I decided to major in International Relations (IR); IR, of course, being the code word for "I cannot make up my mind whether I am going to major in history, economics, geography or poli-sci." Being somewhat practical, though, I figured Arabic would be a good foreign language.  I had learned the alphabet from Ms. Frey and loved the people, culture and food.  I did really well during my last couple of years and, after graduating, crossed the Charles to pursue a Master’s at Harvard in the same general discipline.  Harvard classes and profs were great but the social life was lousy, as my closest friends from college had all left Boston.   Although the degree was a two–year program, I stretched it out to three.  I took an academic leave and spent a year abroad in Damascus on a Fulbright scholarship.  Syria was wonderful and exceeded my wildest expectations.  What a truly interesting place!  I am sorry to say I have yet to make it to Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, or the Emirates.  Maybe one day. In Syria, I met and fell in love with my wife of fourteen years, Rima Khanoumeh.  Rima is the youngest daughter of Damascus merchant Georges Elias Khanoumeh.  He had a shop inside the walls of the old city.  At the time Rima was just entering college; we were introduced through friends. Rima is everything I had hoped and dreamed of, someone who shares the same values, is very family-oriented and loves children.  We were engaged for over a year, delaying marriage until I finished my Master’s degree.  Rima’s mother is from Beirut (and has some Iraqi heritage), while her father’s family is originally from northeastern Syria.  We have two wonderful sons, David (13) and Michael (7). I went into health care administration and spent twelve years with the region’s oldest and largest managed care organization.  I then returned to Harvard, working as a manager on the business school campus.  Boston was terrific.  The ethnic food (i.e. lots of great places to get falafel) and cultural diversity were particularly enjoyable.  We went to the Cape often, up to NH, to VT (Stowe – the home of Cabot cheese and Ben and Jerry’s) and to ME.  We had excellent family skiing at Wachusett in MA and Smuggler’s Notch in VT.  The Boston area was a great launching base for many wonderful long weekends. After 9/11 we decided to ditch the big city.  We sold our house and moved "down South" to Wild, Wonderful, Almost Heaven West Virginia.  We wanted to spend more time with family, investing in our children’s lives. We also wanted to spend time with an uncle, who was in the last stages of cancer, and my maternal grandfather.

I joke that I am not sure if and when I will come out of semi-retirement.  In fact, I am a statistic of the recent economic downturn and have been doing interim projects to keep busy (nothing especially rewarding).  Rima has been teaching at a local private school.  We have discovered Winterplace and our oldest is now into snowboarding.  There are many interesting things to do in the mountains: white water rafting is on the list. Last summer we went on a big family road trip to Orlando so that our youngest could visit Disney World and we could swim and do some outlet shopping.  The swimming at Jacksonville Beach was awesome as was the parasailing in St. Augustine.  The theme parks were great, but I will never do the Tower of Terror again no matter how much our teenager begs and pleads!  I will always cherish the great times I had with my 6th grade classmates in DH and my 9th grade classmates in RT (I missed 8th grade because we were on temporary assignment in Holland.).  Wishing you and yours health, peace and prosperity. After a nine-year, post-divorce relocation back to his native Griffin, GA, Randy Pollard recently decided to split time, living in both Austin, TX and Griffin to spend more time with his kids.  Brandon (16) plays football and tennis and enjoys lifting weights and chasing girls.  Emily (13) plays competitive volleyball, is on the track team, and enjoys being chased by guys.  Hence, the impetus for Randy's decision to relocate! Austin is kind of a second home to Randy, as he attended high school and college there.  He continues to work with his family in several businesses in GA (that he remotely manages from his apartment in Austin).  He spends about three weeks a month in Austin and the remainder in Griffin, and is actually enjoying the rather long commute between the two. Season’s Greetings The holidays are here again as another year slips into our (fading) memories.  On behalf of all of your staff at the Class of ’79 Newsletter I would like to wish you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season.  May the New Year bring you more joy and good fortune than you could possibly wish for.

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