I looked through the list of fellow graduates and could only remember 4 of them, my four best friends. I didn't spend much time at high school as I had a boyfriend who went to Wilson High. I spent a lot of time cutting classes. He had long hair and I was probably the only girl in HS who had a long-haired boyfriend.

I did get caught up in the 60's flower child period, lived in Berkeley for awhile after attending University of Ky for a couple of years. Then I joined a community called "The Farm" in Summertown, Tenn. where I lived for 10 years, got married and had four children.

We moved back to northern California in 1981. My kids are grown and doing well. They all live in the same county as my husband and I do, Sonoma County, about 60 miles north of SF. I am a cardiac nurse and love my job. I also bead and knit and quilt. I walk my dog every morning and walk with my husband and dog every evening.

I watch Democracy Now on my computer 5 mornings a week and end up feeling rather helpless and angry with the world situation. I am against the war in Iraq and Lebanon and the future possible wars with Iran, Syria, Venezuela, etc. I am part of a peace activist group called Peace Roots Alliance and More than Warmth. In More Than Warmth we put together quilt squares which children make. We send the finished quilts to children in other countries as a gesture of peace.

 

 

 

Dear WJ Class of '66


Points of contact connecting, rejoining the lines after points of departure radiating out, curving back to memories lost and found over the years by contacting each other and describing our flight lines that reach to many endeavors and corners of the earth. The summaries of each others lives are so fascinating, each one saying something about all of us, and each of us who have uniquely and collectively changed the world, in ways really beyond anyone's ability to know or understand. I'd like to come to the reunion but can't, too many other commitments made before I knew of it, you all will have so much to share, it will be a wondrous event!


 


After graduation I went to Hartford Art School and graduated with a BFA. Guess I've always been drawn to adventure because right after college I fulfilled a dream I had since I was 10, with my dog and a pack on my back, I walked the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain GA to Virginia , and this was about 700 miles and took several months, a great experience. In 1972 bought some land in New Hampshire and my next project was building a log cabin in the White Mountains .  I lived there and had some wonderful experiences. I worked on a land survey crew. I learned to use a chainsaw and cut down trees and split wood; I had no electricity, so heated with wood, I think I used about 6 cords a winter. I drew water from my spring. In NH they like to say "our years consist of 9 months of winter and 3 months of poor sledding". I learned to cross country ski. I learned I would not freeze in 35 degrees below 0, if I was prepared (boy scout motto works). 


 


Finally I learned I was too young to be isolated and thought that I needed to integrate into society and develop some worldly skills, pursue some achievement besides surviving, learning to cook coons and hunt wild mushrooms.  I moved to Portland , Maine , and started working at sign painting, lettering and advertising design. I also met my future husband, a rugby player and graduating law student at U of Maine, in 1980 we moved to WA State and he worked as a criminal prosecutor here, later he became a civil trial lawyer with a firm in Seattle . On weekends we hiked, skied, but mostly white water kayaked. It took years to really know this other person, and myself, and become aware of the depths of complexity of our inner selves as we grow older and change and become who we are. Sometimes that's a good thing, not this time, in 1988 we got divorced. After that I designed and built my own home on five acres, eventually became committed to another relationship, we had no kids but we had horses together and spent 8 years riding building and maintaining trails in the backcountry mountain areas of Wash. State and some cattle roundups in Montana. That was recreational; I have always worked full time. 


 


Since 1981 and up until two years ago, I worked for a graphic design firm; sales/ account rep/ project manager for a total of twenty three years. I left that business and am working at creating decorative and personal artwork. I just don't like to do art work on computers. I paint murals, do faux finishing, painted a couple of house exteriors, also do some sculpture and painting of my own, starting to exhibit in little local galleries. I have fun and discouragement, I am definitely being challenged, leaving the security of a "regular" job to explore and risk. Sometimes I have no idea what I am doing or where I am going next. A walk in the woods can help. Last Saturday I went for a hike up Mt Forgotten (elev 5200 ft) so here is a fresh and recent photo and it also shows what the Cascade Mountains look like on Sept 23^{rd, 2nd day of fall,} 2006. It is really beautiful here but the growth and traffic has made it difficult to run the rapids (traffic is usually a class 5 run). I think about going back east where the rest of my family lives, in Virginia and Georgia. I am glad and impressed to hear so many stories of accomplishment attained by sustained effort. Thank you for your true life stories! It's hard to get much on a page or two isn't it? 

 

 Hi.  It's been fun reading everyone's stories.  It has been nice to learn how some old friends are doing.  November is a difficult time for me to travel, so I probably will not attend the reunion.





     I attended the U. of Maryland in College Park, graduating in 1970.  From there, I went to Denver to attend the Iliff School of Theology, receiving a master's degree in 1973.





     I married my wife, Karen, in 1972.  She is a Director of Nursing at the hospital here in Fort Collins.  We have two children, a daughter, Emily, who is 28, married, and who works as a corporate fundraiser for a university in Denver, and a son, Alex, who is a senior in high school and is currently trying to choose a college.  Our daughter is expecting in April, so I will soon join some of you as grandparents.





     For a few years in the seventies, I worked as a United Methodist minister, then left that to start a business.  I passed the 30th anniversary for my business in September.  I am a gemologist, and I buy and sell diamonds, gemstones and antique jewelry, and I have a retail jewelry store in Fort Collins, Colorado.  I have enjoyed my business, and it will probably be several more years before I retire.





     In recent years, as demand on my time has allowed, I have spent more time in the studio.  I work in original stained glass, and I sculpt marble.  About once a year, we travel to Europe where I drag my family to the many museums to study art history, and one week a year I attend a marble sculpting symposium in Marble, Colorado.  We also like to travel occasionally to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota for sea kayaking and canoeing.   My son and I like to fly fish together in Rocky Mountain National Park.





     A couple of years ago, we built a home on a small farm near Fort Collins.  I have turned most of the farm over to the wildlife, so I guess I'm getting ready to entertain the grandkids.

 

A note about one of our classmates:





     Martha Lee married my brother, Wayne Dawson (in 1968, I think).  Martha worked  as an office manager and bookkeeper.  They had two sons, Peter and Clay.  Peter is a city planner and Clay in an air traffic controller.  Martha died of natural causes in 1988/