Class Notes

I didn’t receive many contributions to Class Notes this time.  I mentioned on our class’s Facebook page that I may have to resort to trolling everyone’s Facebook to gather some news!  I didn’t do that this time, but I can give an overall synopsis of what we are experiencing.  Many of us are retiring, many more are wishing to do so.  We enjoy travel, good food and beverages, and our always-adorable grandchildren.  Some of us have suffered losses – parents, spouses, children, friends.  Some are in good health, others are battling illness or disability. Some of us do a good job in keeping up with college friends, others not so much.

Kudos to Janet McConnell Philips for being the first, last and only classmate to send an update. Janet writes, “I”ve been retired for two years and still revel in the freedom to do as I please everyday. I split my time between Falls Church, VA and Essex, CT. It’s been fun to explore New England again after so many years in the DC area. I seem to spend a lot of time kayaking and doing jigsaw puzzles. I hope to visit my MWC roommate, Sue Whittier Haley again this summer in Saco, Maine.”

I have been fortunate to see or connect with several classmates over the past few months.  I was honored to be included in an early June dinner in Richmond with Vicki Sprague Ravenel and her “Goddesses,” Pamela Roberts Albrecht, Libby Bell Stevens, Jo McTague Atkinson, Craig “Skippy” Strickland Robinson,  and Terrie Martin Dort.  Later in June, I enjoyed a day at the Chesapeake Bay home of Terrie Young and Bill Crawley and had a wonderful surprise reunion with Cindy Jones Merchent. I am happy to report that, to a woman, our classmates are drinking from the Fountain of Youth.  Everyone looks mahvelous!

Probably the most “can you believe this” connection that I have made over the past year resulted from a serendipitous conversation at a Melissa Manchester concert in Richmond.  A tablemate asked when I had first listened to Melissa, and I said, “Oh, we listened to her a lot at Mary Washington.”  A woman sharing our table overheard and said, “Oh, my sister went to Mary Washington for a year.”  As it turned out, I was sitting with the younger sister of Melody Bock, who lived on the first floor of Virginia Dorm our freshman year and transferred out after one year to return to Tennessee for college.  I connected with Melody via email, and she is now a member of our class’s Facebook group.  She is an attorney in Knoxville.

I have joined the ranks of the retired, as of January 1, and have adjusted quite nicely to my new status.  I am spending more time at my home in Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore (where I have run into a few classmates over the years).  I am catching up on years’ worth of reading, progressing slowly through an online interactive piano course, and doing some traveling here and there.  My partner Dean and I had a wonderful trip to the West Country of England in May.

I guess that’s all for now.  Send me some news, y’all!