TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 4
Oh, wow! What a whirlwind of a week I just had! I was so busy I had absolutely no time to do
any writing on my laptop – until now.
It was raining when I
left Charlottesville, Virginia on Monday, September 26th. From the KOA I got on I-64 E to Richmond, VA,
connected to Rt. 301 N and arrived at the home of Bobbie and Billy Boswell in
Waldorf, MD. Since they have a motorhome
themselves, I took them up on their invitation to park on their driveway and
hook up to their 30-amp electrical outlet.
Just as Navidad and I did at Pierre Pugin’s home in Quebec, we stayed
just outside Bobbie/Billy’s house all day and night.
Bobbie and I hadn’t seen
each other since I attended her retirement reception in 2007. We’d been colleagues in the Peikoff Alumni
House (“Ole Jim”) at Gallaudet University for nearly 20 years – she was the
best secretary and assistant anyone could ask for. Not only did we have a fantastic work
relationship, we were close friends and I enjoyed being an active part of her
family. We had a lot of catching up to
do and I was delighted when her daughter, Mary, later stopped by. Earlier, I saw her son, Billy, and I also had
the opportunity to see her granddaughter, Nikki, and her children. Grandson Kenny is now in college but we
exchanged greetings via Facetime.
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Bobbie and
Billy.
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Bobbie and
me. Note their Persian, Bojangles, in
the background.
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The next morning
(Tuesday 27th), I followed Bobbie to the Beltway and then made my
way to the Cherry Hill Park in College Park, MD where I had reservations for a
seven-night stay. My whirlwind of a week
then began – and it rained nearly all week, too!
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Thank you,
Barack and Michelle, for your
eight years of service as
President
and First Lady!
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Thank you,
Hillary, for your many years of service, nationally and globally - and good
luck come November!
Wednesday
9/28 – I was saddened to
learn on Monday morning that Helena Schmitt’s sister, who lived in New Jersey,
had passed away that morning. Needing to
tend to her sister’s affairs, Helena will not be returning to Maryland to get
together with me and act as my “chauffeur” as I make my rounds this week. My condolences, dear Helena...
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Prepared now to drive
myself (and Navidad!) to my destinations, I decided to use the GPS on my iPhone
– and I am so glad I did! It’s been
years since I’ve driven around here and much has changed. This morning, I drove to the Costco parking
lot in Frederick, MD and met up with Don and Agnes Padden. Melinda, their daughter-in-law, was also
there and I followed them to their local Panera Bread. Son Bobby arrived a bit later. Don and Agnes are Gallaudet alumni, Classes
of 1945 and 1947 respectively, and they are two of many long-time volunteers I
worked and associated with. Don also
served on the Gallaudet University Alumni Association Board of Directors, for
which I was the Executive Director. It
was a lovely visit and so good to see them!
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Don, me,
and Agnes.
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| Bobby,
Agnes, Don, and Melinda.
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From that Panera Bread,
I drove to the other one in Frederick where I found Linda Tom and Jane Kuzoian,
my classmates and good friends, waiting for me.
We had a nice lunch and a great visit.
We were missing Helena, who is our classmate as well. After a couple of hours, Linda left and Jane
took me for a tour of her lovely condo.
Just as I left for the drive back to College Park, it started to rain
and then the rain became a fast and furious downpour! I can’t remember when I last drove in such a
downpour! The rain let up a bit and we made
it back to the RV Park.
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Linda, me,
and Jane.
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Later that evening,
around 7:30 p.m., coming directly from her job, my first visitor to the camper
arrived – Meriam Schroeder. I walked
over to the Registration Office to greet her and we then drove in her car to my
camper. We sat at the dining table
inside – warm, comfy, and dry! The last
time we saw each other was when she was in California in 2009 and visited me at
my newly-purchased condo in Palm Springs.
We’ve been good friends over the years and I’m especially fond of her
mother, Nelly (gonna visit her tomorrow!).
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Meriam and
me.
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Thursday
9/29 – I told myself that,
although this entire Washington, D.C. region is truly beautiful on a clear and
sunny day, this persistent rain is probably a good thing. With the sun out of commission and not
beating down on the camper, I’m assured of cool temperatures for Navidad. If he needs warmth, he burrows under the sleeping
bag. If he’s hot, he’s basically
stuck. So, no complaints from me!
