Class Note 1985. “Statistically speaking, we have lived two-thirds of our life.” This frank statement from classmate Nancy Vogele, Dartmouth’s chaplain, caught me a bit off guard at our 40th reunion in June. The panel “What’s Next?”—featuring Nancy, Ellen Jennings, and Ted Pascoe—offered a thought-provoking discussion of how we can choose to live the remaining third of our life with intention. Some shared that they found the topic to be a downer, as they were not expecting such an open discussion of graceful aging, new possibilities, and end-of-life considerations. Many others found the stories, reflective questions, and comments from classmates inspirational. Ellen, also a pastor, shared that in agriculture and farming, the fallow period occurs when land is deliberately left unplanted to allow the soil a natural reset. For those of us on the verge of making retirement or professional pivot decisions, she counseled, “Allow yourself to sit with the discomfort of not knowing, to experience the fallow period when considering and exploring what’s next.” We don’t have to rush into choosing the next thing. For 23 years Ted has served as the executive director of Senior Support Services in Denver, offering three meals a day to the city’s unhoused seniors. He shared, “I continue to find pleasure in learning and trying new things.” The panel left me feeling compelled to find out how other classmates are prioritizing and choosing to live their lives these days. Diana Shannon conducted an awe-inspiring experiment by choosing to give up driving and only ride her bike for 18 months straight (including winter) to see who she might meet around her small Vermont town. Greg Beasley founded a startup catering to those who seek high-touch, white-glove care and grooming services for their family dogs. Todd Cranford has opened his heart and home to his mother-in-law and, with wife Jackie, has embraced the role of family caregiver. Lance Portland’s visible enthusiasm as he talked about coaching his grandson’s hockey and baseball teams underscores that they are truly a top priority in his life. Kris and Katie (Harris) Robbins, who have lived in Hanover for more than 30 years, are spending time with their two beautiful grandsons and looking forward to the summer wedding of their youngest daughter. Rick Massey and an ’81 hockey buddy checked off a bucket list item by successfully summiting Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in all of Africa. Suzanne Burnham Mankoff lives in Hawaii and is passionate about deep sea diving. She and Mark Inkster compared best places for dive expeditions in the Far East (Mark having spent years living in Singapore). Suzanne estimates that after 700 dive expeditions, she has now spent something like three months total underwater! I relished each conversation at reunion and wish I had enough space to share the many, varied examples of how our classmates are living their best lives. A quote shared by chaplain Nancy says it all: “If death is inevitable, and its time is unknowable, how then shall I live?”
—Rebecca Blake Osborne, 42 Olive St., Newburyport, MA 01950; (603) 381-4164; rosborne29@comcast.net; John MacManus, 118 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 331-6417; slampong@aol.com