All is well n northern Michigan...first sighting of a pair of loons today, and just saw a heron on our shore. So we feel blessed.... We are well, our children and their families are well, and far away family and friends, too . Wishing you all the same.
A big thank you to those of you who thought of this idea. Darrel and I are permanently living in CO now having sold Naples,FL. We had a granddaughter born April 8 and very grateful that all went very well. Although we are geared up for more cases of the virus we may not get meet the projections ....may? We walk or snowshoe depending on our weather which can go from 20 to 70 in a day, and do yoga on Zoom. Chernow's book on Hamilton was great as was the play. Now tackling Walter's daVinci. We are also staying around the house and limiting grocery shopping. Keeping up family contacts on FaceTime.
Stay safe everybody. Love how we are all busy and involved.
Diane
Fun to see comments from some old friends. Hope those I don't see are doing well.
After nearly 30 years of practicing plastic surgery followed by another decade roaming sub-Saharan Africa to assess health care, I have retired (at least until something else piques my interest). This seems like timely avoidance of professional and financial disaster from the current shutdown. My wife and I are now comfortable in Western Colorado with few COVID-19 cases in the area, good hiking and biking from our doorstep, and the Colorado National Monument visible out the window. Our worries center mostly on how our kids and grandkids are going to handle this. I have 50 years of photography to organize and lots of books that need to be read - most without pictures. I am anxiously looking forward to Maria's new project. Also planning to attend our 60th.
How delightful to read everyone's comments, to get a peek into your lives circa 2020. I'd love to see the format continue. Here in Sisters, Oregon, I've seen little evidence of the virus but all the impact of life on hold--including cancellation of a long-anticipated songwriting workshop and one in wool art quilts! That said, I'm also learning the advantages of not rushing through life. Fortunately, no one in my family has suffered severe economic consequences. I've used the time to make masks, make music, clean, and bond with grandchildren. As a mentor (kids at risk), I'm being forced into the world of virtual 'fun' and learning--not my forte! Happy to be nestled in Sisters, but I long to find connection to those I knew so many years ago.
In previous posts we've seen a few hints of how folks are maintaining social relationships in an isolation world, primarily through Zoom, and possibly a little Facetime and Hangouts here and there. (Surely no one uses Kik.)
But let's share the other social innovations that we've discovered. Here's ours:
We regularly play bridge with another couple. The other guy and I have been doing so since the early 1990s. As time passed, each of us was widowed and our new partners joined the ongoing games. I discovered Trickster Cards, https://www.trickstercards.com. Four people with computers, tablets, or phones can play from remote spaces. We've been playing from our respective homes for a couple of weeks.
What new ways have you found for maintaining social relationships?
Larry,
Nice to hear from you, hope you and all our classmates are safe, healthy and doing well in these very strange times. Â I have been keeping in touch with several of our classmate around the country and am glad to report that all are fine. Â Healthy and safe.
Be well and my best wishes to you and all our HPHS Class of '67 classmates.
Harvey
Hi from Atlanta, where we are also in lockdown. Can’t do usual volunteer activities, so have been getting fit with a lot of walking. My children and grandchildren are close by, but can’t see them . Have a lot of phone calls and texting. Everyone stay safe
Self isolated at home in Bethesda MD. Peter is seeing cancer patients in northern Minnesota and comes back every three weeks to avoid as much back and forth travel as possible . No Covid 19 so far where he is. But these dystopian times will be with us for a long time to come. Until there is a vaccine that works, life will never be the same. I zoom with mahjong friends and my family which makes me happy. I’ve always been an avid traveler to over 120 countries, loved to scuba dive but that’s not part of any future I foresee.
Not sure how my above post got sent. It's actually a re-post of the message sent by Harvey Kinzelberg. I just wanted to remind Harvey that we graduated HPHS in 1963 -- 1967 was college. Glad to see I'm not the only one who is losing it.
