Here you will find a bit of what our classmates have been doing in 2020 —
Amy Brill writes, “Trapped alone for 7 months in a Thai hotel room and sick for much of the time, I would write off 2020 as one of the worst, BUT, I became a first time Nana to a gorgeous, funny, feisty ginger granddaughter. And just like that, life made sense again. I accepted a post in Cairo and am doing some masked socially distanced exploring, but am planning to repatriate to be closer to my family. I am grateful for the opportunity to be immersed in Egyptian culture and hear the adhan and take Felucca sails, but I am ready to be reading stories, hear Reese say “Nana,” and push a stroller! Three more months and I will be home (until the travel bug bites again)!”
All of us who are on K80’s watched Amy’s hellish stay in Thailand and were thrilled with her good news of being “sprung” — and rejoiced with her upon the pictures of her new “Nana” hood.
Dr. Kelly Doyle writes, “Hello to everyone I have not seen this past year and to those I did - on ZOOM and other means of socially distant communication. I am still living in Cary, NC and would love to hear from anyone who is in the area or is passing through. I have an extra room or two and would be glad to welcome weary travelers for a stop over and a meal and some conversation. I also have four fur babies that will be happy to make you their servant for belly rubs and treats. I am COVID-19 vaccinated now and very happy to say so. I have been full time faculty and running teaching clinical practice at UNC-CH Psychiatry Department and Graduate School of Nursing Psych NP/DNP program for the past 3 years. I now have a small private psychiatry practice and am considering a post-doc fellowship in neuroscience this year up at Dartmouth. I am also a long time company member at Burning Coal Theatre Company in Raleigh - where we produced The 19th Amendment Project, a collection of 10 minute plays by a very diverse group of women and GNB people from all over the USA. I curated the piece and wrote one of the plays and I also got to play Elizabeth Cady Stanton in another. I had the best time recruiting writers as it gave me a reason to call upon many of the women playwrights and artists that I have known since before my time at Brown Playwriting Program and invite them to create a piece about the 19th Amendment, to open on the 100th Anniversary of the ratification on August 18th 1920. This past year has also brought a lot of loss, and grief has been something of a constant - with the loss of my lovely mom in August and a close friend from Kenyon and some beyond. Peace to all. –Kelly”
Thanks for the link, Kelly. This looks to be a fascinating project.
Tim Girian is still in Manchester by the Sea, MA and playing golf now during the colder months in Massachusetts in Lookout Mountain, TN. His son Sam is at Medical School and his daughter Elizabeth is in College.
Greg Gooding updates us from Manhattan — “‘I hope you're well’ has become the default email opening of the Covid-19 era. Me? I'm fine. Lower Manhattan is a great place to spend a pandemic, particularly if you don't know how to cook (or even brew coffee) and aren't inclined to learn. The five of us - two parents, three teenagers - have so far avoided falling victim to both the virus and to each other, although there were some close calls. If I knew 23 years ago that a contagion was coming, I would have built more interior walls. Thanks to Governor (for the moment) Cuomo, who lowered the age threshold for NY vaccine eligibility to 60 on the day I crossed that threshold, I'm now vaccinated and ready to fly the coop. Suggestions welcome, although nearly anyplace will do. In the meantime, ‘I hope you're well.’"
We are glad that you and yours, are well, Greg. Our differences make us interesting; see Stephen’s response on pandemic life in NYC, below.
Now in residence in the Catskills, Stephen Hays writes, "Last year, needless to say, was a challenging one. After a decade in NYC, I fled for the Catskills and have embraced a new life model consisting of dogs, fresh air, disproportionate personal space and an abundance of easy parking alternatives. That is not to say that occasional road trips to the city for fiery northern Thai dishes and other decadences are verboten... Next, 2020 had the film business on its heels for obvious reasons, but we managed to close on a few projects including the reboot of Stephen King's Children of the Corn, Lansky with Harvey Keitel, Swing starring Michael Shannon directed by Norman Mailer's son, and Nine Bullets with Sam Worthington and Lena Headey. Meanwhile, my son wowed us all by being accepted into Berklee Music School in Boston for guitar, and after a semester remotely, is happy to be on campus. Meanwhile my musical exploits remain confined to endless tinkering with modular synthesis accompanied by under-skilled but enthusiastic drumming. For those hailing from '83, plus or minus, and passing through the Woodstock area or obsessed with analogue oscillators/bi-polar filters, gates and sequencers, etc., do reach out.”
