Class Note 1979. Cross-stitched by our own Esther Cohen and displayed as her Facebook cover image is a phrase all members of the class of ’79 should remember and perhaps recite in unison: “Counting to 10 only makes it premeditated.”
Esther and I took turns writing surreptitious notes in the margins of our notebooks during prof. Dick Scaldini’s French class. When I scribbled, “Do you believe in déjà vu?” Esther immediately responded, “Didn’t you ask me that before?”
(Question for you: Did you keep or toss your undergrad notebooks?)
“In a nutshell,” Esther updates us, “life is good. I retired at the end of 2025 after 20 years with Episcopal Relief and Development. It’s been an interesting, circuitous journey from stage managing off-Broadway to being the chief operations officer of an international development organization. That’s what happens when you have a liberal arts education and an inability to say ‘no’ to interesting offers. I’m still married to Bob Bertrand ’76 (45 years!) and grateful mom to two wonderful adults. I’m serving as board chair of Heifer International, catching up on my reading, spending time at the Jersey shore, and having fun with snarky cross-stitch creations. Like everyone, there have been challenges along the way, but the good has far outweighed the bad. Having real friends who knew me way-back-when really helps!”
Linda Button, another classmate who celebrates friendship, urges us all to once again applaud “the awesome gang that threw the reunion bash” and particularly wants to add her gratitude “to the unsinkable Martha Pease, orchestrator and my guide and partner in our reunion communications this past year. She couldn’t make the festivities in person, so do please send her your gratitude! As for my return to non-Dartmouth life, I’ve been writing around the edges of my day job as VP of communications at Boston Children’s Hospital Trust. (Thank goodness life in the medical field is so calm now).” I believe you can add your own “yeah right” to that parenthetical statement, but you decide.
If you haven’t yet read Linda’s latest piece on connection, understanding, I suggest you do. “Bees, like all of us, do best when they lean on each other’s strengths,” Linda explains, describing a new life with a new partner after emerging “from a marriage that had capsized into imbalance.” It appeared as part of WBUR’s Cognoscenti and you can read it there by searching for the article title: “Bees, Like People, Need Each Other.”
Finally, a round of applause for former Greater Omaha [Nebraska] Chamber president and CEO David G. Brown, who recently received the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives Life Member Award in recognition of “those with enduring careers in chamber leadership.” Since retiring David founded DGB & Associates, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning for chambers of commerce across the nation.
Now it’s your turn: Tell your stories. What happened to your notebooks? How are you adapting to a new (or old) life? What should we cheer? What do you remember from the margins?
—Gina Barreca, 394 Browns Road, Storrs, CT 06268; gb@ginabarreca.com