December 24th, 2005
Deidre Halpin-Ambrose and Bruce Burgner.
We caught up with Danny and hung out with him for a while and then saw Julie Sawaya and Gen Johansson. A funny story about me and Julie: When I left Dhahran in '76, I came to Houston and attended 7th grade with Julie. One day in the locker room I overheard her saying that she was going back to Dhahran with her family. Here I was, miserable and homesick and JULIE got to go back, not me!! I was so jealous. It was great to see her again.
Then Donna Hendricks showed up and we hooked up with her sister Deb and Brent Letellier. That man is just as handsome now as he was back then! Donna also lives in Houston, and we get to see each other a few times a year. Monica Roppel and Robin and I hit the reception later that evening and ran into Tor Dell’ Oro (DH 73) and Travis Dowell (RT 79). What a hoot. I'd never met Tor, but Travis was an old trampoline jumping buddy of mine. It was great to see them both.
Saturday night our class gathering was at my house. I can't tell you all how very cool that was. It was one of my favorite nights. So many neat things happened. Bruce Burgner picked up the food for us and he and Pam Branch (AB 79) and Donna Hendricks and Danny Gauthier and his wife, Lynne, arrived early to help me set up. I didn’t know Bruce in Dhahran and am so glad to know him now. A very cool guy. He brought an old Saudi flag with him that served as the backdrop for the evening, hanging from the gazebo.
We served falafel, do-it-yourself shwarmas, kibi, tabouleh, hummus and bread. It made the house smell heavenly, a scent I'm sure all of you would recognize.
The night was beautiful and we were able to spend a lot of time outdoors on the patio and under the gazebo, listening to good, old music and catching up. One of the greatest things that night came in the form of Lesley Wernsdorfer. She and I were best friends in Dhahran and have not seen each other since we were 13. As she walked down my driveway towards me, I knew it was her by the way she walked! All I could do was grin!
Isn’t that odd? I couldn’t see her face yet, but knew it was her. (We have a long driveway!) To be able to hug her and have her sit next to me was such a treat, I just can't tell you. We have vowed to stay in better touch. With her two hours away, I know we will.
I was having jitters at first that no one would show for the gathering, but Robin calmed my fears. She was right, and everyone seemed to arrive at once. Here’s a list of everyone who was there: Donna and her husband, Kenny, Lesley, Danny Gauthier and his wife, Lynne, Deidre Halpin, Monica Roppel, Bruce, Pam Branch, Danny, Robin, Brent, Jan Fugate, Gen Johansson, Kim Nix (who still looks exactly as she did 30 years ago!), Marika Szentivanyi and Julie Sawaya.
Later, Danny’s parents arrived with Marie Littlejohn's parents. I was so honored! Danny's parents are so great, as are Marie's and just think, the parents of the woman who was hosting the whole reunion were at MY party! J Also present, towards the end, was Marika Szentivanyi's mother. She brought Marika's sister Andra's (who was also here) little girl who is three and so cute. I kept hearing a strange language spoken and realized that Andra was speaking to the little girl in Latvian! What a beautiful language.
I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning. After all the guests left (the die-hards stayed until midnight, talking under the gazebo, wasn’t that great?) I was too keyed up to go to bed. I kept replaying the night in my head and smiling. I stayed outside and watched the moon rise, thinking that this was one of the best things I’d ever experienced.
Sunday night’s reception was fun, too. John and Christine (finally got used to calling him John and not Mr. Beard) tagged along with us. Afterwards, there were people milling all around the lobby of the hotel and it was a good chance to spend a lot of time with people. Time is the one thing there just wasn’t enough of. I think the reunions need to be a week long, not just a weekend!
