Class Note 1988
The celebrations continue. Susan Brody celebrated her 50th birthday in April: “I spent my 50th walking from inn to inn in the Lake District in northern England with my sister, Lynn ’85. It was beautiful—stonewalls, green fields and adorable lambs everywhere we turned. I was lucky that my birthday fell during my school break (I’ve been an elementary school teacher in Maplewood, New Jersey, for the last 10 years), so it felt extra special to be doing something I love in a gorgeous setting with the person who has known me longest on my actual birthday. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
Meredith Larson, who lives in Washington, D.C., plans to mark her 50th birthday with her first visit this summer to Yellowstone National Park, where she managed to secure lodging in the park. Why Yellowstone? “I spent part of my childhood in a country torn by crisis and conflict; back in the United States at age 10, I watched and then read Roots, one of my most important learning experiences. Dartmouth later helped build a curiosity for the world and sense of possibility. Perhaps shaped by all of these and other experiences, I’ve spent much of my adult life working on human rights and humanitarian issues. I feel I’ve become acutely aware that there’s a lot of cruelty in this world—however, there’s also a lot of beauty. I’m finding at this stage of my life I’m appreciating that beauty in different ways, including being outdoors and enjoying my sweet, funny 9-year-old and the community of friends and family, including our class—in this momentous birthday time, no less! Yellowstone is part of this, and my son and I will soon be off to enjoy one of the most extraordinary and magical places of our planet.”
Kendra (Lehnertz) Morgenstern shared with us from Tokyo her service-inspired birthday challenge. Yes, she had cake and champagne during her joint birthday celebration with her husband, but the essence of her celebration is captured in her well-viewed Facebook challenge to friends: “I’ve been doing a lot of studying on happiness the past few years and a constant theme is how service brings joy to all and good deeds beget more good deeds. In the theme of celebrating 50 years of good fortune, I’m doing 50 good deeds, which I hope will continue to pay it forward. It’s a small effort to bring more joy and peace into our world. Will you join me and promise to do so?”
Finally we wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the “mega-50th” celebration that we are planning for this fall. The main event will be in Hanover during Homecoming Weekend (October 28-29), with a post-game gathering at John Replogle’s home on Rope Ferry Road. There will also be a number of satellite celebrations, the majority of which will be either the weekend before or the weekend after Homecoming, in the places where we already have mini-reunion organizers: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Denver; Houston; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; New York City; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and San Francisco. As well we are hoping to organize events in Australia; Hawaii; Madison, Wisconsin; Park City, Utah; Philadelphia; Portland, Maine; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Tokyo. We are also planning a virtual celebration on our Facebook page. If you want to help organize or make sure you are on the invitation list for any of these events, please send an email to d88classofficers@gmail.com.
And it’s not too late for you to let us know how you marked, or plan to mark, this milestone.
—Jere Mancini, 34 Wearimus Road, HoHoKus, NJ 07423; d88correspondent@gmail.com
