I’ve been meaning to send in a bio, since I won’t be able to attend the reunion - how I wish I could!! Seems as though, when one gets to our age, the past begins to loom larger in our memories; I wonder why that is?

Anyway, since we graduated, I attended HS in Germany for a year, then attended American University’s School of International Service in Washington D.C., with an eye to joining the Foreign Service and saving the world through diplomacy. You’ll remember that these were the Vietnam War years (1968-1972), and the start of Watergate, Nixon, and all that mess, so after demonstrations, sit-ins on campus, Kent State, etc., joining our government had lost most of its attraction. Instead, I ended up becoming a flight attendant for an international charter airline for the next six years: purely serendipity, since I had only gone along with a friend for moral support, and ended up getting the job. Lots of world travel, but few layovers longer than 8 hours; some adventures, (a baby-lift flight, a round-the-globe trip, a couple of near-crashes and one crash I missed being on by a hair), and many good friends among my colleagues, but eventually I wanted something else.

Back to school - my local County College - and a switch to learning how to grow plants, which eventually resulted in an M.S. in Horticulture and Plant Physiology from Rutgers Graduate School in 1988. Meanwhile, I’d been adjunct teaching at the county college to help support myself, and discovered how much I loved it. I ended up getting a teaching certificate, teaching biology at a HS in New Jersey for a few years, then landing a tenure track position at a community college in Appalachia - Hazard, Kentucky - in 1992. I’m still here, full professor now, and teaching general biology and human anatomy and physiology as well as plant sciences - and I love it. I was lucky enough to find my calling, and be able to earn my living doing what I love.

For the rest: I fell in love along the way, lost him in a plane crash, and have lived alone, with my dog and two cats (several generations of them) in the house I bought and have remodeled to suit myself. I’ve survived a bout of cancer, with the help of good friends. And I’m beginning to wonder about retirement, and what I would do if/when I take that big step.

So that’s me. I’m not sure whether this is the sort of bio you were looking for, but if it isn’t, please feel free to extract whatever facts you did want and discard the rest. And I’m sure you’ll all enjoy the reunion immensely - I’ll be thinking of you and feeling very envious!