I'm riding out the storm in Oostburg, Wisconsin (population 824) seven miles south of Sheboygan with my wife and dog --both good company. We take long walks on the beach and through the woods. Unless the deer and squirrels carry the Corona virus, we are safe. I am finding it surprisingly easy to work remotely and the 'commute' from my bedroom to my home office (about 30 feet) is far less time consuming than the one from Winnetka to downtown. I watch our idiot president about 15 minutes a day. I can't decide whether it comedy or tragedy. But I'm sure my answer would not be so flip if my life or family had been touched by the virus. Fortunately, they have not. I hope neither you nor your families have either. Stay home and stay safe. That way we all live to fight another day.
Hi All,
Its very strange living downtown Chicago with stores in the Gold Coast boarded up, the police on horseback riding four abreast down Michigan Avenue, few cars, fewer pedestrians and the parks and lakefront closed. The building management in my high rise, like many, has forbidden all visitors who are not permanent residents - relatives included. My husband is a psychoanalyst so he is 'seeing' his patients online instead of on the couch and is really busy as you can imagine. Some of my neighbors are taking the stored paper bags out of their ovens and figuring out how to turn them on. But most are relying on supporting the local restaurants. I have now been in lock down for 6 weeks and playing duplicate bridge daily on bridgebase.com. It keeps the memory going and Im very thankful for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Audible. I have no plans to break quarantine any time soon. Hope everybody stays well and sending warm regards from cold and snowy Chicago
we were playing bridge 3 times a week but miss it now. have heard that several people have arranged on line games. we have not tried it. getting flower beds in shape and surprised by the number of 'annuals' (gerber daiseys, snap dragons) have sprouted in addition to irises which have bloomed one color at a time, amarilo also. jig saw puzzles have also kept us busy. I was working as an ambassador at DFW, but our group has been temporarily shut down.
would like to hear from any one since I have missed reunions.
We have enjoyed an incredible number ( an overused Trump adjective which Mr. Guthrie would have red lined and flunked him) of chat responses from all over the USA and across the pond(s). It is super comforting to learn that most of us if not all of us are safe and healthy and enjoying contact with our loved ones and friends - albeit from a distance.
My wife and I are living in Highland Park with our 2 children, spouses and 6 grandchildren residing in Deerfield and Denver. It is interesting that my International work took me to the ROC probably 50-60 times over the last 30 years including the wet (fish) market in Wuhan and I probably have built up an immune system to Covid -19 since I literally came back with an URI infection each time.
As we say' We are all in it Together' and this too shall pass.
Take care and please continue to share your news.
Nice to hear from everyone. Odie and I have been in Boca Raton for the winter and now join the world in staying home but at least warm here, so far OK, but really miss my golf and seeing everyone. Hope to 'escape' to home in few week.
Rest of year fine staying busy with work and the kids. Had a little knee repair but only kept me slowed down for a month!
Steve, Ruth, Gerry remind me when your meeting would love to have some time together this summer.
Most important a very 'HAPPY 75th BIRTHDAY' to all of the Class of '63 the best year ever!!!
I appreciated reading all of the notes from my classmates more than I expected. I am living on Salt Spring Island off the coast of British Columbia (Canada) with my wife Francine and our two cats. The virus has only minimally made it's presence known on the island although, as is true with all of you, we are in relative lock-down mode and maintaining social distancing. We are fortunate in not experiencing a huge financial impact as we are retired but many in our community are without work or money to pay for housing, food or lifestyle needs. My three kids live in the Vancouver area and are working from home and taking care of kids (three grandchildren. Similar to others, we communicate with family by zoom or face-time. We are tending our garden and I am building a nice garden shed as the weather has been sunny and dry. All the best to everyone, it was great to read your words.
Just to add my thoughts, I'm glad all are doing OK, as are we. Our closest exposure is our daughter-in-law Melissa who is an RN and was off work from the Beaumont Hospital system (MI) with fever and other symptoms. Seems recovered today so all OK. I'm missing golf since we left CA 3/6, but hope to play soon - glad I am a walker. Been walking every day as always, but hope for warmer weather. Lots of zoom events with our temple and grocery store every other week (we take turns) - I'm sure about the same routine as most of you. Texted with Geoff Gluck today and he's doing fine as well.
