgetown and we had lunch at the Tombs on Grandparent’s Day! My younger son, Anthony, lives in Boston and loves the city. He works for a non-profit in the area and enjoys the opportunities Boston offers to bike and listen to music.
Mary Teresa (Terry) Millea Manion: The day after I retired in June, 2015, Chuck and I took off to “look for America” and attend a nephew’s wedding in Milwaukee. Since then we have taken numerous trips in eastern US and Canada. We have found that there is something fascinating in almost every town or city.
In March we visited with Mary Riordan Bejan and Adrian in Durham, NC. In April we saw Penny Johnston Roen in Tarpan Springs, FL. She is overjoyed at the recent arrival of her first grandson. We have also enjoyed time with our two granddaughters, who are the best and the brightest. I enjoyed our 45th, and am looking forward to our 50th.
Barbara Stack Moore: I have been retired from my position as a school principal for four years now and can hardly believe where the time has gone! I did get my real estate license and have been working in that field supposedly part-time, but real estate is more of a 24/7 proposition so I am not sure I will continue. We have done lots of traveling since I retired – right now we are looking forward to a trip to Sicily in October. My daughter Sarah lives in San Francisco and my younger daughter Anne just took a job in Paris so keeping up with them requires a lot of traveling! I volunteer in an after-school homework help program for immigrant children and I love working with them. I am looking forward to my 50th high school reunion in October in Tucson. How can this be?? I feel grateful to have maintained so many friendships from my Trinity days and cherish them.
Gloria Brozik Barnstorf: No real news with us, but that may be a good thing! George and I love our life together and realize just how lucky we are to have 43 years of marriage, health, and love to look back on. So many of our contemporaries have not been so lucky and are either widowed, passed on, divorced or dealing with ill health of themselves or a spouse. While we were not blessed with children of our own, we have many, many young people in our lives and feel that we may have had an influence on their development in small ways.
I miss my clients but not the day to day routine of our law practice. Seems I am still in demand as a consultant but without the worries of the case!
I see Maryrose McCafferty Martino, Rosalie Angelo and Jean Bell Hessenauer often. They look fabulous—slim, young and fascinating as usual. Mose is still working at her accounting business in Cherry Hill, NJ, as well as being an officer in her local professional association which requires her to travel to conventions, etc. on a regular basis; Jean in still librarian for a major law firm in Baltimore, raising her horse, dogs, cats, chickens and ducks on her land in Northern Maryland; while Ro and Glo (me) are just ladies of leisure. Regards to all the “girls” of 1970.
Margaret Reilly: I have enjoyed my life. I am what the psychologists call an “autonomous female.” I took lovers instead of a husband, did not have children (although on behalf of the human race, sincerely thank those of us who did) and am happy in my choices. My nieces tell me I am not like a real adult. My career morphed over time from Economics to international software developer to Wall Street. I have lived all over Europe and Canada and finally returned to New York in 1986. I now live in the house where I was born and marvel that the neighborhood has changed from an immigrant neighborhood to “Manhattan East.” I have enjoyed my life.
I have attended the last three reunions, where I once again connected with four of my beloved Economics majors. There were eight of us (Terry Millea, Mary Riordan, Diane LaPlante, Ellen Gloninger, Mary Lee Fox, Beverly Abyad and Kate Farricker) and because we were such a small group we took most of our classes together. We ranged from the New York liberal (guess who) all through the gamut to Republican conservative. The classes were freewheeling and always respectful and there were moments and lessons learned that have informed my entire life. I had a roommate (Susan Lyons) whose background was entirely different from mine and to whom I owe so much for expanding my understanding of others. And there were so many others who were integral to my life and whom I miss.
As to my present, I live to suit myself. I have no particular goals. I have learned to enjoy just being. Someone once asked Patti Smith if she ever considered suicide (must have been one hell of an interview). She replied, “No, I would always want to see what happens next.” Well said, Patti.
Catherine Lynch Shapleigh: Nothing much interesting happened to me after graduation until I got married to Sandy Shapleigh, a man with a very itchy foot. He worked for the Peace Corps for five years, traveling and living in Latin America (I joined him for long stints in Paraguay and El Salvador), but mostly entertained myself in D.C. by getting a Master’s in Drama and then a PhD in Eighteenth Century English Literature at Catholic University. This last entertainment took so long that the English Department hired me as a Lecturer, unable to think of anything else to do with me. Then, Sandy joined the aid giving arm of the Foreign Service (USAID that was), and we began living mostly abroad. Our first post was Sri Lanka, where we stayed five years and started raising our two daughters, despite the civil war that broke out three weeks after we arrived. This will sound trite, but they really were among the best years of our lives, except of course, for the violence. We still have many Sri Lankan friends that are now dying off at a sad rate, and although we have returned to visit, we are very glad to have had our time there.
