My awesome news is that my 13 year old daughter, Marci,
is Clara in one of the four
performances of the Baton Rouge
Ballet Nutcracker, A Tale from the Bayou, this year.
She has been taking
dance for 9 years and this is one of the roles every dancer
dreams of
getting. She is in the performance on Sat. Dec. 20th at 6 p.m.
I would love
to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season and a Great New
Year! Love to all!
Mary Alice Kleinpeter Mallet
Time has gotten away from us since the 35th Reunion,
which I felt like was THE BEST
one we had. I can't believe that this year
is practically over too with the holidays
right around the corner. My mom
and dad always said that when time goes by so fast,
that means we are getting
older. I truly believe it although sometimes I still feel like
I'm 17 or
18! My biggest news since the reunion is that my son Andrew graduated from
Catholic High in 2007 and started LSU. He came home one night last December and
told us that he wanted to go sign up in the Marines. We had talked to the
recruiters
several times but kept "bargaining" with him to wait until
after college.... I guess to
no avail. Anyway, we talked again and
finally gave our blessing. What else can you
do??? He was 18 years old and at
least its something we are proud of.He signed up in
January and started
preparing for boot camp at Parris
Island, South Carolina. He left in
May for 13 of the
longest weeks I have ever gone through! No phone calls or
emails..... only
letters. He did great, is an Expert Marksman and graduated as PFC in
August. He is back at LSU and is in the Reserves for the time
being until he
graduates and then he'll be in active duty. We are
very proud of him and in
asking why he wanted to do this,he said because
of 9/11. At that time he was only
12 but apparently it made an
impact on him and several of his friends that have joined
as well.
Other than that, things are the same. I have a great job being the Executive
Assistant for the owner of 10 car dealerships. My husband
is continuing his job in the
neon sign business (which is always good
after storms and hurricanes) and with this
crazy economic mess, it looks
like we'll continue working for a long time.
Chris Micelli
Tam
I am retired from Bellsouth and I am now selling
Premier Designs Jewelry. I love it
because I work when I want and I
am trying to save a little $$ for this May when my
youngest son, who is
21 will graduate from West
Point. I would love to know what
everyone is
doing or what is happening in their lives.
Susan Scurria Moore
With 28 years of service under my belt, I find myself
looking forward to retiring from
move at the same time - he'd better find some
hobbies! Until then my mission will
be to help our four kids find their paths to
independence - financial independence!
Yes, that's right... I've announced to them that
the gravy train is coming around the
bend and the whistle is blowing. When
the train arrives at the station, everyone will
have to get off! My youngest is a sophomore
at Catholic High. Daughter #3 is a
junior
Southern
U.S. Army. She
completes "Boot
having with
menopause. Older women should not have
babies!
Vanessa Jackson Green
to
freelancing in the outside world. All of my three
children are now married (a lawyer, a
chemical engineer and a still-looking-around
anthropology major). My daughter Anna
and her husband have given me a beautiful grandson who
is now 15 months old. His
name is Champ, and he's beautiful. We survived Hurricane
Gustav with no damage,
but
unfortunately, had three trees on his house and he is
still recovering. For those who
took
families
Estella Olivier Champion
I became a grandmother in
March 2007 and I LOVE IT! Having a "baby grand" is the
best
thing I've ever experienced - I now know why my parents went bonkers when they
had grand kids. You just cannot help it - all the love you
have for your own child
immediately reaches out to the grand baby, and you
feel this rush of love for this new
person that is incredible.
You find yourself loving this new little person with 27+
years of love -
my daughter was 27 when her daughter was born. Your child does not
lose
the love you have for them - that love just expands to encompass the baby and
is such a strong emotion. For those with kids and no grandchildren,
I recommend
offering your kids a "cash incentive" to give you grand
babies! If you don't have kids,
find a baby and be a
surrogate "granny" to a little one! The other
"grannies" in our
class that I've had contact (Re, Anna and Estella)
with are nuts over their "baby
grands", too....so I knew it was
not just me who went crazy. I am struggling mightily
to keep up with
changing technology, but I am losing the battle. I have determined
that I
should probably be living in the 1800's, when people still used ink and
paper.
All the devices intended to save me time only create more
things for me to do in each
day and though the machines can move faster, I
CANNOT! Please...someone with
computer savvy....invent a
"chip" that can be embedded in me to make me move at a
faster
speed! (Melanie...you are the "someone" who could probably do
this!) I
am very involved in helping a mission in Nicaragua, founded
by one of our former
teachers, Sr. Dianne Fanguy. I've made several trips
there - it is a sobering
experience in many, many ways, and I recommend it
highly. If anyone is interested
in learning more about this
effort, you can reach me at sjbfox1@gmail.com. It
does
give "our problems", here in the U.S., a new perspective,
especially when you realize
that more people in the world live as they do in
Nicaragua, than the way we live in the
U.S. I am still in Baton Rouge, where I was born (55+
years ago); still married to
Greg (33+ years); we are still self employed (23+
years). We used to enjoy traveling
extensively, but now we look
forward to trips to Texas....where Maegan, our
granddaughter, lives with her
parents. (We look forward to seeing our daughter &
son-in-law,
too....but the baby is the "big deal" these days.) Kudos
to Faye for doing
this to keep us "connected".
I hope you all have a very happy, blessed Christmas
season. Sandy
Jumonville Brown
It's been a great 2008! I became a grandmother - thought that would sound so old but
I'm
loving it and am very proud of it! Preston Scott Thompson was born in
April and is
the absolute joy of our lives. Healthy and happy and I can't
get enough Nana time
with him. He is the son of one of my twins, Scott.
