Sharon Bartholomew T. cites her BIG 40,40,40

Good afternoon Stan and fellow classmates!
Don't know what has taken me so long to write as I got the reunion invitation a month ago now. Maybe I have been putting it off because I know I can't come and it is bumming me out. I have spent about three hours checking out the blogsite. You have done a great job with it Stan and it has been fun catching up on the classmate news. Thank you so much for all your efforts.
Scott and I are still in Houston. He retired from Amoco when they merged with BP. We didn't really think Houston would be our retirement spot but here we are. We have lots of friends here and one of our sons and family so there really is no need to move, at least not yet.
I was thinking about the "BIG Three 40" milestones in my life this year and they are our 40th wedding anniversary late last Dec., our oldest son Todd turning 40 in April, and of course my 40th high school reunion. Lots of 40's. Sometimes it all seems like yesterday and then again sometimes like a very long time ago. It has been a pretty good 40 years. We have had a chance to live in several states and one foreign country.

Spent the 25th with Judy Blanchard
In fact the 25th class reunion I spent having coffee with Judy Blanchard in Cairo, Egypt. We both had to be back in Cairo the weekend of the reunion so decided we would have to celebrate on our own. It was a real kick being in Egypt with Judy. Who would have ever thought we would see each other there.
Retirement keeps us busy. We travel when we feel like it and most recently were in China. When we're not traveling we bikeride, take yoga, go to movies and hang out with grandkids whenever possible. We have four, one boy and three girls. Todd, our oldest, and his family live in Woodbury, Mn. They have a boy, Adam and a girl, Anna. Their being in Minnesota plus our parents and siblings keep us coming home quite often. Ryan, our younger son, and his family live about 50 miles north of us. They have two girls, Kaitlyn and Emma. They live just far enough away so we have to plan ahead to see each other but also close enough so we can help out when necessary.

Mr. Freng just down the hall
Our folks are all still with us which is great. Scott's folks live at The Senator in Alex. They love it there and are alway playing bridge or something. My folks live in a twin home across the street from Geneva Beach resort. When we see Scott's folks we often see Mr Freng as they live just down the hall. He was always my favorite teacher so seeing him is nice. We seem to run into Bill and Anne Riggs fairly often too. I enjoyed reading John Herdans story about setting the two of them up. I believe Mr. Riggs was always sending his students off to read Time magazine or something so he could go off and flirt with a certain French teacher. While I was out of school the winter of my senior year, pregnant, I would go to their house to be tutored.

A french cuss from Mrs. Riggs
I remember once Mrs. Riggs was busy sewing or mending and she uttered a french cuss word. She had mended whatever she was working on right to her clothes. I thought that was pretty funny. Not that I can say I've never done that.
As luck would have it the reunion letter came right after we'd made our plans to come to Alex. in July. Scott's family always has a reunion the 3rd weekend of July and this year we had offered to bring our daughter-in-law and two granddaughters from Houston with us. Soooooo, it is with regret that I won't make it to yet another reunion. By any chance will there be a class booklet or anything like that with names and addresses, to buy. If so let me know how to get one.
Do have a great time and I say Hello to all and if any of you care to send me an e-mail at strushen@aol.com., I would love to hear from you.
Fondly, Sharon Bartholomew Trushenski