Comments
Hi everyone,
I am certainly looking forward to seeing many of you in August at our 50th. Hard to believe we are all such seniors! I have loved reading about your lives and comparing pictures of then and now. Thanks to all who have taken the time to upload these. I hope many of you will continue to do so between now and the reunion.
My last entry was 2008 so I thought I’d give you some news since then. I have had a wonderful career in the academy and my position as head of the doctoral program at our School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason has been amazing. Many of the students are from conflict-ridden countries around the world, deeply committed to building a peaceful country/region/continent/planet. This spring (2015) I am on sabbatical—head to Ukraine and then France soon—and then next year is my last before I retire June 2016. It has been a great ride with no regrets so I guess it can’t get any better than that. I hope to get emeritus status so I can continue to work on problems in the world, but the change of pace will be welcome, and Gene and I have a very long bucket list begging attention!
Our families are in the west—mostly California and Colorado—so it is a big pull to move, but we love our life in DC with good friends and neighbors. The long falls and springs are precious. [Perhaps we can house swap with any of you who love snow (January and February) or want to navigate swamp-like humidity in July and August!]
Looking forward to spending time together soon! Right now I’m hoping Spring will come sooner rather than later!
February 26, 2015
April 2008
Hello folks,
It has been much fun reading your stories on this reunion website. I’ll try to be brief in capturing 43 post high school years. It has been an extraordinary ride, but the most precious to me is with my husband, Gene, (we celebrate 20 years this August).
After high school, as many of you did, I attended Oregon State University. Prior to graduation (December 1968) I got married (what was I thinking?) and shortly after graduation we moved to Gainesville, Florida to begin graduate school. I acquired a step-daughter (Brenda, 5 years old) and we “grew up” together. In 1971 I began teaching sociology and psychology at Columbus State College in Ohio. In the decade of the 70’s I completed my doctoral dissertation, taught at Columbus State and, mid-decade, moved to Athens, Ohio to work at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. In 1980 we moved to California. Though my marriage unraveled, I loved my new work as Dean at the California School of Professional Psychology in Berkeley. I also fell in love with and married Gene Rice (professor of Religion and Sociology at the University of the Pacific).
Our past twenty years include Berkeley, Princeton (Carnegie Foundation), Yellow Springs, Ohio (Antioch College) and the last decade in Washington, DC (George Mason University) and it has been a delightful ride! As you can see, higher education is our home. I am a professor of conflict resolution (struggling with deep rooted, protracted conflicts around the world such as in Iraq, the Middle East, Darfur, etc.).
Work and play have taken us to most continents; we are restless when home more than a few months. Great joy comes with my role as step-mom. Brenda and I grew up together—she was 5 and I was 20 when I married her father. She is now tenured at Clackamas County Community College with a new doctorate in hand. Gene brought me two more. Sarah (and her partner) live in Santa Cruz; she is a musician and technology geek. Mark with his wife Anke live in LA and are steeped in the world of computers, yoga, massage therapy, greening of the world, and all that is beautiful in California.
Corvallis seems off the beaten track since my parents passed away (father in 1965, mother in 1994) but still serves as an anchor for my core values. I am smitten by the stories of those of you who have continued to live in Oregon. Fortunately, brother Larry lives in Portland so I return often.
I’m looking forward to finding that path again and engaging in long conversations about paths you have taken, at our next reunion.