What a wonderful breath of fresh air Larry has created for us here! I'm enjoying reading everyone's updates and (unduly) proud of myself for remembering just about everyone. I'm holed up at home in Naperville with my daughter Sandy, who had been living and working in India for the past ten years. She got home (for good I think) just under the wire -- the day India shut down incoming flights and the day before the mad crush at O'Hare of travellers racing home from Europe. My younger daughter, Renee, her husband and my teenage grandkids, Maya and Ryan, are just a few blocks away so we've been able to visit outside, though at a social distance. I'm very grateful to report that we're all fortunate enough to be healthy, though the teens miss seeing their friends in person.
I've been teaching a variety of social and cultural history classes in the Lifelong Learning program at College of Dupage for the past couple of years. I dearly miss the interaction and insights that have kept both me and my students (almost all age 55-80 retired professionals) on our intellectual toes.
Stay well and active everyone. Let's all make it to our 60th reunion!
I, my wife Susie, son Erik and family, daughter Michelle and husband Gabe, (all in San Francisco area) as well as daughter Nik, husband Trung and my granddaughter Charlotte (live in London) are well, staying reasonably sane. We shelter at home, going out on 4-6 mi walks with friends (6' and masked), and do more gardening than I ever expected to do. For those interested in the science of Covid-19 there are good lectures from the LA Times that give good reasons for hope on youtube: 'science-behind-coronavirus-series-2-123'
May you all find ways to deal successfully with this crisis. May you and all you love be well. Bill
Hunkered down in Park Ridge, all is ok. Son and his family come by on their bikes and wave from the sidewalk so we do get to see them from a distance. Daughter and her family drive over occasionally and wave from the car. We worry about them, she's a nurse, husband is CPD, so far they're ok, but...we're trying to stay positive! We're doing fine, so far so good. If the fool in DC doesn't screw it up any more than he already has, hopefully we will come out of this sooner than later! Science, not speculation, please!
We thought you might be interested in knowing that a group of your classmates is making a $1000 donation to the Northern Illinois Food Bank that serves Highland Park and other cities in Lake County with funds that were left over from our last reunion. We still have over $3000 left in that account after this donation. We are asking them to acknowledge the Highland Park High School Class of 1963. We hope that you have or are planning to make contributions of your time, assistance and/or financial aid to charities or essential workers where you live to help alleviate the stress and suffering caused by Covid19.
Please share with our classmates what we/you have heard from friends or loved ones what they or you have done or provided to assist , help, contribute or fund to help in the fight against the corona virus. Please share with the Class how you, the family and friends have reached out to your community in this battle against the invisible enemy.
Ricky - I can't think of a better use of that money. So many are going hungry for want of a way to earn anything beyond bare necessities. So many are now going to food banks for basic sustenance. My 20 year old son in L.A. with his buds from the Democratic Socialists have been distributing food for the homeless, and there are plenty of them out there. My youngest daughter, an L.C.S.W. out of Advocate St. Francis in Evanston has been counseling those now in hospice from Coronavirus all over the North Shore and Northwest 'burbs. Out of Chabad of Arlington Heights, we've been taking food over to elderly and infirm Shul-mates and leaving it on doorsteps here and in Palatine. It costs so little, and it leaves us feeling like we've done at least something. I know others are doing more, but its's what we can to try to be heroes too.
I've been a disaster volunteer since 2002. Not usually a hammer and tools guy or a chainsaw guy; that would be easier. I've been an organizer at the state and county level, often both at the same time. Major disasters in which I've served:
--April 2011 tornadoes in Wake County: I was leading the county disaster recovery group. We invited recovery teams from other places into the county and found groups to house and feed them. We raised money for supplies for people with inadequate insurance and government loans and grants and we recruited teams (of varying skill levels) to provide the labor. I was still working then, and although my boss was generous in allowing time off to work on disaster tasks, I never got to bed before midnight. I refer to that as the disaster that took a year out of my life.
