Class Note 2001. Greetings from the weekend after our 25th reunion, fellow ’01s! What a memorable few days in the Upper Valley! I think we may have broken some attendance records, but even if not, the critical mass of joy in seeing each other was palpable throughout the weekend. Thank you to our amazing reunion committee for bringing together so many of our classmates to reminisce, reconnect, and celebrate each other and the school that made us into a community all those years ago.
The Baker lawn seemed a popular venue for various permutations of people to meet up at Saturday dinner and throughout the weekend. First-year roommates—such as Alyssa (Chandler) Fitzgerald, Maribel Florez, and me—saw each other for the first time in years; a cappella and other singers got together for a few songs; and study abroad groups—including Carolyn (Roth) Fiuza, Katie (Reichardt) Bishop, Katie Lyndon Kehoe, Bill Peter, Jordan Cortez, Karim Motani, Jessica Webster, Jen (Murray) Talmadge, Gretchen (Bell) Biggins, Kathryn (MacIntyre) Navins, and Patrick Hogan from the 1999 winter Barcelona language study abroad—gathered for pictures and to share memories.
In other news, Robin Elizabeth DeGracia wrote in about her debut memoir, Raising World Travelers While Staying Sane. As she describes, “14 years ago, I started a simple family travel blog before a trip to India. It began as a digital journal, a way to capture memories I knew my kids were too young to remember. Two years ago, I decided to take those years of stories, chaos, and lessons learned on the road and turn them into a memoir. This isn’t a curated, picture-perfect view of family travel. It’s the raw, messy truth and the profound beauty and growth that happen when you embrace that mess. It’s available in e-book and paperback at Amazon July 1.” Bayard Russell shared that he is still living in New York City, still working for Google (18th year!), and after 25 years, he and partner Jess finally bought a car. I saw a picture: It is Dartmouth green and really pops.
With reunion comes a changing of the guard in terms of our 2001 class leadership. I am thrilled to turn over the Notes column to Louisa Sadler Gauthier. Thank you, Louisa! And finally, many thanks to the members of the class of 2001 for taking the time to share so many stories and updates through the last decade. It was an honor to collect and help tell your stories across the years.
—Rachel Milstein Sondheimer, 143 Branchville Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877; (203) 645-6938; rachel.sondheimer@gmail.com