Together Again

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. And I have such fun things to share--the cool finds Mom picked up for me at an antique shop, some fun books I found at the library the other day and, of course, more pics of my kids! But, I thought you'd like to know what I've been up to this past week:


I was part of the planning team for our class reunion!

I graduated from the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts. For those that don't know, LSMSA is a residential, public, magnet high school. We took all the regular high school classes plus things like Latin, Fiction, Chem II, Pascal (the computer language), Shakespeare, World Religions, Deferential Calculus, Prob and Stat. Girls lived in Caddo and the guys in Proudhomme, we all ate in cafeteria, we hung out in the annex and later the SAC, and we all had classes in the "High School Building". We were expected to achieve high goals and our creativity was nurtured in the process. I can't begin to describe the relationships that I formed with people in high school, much less the relationships I have with them today. Suffice it to say, I can meet a fellow "Giftie" and immediately find a kindred spirit. edited 5/4/09 to add: check out this link for a recent news story about the school.

My Senior Year, 5 girls lived in Suite G. Adrienne was our junior, but the other 4 of us were brilliantly arrogant and typically stupid 18 year-olds ready to tackle the world our way. We were learning to walk (both figuratively and literally) into adulthood and had a really tough time trying to do it all on our own!

Today: We have 25+ years of college/grad school between us, numerous post grad degrees, a Pharm. D. and a J. D. More importantly, we are 4 happy mommies with 7 children between us and we finally had the chance to sit down all together--the first time in 15 years!

Some of our favorite guys from high school were there too, and one who wasn't called just to say hi! (His wife had a baby earlier yesterday morning! Congrats Rusty and Sarah!)

It was a blast!

LSMSA Arts Gala

Last night was a wonderful break from the daily ins and outs of my life. For just a few hours, the kids were left at home and I had the opportunity to reconnect--to wonderful mentors and professors, to other alum, to my innermost Giftie.

If you aren't a Giftie, the rest of this might not make sense...

It amazes me that I can walk in to a room almost 14 years after graduation, and my professors still call me by name. Not just that, but Dr. Art can recall where I went to undergrad and Ms. Gleason was quick ask me how the town of Zwolle was after all this time. With the passage of time, they are so much the same: Dr. Delery, Mr. Allen, Dr. Findley, Mr. Ebarb, Ms. Sharon. Conversations are what you'd expect. Do you live here? What are you doing now? How are your children? How's your Addie? (Dr. Findley has an Addie too.) Have you started piano lessons? Your children are the right age for Suzuki. How's Jane? (Yes, Ms. Sharon remembers our friendship. She just laughs when she learns that we talk daily.)

And that's just the pre-gala reception.

At 7pm, we moved into theater. The crowd was small, but perhaps only a few could truly understand the talent, the labor, the passion, and the drive that was to be on display. And then it began. For the next 2 hours, I was transported to a world that only lingers in my memories. The performers might have been students from the Classes of 2008 and 2009, but I wasn't seeing them. I was watching Trish and the dance company and remembering the bruises that girl would come back with after hours and hours of rehearsal. I was watching Alex at the piano. I was reliving Matt and Randy and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". I was listening to the beautiful voices of Tanya and JoAnna. I was at Jane and Jill's senior recital, purple daisies in hand. I was remembering the days of Valley food, Caddo Hall and Social Hour; of Calculus and Chemistry and World Religions and Brit Lit. And somewhere in it all, I remembered me.

Where could the time have gone? Where ever it is, it has with it the creativity, the expression, the enjoyment of art. Those things have been replaced with the daily, the ho-hum, the dancing dinosaurs and little red fuzzy monsters.

Kudos to Dr. Widhalm and his faculty on a wonderful evening. The talent was exceptional, and the students were professionals. We expected no less.