An Opening Statement:
After being married to fellow classmate Tom Gorey since 1973, I've discovered that time goes pretty fast after the first 20 or 30 years. Germantown has been our hometown since 1981 and we have watched it grow from under 20,000 to approximately 100,000 and still growing. All of our three daughters live in Germantown and we see them, and our six grandchildren, very frequently. Tom and I are hands-on grandparents (I don't mean we practice corporal punishment) and are involved in every aspect of their lives. Bliss and stress all wrapped up in one bundle.
My life outside the home includes working as a public relations specialist at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in Rockville, MD. Over the years I have worked in medicine, law, education, accounting, and probably a few other fields I've forgotten about, but my PR job is by far the best. I would love to hear from any Whitmanites who are ASHA members (there are over 180,000 members who are speech language pathologists, audiologists and communication scientists). If you want to find out more about ASHA go to www.asha.org and also take a look at the press room to see what we're working on.
I'd like to add that the Washington Post ran a Health Section feature on September 30, 2008, about photographers who have formed a volunteer nonprofit group - Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep - to take memorial photos of stillborn babies for parents who otherwise would have nothing to remember their child by. Because Tom and I lost our son at birth it was particularly meaningful to me so I thought I would share the information in case there are any photographers among our classmates who might like to take part in this program. The web address is noted in the web pages section above.
Update: At the urging of the mighty webmaster, I am adding this update in December 2013.
Still living in the same house in Germantown, MD, and Tom and I are still working the same jobs. We have talked about retirement but at this point will keep on working as long as possible. We are committed to our three children and six grandchildren and give them help whenever it's needed so having money coming in is crucial.
Our oldest granddaughter is turning 18 in February 2014 and will be in college next year. I have taken her on college trips to a number of areas including North Carolina and Pittsburgh. Although she was early admitted to Pitt, she is waiting to hear from Duke, UNC (her favored school, much to the regret of her Dukie grandparents!), U of FL, and several others. It will boil down to the one offering the most money which is pretty said but necessary.
Our youngest daughter is 28 and getting married to a wonderful man in August. We couldn't be happier for them as they are a really special couple.
Other than college and a wedding, 2014 will surely be full of the usual surprises. Hopefully these won't be health-related downers - I had enough of those this year and would like to rise above all of that next year.
Here's hoping 2014 is a golden year for all '69ers. Best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday season!
2018 Update:
Tom and I retired to Leesburg, FL, last year and don't miss the DC area one bit. Love the slower pace, the friendly people and the fact that Florida is so flat. Now I can take daily 2-3 mile walks without getting stuck at the bottom of a hill I can't walk up. We now have 8 grandchildren - 3 in Orlando and 5 in Maryland. They all have very busy lives but we manage to see them on occasion. Our oldest granddaughter, Devinn, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh this year and is pursuing graduate studies to ultimately become a physicians assistant.