As are many of us, Rick Howell is dealing with aging parents and their concerns. “My mom had some hip surgery, and over the course of rehab/isolation has unfortunately been placed in a memory care unit due to lack of familiar faces and surroundings - the unseen sequelae of this pandemic are myriad. I have been making regular trips to Cleveland, and have started dating again (actually for a little while now) and still am thankful for the perseverance that trials bring! Miss the simpler times, but looking forward to the future and the new joys it brings!” His kids, though, are doing well. “Hoping for a tapering end to ‘COVID winter’ like everyone else. My oldest daughter and her husband are relocating to Grand Rapids this summer to attend seminary. She will still be doing work for intervarsity campus missions. My oldest son Chase (2nd Lt Marines) just deployed to sea for a while, and praying for the safety of our people/all people in uniform. My youngest daughter graduates MI State and starts her MBA next year. My youngest son is learning to drive (which may age me more than the others combined!) Could use a brief respite back on ‘the Hill!’”
Gambier is beautiful in the spring, Rick!
Ian Lane (whose globetrotting adventures I have often envied) writes —“Having survived the pandemic (so far), it is time to start to rebuild. First, I mourn all the wonderful small businesses that have shut down including our own Amy McCloskey's Madame X. I hope that these next few months and years will see a rebirth of small businesses, a coming together of our fellow Americans and a resolve to ensure a better future for our children and grandchildren. I am proud to note that my daughter, Edith, is currently studying in the Medical College of Swansea University in Wales and my two boys, Maxim and Emmett remain with their mother in Den Haag, Netherlands. Maxim has impressed us all with his excellent grades and social skills at the International School of the Hague, and Emmett is excelling in his STEM studies at the Rotterdam International School. My stepdaughter, Alexia, is in one of the most prestigious high schools in New York City, Brooklyn Technical High School, and earning academic honors in all of her classes. I am, as always, profoundly grateful that I have been blessed with such wonderful people in my life. It's been a difficult year for in-person visits to my 85-year old mother and my children in Europe, as travel has been prohibited, but I am very grateful for the ease of communication we have today thanks to technology. A welcome change from the shared phone and expensive long distance calls that kept me in touch with friends and family while I was in Gambier. I hope all my fellow Kenyonites are doing well, and look forward to the days when we can once again meet together in person.”
Ian, you will be happy to see Amy’s note! Madame X will return!
Amy McCloskey gives a third view of the pandemic in Manhattan: “It's been a pretty crazy year with the bar shut down. We are EXACTLY EVERYTHING people should not be doing during a pandemic. I started a little side business making triple layer fitted masks (the RBG, Kamala, and Back the F*** Up designs have been remarkably popular!), and 100% did not have THAT on my 2020 bingo card. It's starting to look like we may be able to open again now that the relief act has passed, so I'm hoping we'll be back in gear by May or June. My GM of 22 years has decided to take the opportunity to retire (I don't blame her), so I'm in search of a feisty woman to take over that position. I'd ask for help, but sincerely hope the position is filled by the time anyone reads this. Like everyone else, I'm eager for it all to be over, while at the same time hopeful we'll take some important lessons from this ‘break’ from ‘normal.’ Mostly, don't underestimate how important the hospitality industry is to the financial health and psyche of this country, and teachers, nurses, and grocery store workers are not paid NEARLY enough. If they're ‘essential,’ they need to be paid that way.”
As always, well said, Amy.
I, Karen Rockwell, have spent the time looking for full time employment, taking care of my 80+ year old Mom, missing my normal dog show activities, and maintaining my sanity with books, dogs, and music. It seems as if it was a lifetime, not just 13 months ago, that I was in NYC for the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show and all the fun of the city that the weekend always brings. There were international visitors and friends who were talking of the travel restrictions that were beginning, but we had no idea what the year would bring. Westminster has rescheduled to June at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown — rather than mid-February in NYC. I plan to be there; as bookmark to this crazy time. There will be restrictions and changes, but it will be great to be able to see far flung (vaccinated!) friends in person. Linda Day-Mackessy and I spent a socially distanced fall weekend at Apple Valley, with a trip to walk around in Gambier. The new Library was visible and lovely.
Tim Slager writes, “We experienced joy this year in having our (now adult) children choose to live and work relatively close to us. I continue to enjoy my career in employment services - with a focus on helping those going through an unexpected career transition. Sending best wishes to all!”
Last, but not least, Charlotte Pillsbury Wood writes, “It’s been awhile since I’ve shared news so here goes...with the shift to remote working, we decided to sell our home in the SF Bay Area and move back to our home in the Sierras. I continue to direct Marketing at Family Giving Tree and led the change to a more robust, friendly online giving platform to safely and successfully perform their work in the local communities during lockdown. Fortunately we finished the year in very good shape. This has not been the case for many nonprofits across the country. We were blessed in order to bless those hardest hit by the pandemic.”
On the home front, she and David, who is teaching remotely at San Jose State University, are enjoying having youngest son Dawson home studying remotely. Him, not so much! A year of college with your parents? I think we can all relate! Carson, who graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2019 and received his commission to the US Marine Corp, is beginning stage two of flight training in Corpus Christi, TX where he got to experience the recent chill that so adversely affected the region.
Thanks for sharing, Charlotte!
