Deborah Bowen (Brennan), 18 OCT 2004
Dear All,
Hope you had a wonderful reunion! I thought of you all recently, as I
sat in the nursing home with my 85-yr old Dad, visiting my 79-yr old
mother with Alzheimers, talking about family, aging parents, life, and
death. It is certainly something we all share. My heartfelt sympathy to those who
have lost parents and those who are struggling with these issues.
I also enjoyed a "walk" down memory lane last month as I took a short
detour off the thruway, drove by my old house on Rose Rd., up Rte. 304,
through the high school grounds, and back via Main St. in New City, the
junior high, Germonds Road and the Clarksville Inn in West Nyack.
Memories flooded back --- like the walk to Carvel after football games, then on to Tor
Restaurant for french fries, and finally (for some of us) to the Tuba for
. . . whatever.
On a lighter note, I loved getting the update from Tia Ballantine.
Thanks, Tia. What fun to hear about the journey a fellow classmate has
made. And somehow, I can certainly imagine Tia as a poet!
I like the idea of circulating quick updates, so we can catch up with
more classmates. (If names are in the "subject" line, then it's easy to
select the profiles one might be interested in.).
So with that in mind, here's my update . . .
After some of the best years of my life during college at Brown (thank
you Mrs. Korn for the recommendation; I can't believe how simple I
remember the college process being back then; I barely remember a meeting
with the guidance counselor - Mr. McGrath, right?); backpacking in Europe
with Clover Bergmann; starting work as a computer programmer; and getting an
MBA at Carnegie-Mellon, I embarked on a 24-year career at Citibank, from
which I am now retired.
My "professional" energies have since been on at-risk youth, education and
athletics. I'm on the board of an after-school program for
underprivileged kids in Norwalk; run the Booster Club at my kids'
independent high school (still LOVE sports! playing and watching); consult for not-for-profits;
and work on the mission team of my church.
From a family standpoint, my husband, Mike, went to West Point, but I met
him in business school. (I remember the trip Mark Rooney and I took up
there for some atheltic award(?)). Our two children were born in '86
and'87, so we are relatively old parents! Chrissie is a freshman at Conn College, and
we are going through that process once again with Bobby, who is a senior
in high school. Bobby is the quarterback of the football team; watching him
puts knots in my stomach. I look forward to enjoying Army and Brown
football next year.
Do you ever hear yourself saying . . . "When I was a kid; or when I was
your age"? I can't believe how often Mike and I do that. It's so hard to
pass wisdom on to your children. I know "the books" say you are supposed
to let them learn it for themselves, but I shudder when I remember some of
the crazy things kids did in high school and especially college (and I
know my experiences were rather tame by comparision -- but still not
things I'd like to imagine my kids doing!). And as we all know, the risks are so
much greater today.
We spent two years living in London -- a fabulous family experience --
and have the travel bug. Mike has international responsibilities for
Readers Digest, so I am hoping to do a lot more traveling next year when
the nest in empty -- as well as focus my attention on family and friends.
All the best. Hope you had a great time at the reunion.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Debbie