I suspect that you may be ringing in the new year by the time you read this. If so, the interminable election campaign will be behind us and the jockeying for position in 2020 will have already begun. I will attempt to avoid bringing my politics to this column, but I will share a quote from George Bush, president No. 41: “I think I am growing old at just the right time.” I think I should begin to look for a safe space…my backyard. Thankfully, some things do not change; we still can enjoy our classmates and relive our past glories—or some aspect of our collective Dartmouth experiences.

The other item that does not change is that Jeff Sassorossi would be very pleased if you paid your class dues. In fact, we probably all would as it helps support our good works and reduces the burden for all. The proceeds will support the class’ sponsorship of the Barbary Coast visiting artist program and the class of 2020 students who attend a performance of any student ensemble group in their fall term.

In addition, you can send along a note that Jeff can forward to me, which I will then send off to the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine so that they can print it here. In fact, the following note came from Mark Hinman. “I am happily retired and my wife and I are enjoying our six grandchildren. We have four in Massachusetts and two in Rome, New York, so we are on the road a lot.” No kidding. I have two daughters, one in Oklahoma and one in Virginia. Mark is way ahead of me in grandchildren; our first is (was) due in November.

From Ross McKinney: “I had a fairly substantial change last month (September). After 37 years I retired from Duke University Medical School as a professor emeritus of pediatrics and three days later I began as the chief scientific officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C. I’ll still be living in Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and commuting to D.C. My job is to represent academic medicine’s interest in research to a variety of audiences (the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, executive branch offices and the broader public). My wife is anchoring our N.C. house and providing daycare to my 3-year-old local grandson. [There are those pesky grandchildren again!] I also have a 6-year-old grandson and 3-year-old granddaughter in Williamsburg, Virginia, where my son is a visiting assistant professor in philosophy at William & Mary.”

In my regular crawl through Facebook I stumbled upon a nice fall outing picture of fellow Dartmouth football managers Rick Ranger ’74 and our own Rob Karin, who were both trekking around in the outback of Goshen, Connecticut. Rob and Michelle can be found frequenting that neighborhood. Rob once gave me some excellent legal advice, which I will share with you if you pay your class dues.

My new year’s wish: Delay further the full onset of curmudgeon.

—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Ave. M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com