I headed out this
morning to Gaithersburg, MD for my visit with Nelly Schroeder, Meriam’s dear,
sweet Mom. In her 80s now, she lives with
Meriam and Kathy and their dogs and cats.
Since Kathy was off work that day I got to see and chat with her as
well. Being that Nelly’s other daughter
lives in California, an hour or so from Palm Springs, I’ve been fortunate to be
able to see Nelly several times during her visits with her daughter. Today’s visit was nice and relaxing. Nelly showed me pictures of her
great-granddaughter, the granddaughter of her [now deceased] son, Carl. A beautiful baby girl, indeed!
My visit with Nelly was
longer than initially planned. My
afternoon visit, with Jack and Rosalyn Gannon at their farm, was cancelled due
to a mishap Jack had last Monday – he fell and broke his hip. I’ve been in touch with Rosalyn and we will
work out a rescheduled visit later. I
returned to the camper for a soggy afternoon and evening with Navidad. He was happy!
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Nelly and
me.
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Kathy and
me.
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Friday
9/30 – Today is an historic
day at Gallaudet University – the Installation of Roberta “Bobbi” Cordano as
Gallaudet’s 11th, and first Deaf woman, President. Since parking my truck camper on campus was
likely to be difficult, if not impossible, I opted to take the Metro to the
campus. The Cherry Hill Park has a bus
stop – a wonderful amenity for the hordes of RVers here who want to visit
Washington, D.C. – and I took the bus to the College Park Metro Station. Thanks to the inevitable result of progress
and new technology, it took me some ten minutes to figure out the new fare card
system. Soon I was on a Green Line train
and then a Red Line train to the NoMA-Gallaudet Metro Station. Following the exit arrow to Florida Avenue, I
stepped outside and immediately had no idea where I was. I was surrounded by buildings that weren’t
there before! One of those was a hotel
so I went inside, asked which way to Gallaudet, and about five or six blocks
later, I was on the campus. I had time
to walk around before the Installation ceremony began at 3:30 p.m. As expected, there were many people I knew
and the pre and post ceremony hugs and greetings were warm and heartfelt. It was a wonderful ceremony and shortly after
it ended I walked over to College Hall and found Bobbie, Mary, and Kenny in
Mary’s office. After chatting for awhile,
Bobbie and Mary drove me back to my camper.
A very, very good day – congratulations to you, President Cordano!
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Well,
hello Tom and Alice! Long time no see!
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The
Peikoff Alumni House (“Ole Jim”), where I worked from 1982-2002.
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In the
Field House with Daphne Cox and Norma Buemi, just before the ceremony began.
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Gallaudet’s
new president.
Saturday 10/1 – Noting that it was still raining, I was glad Navidad and I weren’t going anywhere today. I was
expecting two visitors, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. My afternoon visitor cancelled due to illness
so my morning visitor – Lisa Sealey – stayed all day. Lisa was a young 20-something bundle of
energy when I first met her at an alumni event in Utah, her beloved home
state. In her 50s now, she’s still got a
lot of spunk! She’s a sweet gal, someone
I helped settle in a bit when her job transferred her to D.C. in the late
‘90s. We had a great visit and I’m glad
she’s doing so well.
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Lisa and
me.
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Sunday
10/2 – I had two scheduled
visitations today. My morning visitors
in my camper were Shellie Chambers and Julie, her partner. I’d never met Julie but Shellie and I go way
back to the late ‘70s. She was one of
about ten women in the sign language class I taught at the D.C. Women’s Center. She was living in Virginia at the time but we
became close and decided to rent (and later buy) a colonial house in Cheverly,
MD. We lived there for eight years with
a house full of cats, her Moses and my Fred, Sam, and Jack. Moving on with our respective lives I’m
blessed that we’ve stayed in touch over the years. During their visit with me, the sun broke
through! Thank you ladies!
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Me, Shellie,
and Julie.
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For my afternoon
visitation, I drove to the Kettering-Largo (MD) area. I had a townhouse there, in Mitchellville,
and decided to swing by and see it. It
looked exactly the same and I was happy to see that the neighborhood looked
good, too. A few minutes later, I pulled
up to the home of Mike and Susie Kaika.
Mike and I became Alumni Office colleagues when I joined that office in
1978. We worked together in the basement
of College Hall, then moved up to Crow’s Nest in Chapel Hall, then moved in to
“Ole Jim” after it was renovated. Mike
eventually joined the Public Relations Office but we enjoyed many years of joint
work commitments and a wonderful friendship.