The other twin, Brent, got married
in July. I am very happy that I
finally have a daughter - after 3 boys and now a
grandson, Aubrey was a very
welcome addition to our family. Both Scott and Brent
and Aubrey live in
Baton Rouge, minutes from my house so that's a big plus. My
"baby" Jeff lives in Phoenix, Arizona and has given me a great place
to visit each year
- although I miss him terribly! As for me, still working at
LSU, thinking about
retirement but not sure what I'd do if I wasn't
working. Finally finding time and
money to travel which is something I've
always wanted to do. Went to England last
March and had a blast; making
future plans for Italy among other shorter trips. I want
to wish each and
every one of you a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy, Happy New
Year! Charyl Major Thompson
Life is good for the
Wilkinsons. Still living in Port Allen and Doug and I recently
celebrated
our 33rd wedding anniversary ( hard to
believe ). We are looking forward to
spending Christmas with our children (
Lauren and husband Ryan, David, and Joelle)
and we are especially excited about
sharing the wonder of Christmas with our
grandson, Patrick, who just turned
two. Merry Christmas
to all of you and wishing all
a peaceful and joyous New Year.
Anna Blaize
Wilkinson
Hi guys, All is well with me and
mine. My kids surprised me with a pug
puppy for
Christmas, so I feel like I have a baby again. Nothing
real exciting going on -- even
with a bad economy my business seems to be
thriving -- people suing people -- and
they always need court reporters.
Hope all is well with everyone -- we need another
reunion soon. The last
one was great and so great to catch up with everybody.
care and HAPPY
HOLIDAYS!
Tally Abraham
Merry Christmas to all of
you!!! This is our first year (since 1980) to have an empty
nest! We have three
sons – one is an Architect in Austin, 2nd is a student at LSU and
3rd
is attending Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota FL – Looking
forward to
having them all home for Christmas.
Lynn Bani Carville
Happy Holidays from Connecticut. Although I've lived here longer than in Louisiana, I still consider Big BR home and have very much enjoyed reconnecting with all the classy ladies of the Class of '71. As 2008 comes to a close, I am so thankful for my family's health and many kind friends. I have two sons - Hunter graduated from University of Connecticut and is working as a Pharmacy Tech at a New Haven hospital while he considers what his next adventure in life will be. Hart is attending Southern Connecticut State and is studying business/accounting. He has blessed me with a "grand dog", a Puggle named Bentley. For now, that's as close as I'm going to get to being a grand anything! Retirement is still some time off for me. I started my second career as a School Library Media Specialist only 11 years ago and absolutely love my school. Visit us and see pics of the fabulous new library http://www.hopkins.edu Wishing you and yours a fantastic 2009.
Faye Schillaci Prendergast
Hello to All, On November 9th, our 5th grandchild, Lil Sam, was born in Germany. We were able to spend Thanksgiving with him and his family in Germany before his dad, Sam, was deployed to Iraq. He was welcomed by his sister, Sophie(3), and cousins, Kennedy (5), Ellie (3) and Henry (9 mos). Merry Christmas to all and please pray for our troops.
Kathy Pecoraro Schexnayder
Happy Holiday greetings to everyone! My children will be home for Christmas. Geoffrey is 23 and
living and working in Charlottesville, Virginia. He graduated from UVA in May. Brittany is 21 and in
school at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. My husband, Cornelius, is fine. My mother lives with
us and just turned 85 in November. We'll all have a big family gathering at my brother-in-law's house
in Baton Rouge. He and his wife just moved here from northern Virginia about 2 months ago. I wish
everyone a happy and blessed New Year.
Karen Williams
A very Blessed Christmas to each of you.
Rosa Mansur Dunn
Hi hope all is well. been busy with school and family. Enjoying my new
grandbaby Addison. Also
entered a new phase of my life. Taking care of my parents. This will be our last Christmas at Mom and
Dad's I think. It is hard to see them get old. All my kids
are fine I have one last one to finish college in
May. Thank God. Hope
all of you have a wonderful Holiday . Many Blessings for 2009. Love,
Candy Swenson Lousteau
Even thought 37 years have passed since we roamed the halls of SJA, there is still so much that I
cherish. Most of all, the great education we received (thanks to Sister Felix, I don't think I have split an
infinitive even once!). But, even more importantay, the "life lessons" and values of everyday living. I
miss you all and hope that I will be able to make the next reunion! If you find yourselves in NY, I'd love
to meet you in the city for a drink or a cup of tea. PS: If anyone is contemplating retirement, I can
personally attest that is IS all it's cracked up to be!
Melanie Rose
Seasons greetings everyone from the country. My husband Larry and I have both retired and moved
to the country. Larry retired after 30 years in the Army and I retired after working for the State
Department of Health and Hospitals for 30 years . We have built our dream retirement home on
about 10 acres in Bush, LA which is about 10 miles north of Covington. We moved in June and have
been getting settled and doing various projects around the house for the past 6 moths. I have also
been taking a few watercolor classes and enjoying painting. We love to have visitors! Come see us if
you are in the area. Our new contact info: Linda and Larry Pippins -- 101 Imperator Court -- Bush, LA
70431 . Home: (985) 809-9054 Linda's Cell: (504) 450-7539; Larry's Cell: (504) 450-9631.
larryandlinda@bellsouth.net.
Linda Bogan Pippins
Things are keeping steady here in Lexington, KY. I'm teaching piano and singing in several groups
(some things never change), Andy is still designing landscapes and our 3 sons have grown up and are
good men. I would love to send all my classmates and their families my love and my prayers for a
joyful, Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2009! Ivymoore1@gmail.com
Ivy Allelo Moore