--October 2016 is when Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina. 44 of the 100 counties received a federal disaster declaration. My job was working 12-hour shifts in the state Emergency Operations Center, making sure that volunteer groups were balanced across the areas of need--no area underserved or overserved. Also responding to individual requests and providing data and statistics when required. Not to mention managing and/or recording minutes for coordination calls that started daily and ended up bi-weekly. And training volunteer groups in the affected counties how to organize. This activity also stretched out to a year or so, although the reconstruction is still continuing. The Governor saw fit to grant me the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for this effort. The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is an honor granted by the State of North Carolina to individuals who have shown extraordinary service to the state. It is the highest award for state service granted by the Office of the Governor.
In September 2018, just 23 months after Matthew, Hurricane Florence struck North Carolina with far more damage than Matthew had caused. Only about half the matthew-damaged homes that needed volunteer repair had been completed. And some volunteers had the heartbreaking task of tearing out flooded drywall they had installed just two weeks earlier. The Florence response required most of the same tasks as Matthew, but fortunately I had trained a small cadre of reliable volunteers to do my roles, so I could actually breathe and split my roles in the state and county Emergency Operations Centers.
You know what they say about complacency. About the time I was really feeling good about the recovery, in September 2019, Hurricane Dorian arrived. You know how when you look at a map of North Carolina, you see that tiny string of islands parallel to the coast? They are called 'barrier islands,' a little leftover from when the tectonic plates moved. The northern part is called the Outer Banks. And a spot that's furthest from the coast is Okracoke, a three-hour ferry ride from the mainland. It has 800 homes. A four-foot wall of water washed completely over the island, flooding 400 of them. Just getting supplies and teams in was an exercise. The county sheriff stationed deputies at the ferry dock to make sure the teams and construction supplies got on board first.
And of course, now we have COVID-19. Working with the same folks, but all of us (except certain volunteers) are working from home. We have websites and phone numbers (also available across the country) where people can report their needs: shopping pickup and delivery, prescription pickup and delivery, regular wellness checks (by phone), regular meal delivery, personal protective equipment (masks, gloves), and pet supplies pickup and delivery. Volunteer groups pull these requests from a database and fulfill them. My first job was to publicize this service across the state and county, and to recruit groups to fulfill the requests. That is running pretty smoothly and now I am crunching statistics from the database to make sure no area in North Carolina is ignored.
By the way, the reporting service is available nationwide, by calling 800-451-1954 or visiting https://coronacommunity.org  or https://stayneighbor.com . If you work with a volunteer group and would like to handle some of these tasks, visit https://crisiscleanup.org .
We are fortunate - in one respect - as our business is considered essential in North Carolina.
Keeping doors locked but working with our customers thru phone, email and internet.
Sure glad we put a mail slot in our office door when we built the building.
Also very amazed at my will power......over 3 weeks observing Stay At Home-Stay Safe
I have not lifted my iron the whole time.......
We live and work very close to the Georgia State line.....2 miles.....
States surrounding you should consult with neighboring states before reducing the quarantine and opening up businesses........
Thank you Don for your kind comments. Please understand that I am only one of your many classmates ( including yourself) who are members of the Class of '63 Â reunion committee . We all respectfully acknowledge and accept your gratitude.
Larry, your incredible humanitarian and selfless efforts over the horrific events that have befallen North Carolina are exemplary and held in the highest regard and admiration. Keep up the great work! Â
LARRY how very nice of you to continue handling the job of WebMaster and to reach out to all of us during these most unusual and extraordinary days.
I know we were are a very homogeneous group, there are probably no more than 300 different opinions about these times. And we're probably all over 65 (scary isn't it), but for me, this is much 'Ado about Nothing'. We've all had more than one case of the Flu. I suspect few of us like being told 'You're under House Arrest', or finding you can't go out to diner etc. When this is all over check, -- there were more 'Flu' deaths, in prior years, than even the inflated numbers being assigned to Covid-19. Nothing is turning out to be anywhere near as bad as has been shouted at us 24/7. But, I'll leave it there.