Their two children, Eric and JJ, were very young when Susie became ill but
Susie was always there for them, being the best mother she could be. I lived close enough to visit often and watch
their children grow up. Eric spotted me
at Gallaudet last Friday and introduced me to his adorable one-year-old
daughter. JJ and I had a few minutes on
Facetime while I was visiting Mike and Susie.
So very proud of them, their parents are! So very good to see them both!
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Mike,
Susie, and me.
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Monday
10/3 – Bobbie is such a
sweetheart! Last Friday, she offered, I
accepted, and at 10:30 a.m. this morning she was right there to pick me up and
drive me to Frederick. We stopped for
lunch first at the same Panera Bread where I had lunch last Wednesday with
Linda and Jane. Then we drove to the
nearby rehab center and found both Jack and Rosalyn Gannon in his room. Oh, what a joy to see them both! Jack had had his hip surgery a few days prior
and was, despite the occasional pain, feeling a lot better. He had a few visitors while Bobbie and I were
there – his nurse, a doctor, a social worker – and, with his characteristic
good humor, he joked around with them.
Jack and Rosalyn are an endearingly special couple and an important part
of my life. Jack hired me for the
Coordinator of Alumni Programs position in 1978 and, as my boss, he mentored me
and taught me practically everything I know about writing, planning/organizing,
and how to relate to all sorts of people, alumni and others, with respect and
sensitivity. Rosalyn was one of our
staunchest alumni volunteers and she was involved with many of our fund-raising
and advocacy activities. I was so lucky
the day that Jack decided to hire me! As
our visit drew to a close, their daughter, Christy, came in. It was wonderful to see her once again also. The Gannons were the last of my pool of people
to visit. Well, next to last, I should
say. I got to see YOU, three times,
Bobbie! Thank you for taking good care
of me!
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Jack and
me. He cracked a joke earlier about how
similar our haircuts were!
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Bobbie,
Jack, me, and Rosalyn.
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Oh, I made one more
visit on this day (Tuesday, 10/4) -- with Mom and Dad at the Arlington National
Cemetery. With my personal pass on the
dashboard, the guard welcomed me in, truck camper and all, and within a few minutes
I was parked on Arnold, near Section 66.
It took me a tad longer to find their tombstone – there were that many
more since I was last there. I hung
around for about 15 minutes, taking pictures and looking around. Mom was buried there in 1993, and since I
didn’t leave the area until 2002, I visited her very
often. I noticed today, and I’m not sure
if I noticed before, how alive this revered and solemn place really is,
especially on a weekday. I spotted a
frisky squirrel here and there and maybe a bird or two. But that’s not it. In addition to the tourists walking over to
see the Kennedy brothers’ graves and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there were
workers scattered about tending to their duties – maintaining the landscape,
doing some sort of repair over there, and, perhaps most poignant of all,
digging a hole for a new arrival. This
is a vast place and everybody in the ground there has a story. My parents do, too. I’m glad, honored really, that they are
buried there. It’s the perfect place to
be, to rest…
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| Dad…. |
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Mom…
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I had used my GPS to
find my way from College Park to the cemetery.
It was quite a route through the crazy narrow streets of NW D.C., past
Watergate and the Kennedy Center and over the Potomac River. On my way out, heading for New York
Avenue/Rt. 50, I decided to resort to memory.
At one point I veered right instead of left and ended up taking the 6th
Street exit. That turned out to be
perfect anyway because when I stopped at a red light, I was looking directly at
Mr. Henry’s. Oh, Lordy, the memories --
and the stories those walls could tell!
I also saw a bit of the ongoing improvement of H Street and many of the
beautifully renovated rowhouses in that general area. There was Gallaudet, but I had to move on,
taking Rt. 50 E over the Bay Bridge (hello, Chesapeake Bay!) to the Eastern
Shore.
It was about 3:30 p.m.
when I backed-in to my site at the Janes Island State Park in Crisfield, MD. I have a view of the Daugherty Creek Canal
and a couple of white egrets on the other side.
After such a busy week in the heavily populated D.C. area, being near
water is calming. This state park is the
first of my planned “beach stops” as I go south to the Outer Banks (NC).
But, there’s a
hurricane churning in the Caribbean…and his name is Matthew…
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Sunset at
my site at the Janes Island State Park.
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