The next 20 years brought us as a family to Morocco and Zimbabwe, after which our first daughter put her foot down and demanded that we return to the U.S. for high school, so that she could dye her hair green and pierce her navel “like a normal person.” So I suffered (NOT IN SILENCE) in the suburbs for five years, and got a Masters in Creative Writing at Johns Hopkins. During this time, I returned to CUA as an adjunct, but left after a year. I will not go on about the adjunct system, but it’s not a good thing.
Shortly after the daughters went off to college, we retired from the Foreign Service and Sandy became a consultant in Ecuador, where we lived for another five years, and, which I still miss. We go back there not frequently enough and play bridge.
Now in semi-retirement in Holyoke, Mass., the small town in which I was born, we “winter” in Cape Town, South Africa, one of the most beautiful places on earth, I think, and dote on our grandchildren who unfortunately live far away in Williamsburg, Brooklyn … and soon, please God, in Barcelona. (Number two daughter cleverly married a Spaniard, and lives in Barcelona); we plan on spending a great deal of time there soon.
I warned you it was a geography precis, and I haven’t even mentioned the short term nonsenses, but believe me, no one wants to go there.
Reading this over, I realize that it doesn’t sound very “autonomous” … one of the delights of the Foreign Service is that spouses must wear a badge that says “Dependent” in order to enter the sacrosanct Embassy grounds …but the fact of the matter is that I have made my life as I have found it. In Sri Lanka, I was able to teach for a bit at the University of Peredeniya at Kandy, but my pride was starting CADS, a theater group that brought the Sri Lankan and American community together in a unique way. In Morocco, I taught at the Rabat American School, but our crowning glory was the best (okay, probably only) production of ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ in the Magreb. I got a very nice little medal from the Saudis for it. And two of my students went on to become professional actors.
The only person from Trinity that I still see is Penny Johnston Roen, who married my dear friend Bill Roen and who is just as wonderful as she was back in the day, when we moved out of Trinity and went to Pooks Hill, MD. We don’t see as much of the Roens as we would like, but we try to catch up at least once a year in NYC or, last year, in New Orleans.
Maureen Talty Konschnik: Dave and I celebrated our 46th anniversary in June and continue to love our role as grandparents to our little lion Anna. Our children are thriving, we both have an active retirement and life is good.
Maureen Gerrity Boyd: My husband Warren Tashnek and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary on October 20. We live in Houston and have a home in Aspen, CO where we spend the summer months and sometimes in the winter, downhill skiing. I still am actively engaged in real estate in Houston. Our sons, Brian Boyd and Howard Boyd are well, happily married, and have given us seven grandchildren, one boy Patrick and the rest are girls. Brian is in Santa Fe with his two children and Howard is in New Orleans with his five girls!
My mother is still alive at 91 although she has some dementia she still know us, thank God. I have my rheumatoid arthritis under control and am able to have a pretty active life. I feel blessed, excited to live each happy day and grateful for all of my past experiences. I love hearing about my Trinity classmates. I cannot believe that it has been so many years since we were together. Surprising and sad to hear about the classmates whom we have lost. I feel too young for any of us to have dementia or die. As my mom says, “Our exterior ages but we feel the same inside.” Love and best wishes to all.
Rosalie Angelo: Jean Bell Hessenauer (Parkton, MD) and I were thrilled to attend the May wedding of Jim and Cathy Looby McCourt’s (Glenview, Il) son Brendan to Ashleigh Mondale at a beautiful resort on a perfect day in Riviera Maya, Mexico. It all couldn’t have been nicer and it was a real treat to reconnect with so many in the Looby family. The newlyweds honeymooned in Italy and live and work in New York City. And Jean is in contact with Barbara Wurzelbacher Arndt (Scottsdale, AZ) who has three adorable grandsons in Texas whom she tries to visit as often as she can.
Christine Houlihan Eppinger: After returning to the US from living in England (a temperate climate) for 14 years, I wasn’t sure I could deal with New England winters. Although we don’t have a fixed schedule, Charlie and I now split our time between MA and FL. We enjoy both places, and feel we have the best of both worlds.
This summer I’ve attempted to sort through the many boxes of remembrances I’ve packed up in our nearly 50 years together. I feel as though I’m on an archaeological dig, uncovering relics from the 70s and 80s – one week unpacking report cards, sports awards, and playlists from when the children were in high school, and the next week sifting through birthday and Mother’s Day cards they made when they were much younger. I’ve been shredding checking account statements of accounts long since closed from banks that no longer exist. It’s been a great trip down memory lane, but I don’t know what possessed me to keep so much.
In reading your letters, I feel we are a group of strong women, now in a reflective time of our lives. I admire those who have learned to carry on after sustaining a loss. It can’t be easy, but you do it well.
Fifty Septembers ago we gathered at Trinity to begin a new portion of this adventure called life.
Margaret and Chris had two wonderful visits working on this project. We really enjoyed hearing from those of you who responded. We know that there are many more stories and opinions that we didn’t hear. We urge you to write to us now, with any changes in names, addresses, and particularly email addresses so that we can truly act as a conduit to enable old friends to reconnect.
Thank you and we hope to hear from you soon.
Margaret Reilly
Christine Houlihan Eppinger