We took a loss on the house and escaped Illinois 2 1/2 years ago. With the new Governor 'Pugsley', Toni Taxwinkle still in charge of Cook County, and Lady Lightfoot handling the expenditures in Chicago, -- we were well timed. We moved to the foothills of Phoenix, northwest of Phoenix proper in a town called Peoria -- yes it was started in the '50 by a former citizen of Peoria, Illinois. There is evidently going to be a lot of people following us as the housing prices are going up daily and Peoria alone has 5,000 building permits outstanding. The housing projects, which are popping up all over, are each about 1/2 mile square.
The Vistas of the mountains and the desert are beautiful -- this is Big Sky country. 'Weather' is almost non-existent, roads are excellent, traffic runs from non-existent to very manageable (mostly non-existent), and taxes (compared to Illinois) are hardly noticeable. For those so inclined, hunting is abundant and you can, if you so desire, wear your gun in or out (without government permission).
We're in the Sonora desert, which is unexpectedly full of life, much of which I had not seen before. There's a lot of green and some not so green, i.e. scorpions. Yes, the days can be warm, we've seen some 115. On those days I don't walk barefoot on the sidewalk, but I assure you because of the low humidity, the hot days are not nearly as bad as 80's & 90's in Chicago. As a big added bonus my wife's arthritis is history, except when she goes back to Chicago.
As far as Covid-19 and the rest of the Flu germs, we spend most of every day killing as many as possible by sitting in the sunshine by the pool. So far we seem to being doing a pretty good job.
Again Larry thanks for maintaining the Website and taking the time and effort to reach out to all of us. It's a very nice and thoughtful gesture.
A shoutout to Larry for creating and monitoring this website. To my detriment, I had pretty much ignored it. I shouldn’t have. It’s delightful to learn about my classmates leading such interesting and productive lives in so many places. My husband and I moved to Silicon Valley (Portola Valley) in 1992. We are fully retired, but like so many of you, immerse ourselves in grandchildren or hobbies or travel or volunteering, or even work, or any or all of the above.
On January 24, we were mid-journey on a ship cruising from New York to Hong Kong, emerging from the Suez Canal to work its way around the Arabian/Persian Gulf. By that day, the news was widespread that Covid-19 was contagious and deadly. Lacking solid information from the cruise line or the captain as to their intentions, we decided to “jump ship” a week later in Dubai while there was still some hope of getting home without major complications. It was a good decision: the ship made no more scheduled port calls but drifted in the Indian Ocean for several weeks. The passengers were finally let off in Perth.
A few weeks after we got home from our aborted cruise, we started a 3-months’ lease on a house on Bainbridge Island, close to Seattle where one set of kids/grandkids live. Just as we arrived, everything in Seattle and its environs began shutting down. We did not want to get stranded and had to isolate from the kids in any event, so we jumped in the car and headed back to Portola Valley to hunker down next to our books, doctors, big screen, and good sound system. The best laid plans of mice and
men. . . Still, we are exquisitely aware that we are among the luckiest, while so many of our fellow countrymen are suffering.
First while on the high seas, then overlooking Puget Sound and the Seattle skyline, under the blanket of persistently sketchy telecommunications in both places, we could feel somewhat insulated from all the bad news. Back in the “real” world, we had to squarely face the fact of a federal government firing on fewer than all pistons, driven by a duly elected malignant narcissist. He once observed correctly that his supporters, a substantial fraction of Americans, would stay loyal even if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue. Some are still devoted to their guru, apparently prepared to pass around the Clorox jug. Is democracy’s immune system strong enough to survive the double assault of a pandemic and a dysfunctional president? Let’s do what we can to keep it alive and well. Stay healthy!
All of us were taught to be Critical and Analytical thinkers, not Lemmings and shallow name callers. The facility would be ashamed of some of us, it’s sorry to see.
We have all experienced emotional stress and isolation during the pandemic. We’ve all had to significantly alter our daily routines to adjust to the new reality. However, we see some uplifting stories on the news, like people standing out on their balconies and applauding first responders every night. What is one positive thing that has happened to you during your quarantine?
