It's really a lot of fun reading all of the bios, so here goes:  I want to begin by reminding everyone that I moved to Lebo during the summer before 10th grade. I can see that I lack and miss the many years which you all have of growing up together. That being said, here's my story: After High School, I went immediately to IUP for that summer session. I had planned on going to Carlow College to be closer to my beau, but had a change of heart late in the game (thank God!) and IUP was my back up plan. I graduated in '76 with a B.A. in English and minors in History and Psych...as well as a strong concentration in French. I began working for Braniff Int'l Airlines (R.I.P.) in '78. I qualified as a French Speaker and transferred to Boston in order to do the Boston-Paris Flights. It was a dream job....5 day Paris trips, which translates to about 4 full days in Paris per trip. I really feel that I became immersed in the culture, including having a boyfriend who spoke no English :), which, of course was a perfect way to improve my French! 

Fast Forward: Braniff  was struggling and began losing cities like Paris...I went back to DFW and flew Montreal trips along with exciting places like Lubbock, TX and Amarillo. The writing was on the wall. Proactively, I began looking for something else where I could continue my traveling lifestyle.

 I secured a position with Northwest Airlines about a year before BI finally went under. I had a year In Minneapolis, which proved to be the coldest place this Miami born girl had ever been. Really, our trips to Anchorage provided respite from the hard freeze of Minnesota! Fortunately, my request for transfer finally bore fruit and I moved to the JFK International base.  My fellow transferees wanted to live close to the airport so, I struck out on my own and found a sublet in Greenwich (West) Village. It was a fifth floor walk-up (probably about 500 square feet), and my roomie was a quirky artist type. We got along quite well and I just loved it. My trips included many Cities in Europe, as well as Tokyo. My travel bug was certainly being satisfied during those years!

 I met my husband in our neighborhood of West 4th and Bank.  He had just finished Law School and we soon set up housekeeping together...he lived in a 650 square foot third floor walk-up so I was definitely movin' up! We married on April Fool's Day of 1984...I should have listened to my mother on that one! The marriage lasted twenty years...many of them good ones. From the union, two wonderful human beings were created...my son Neil, who is 25, and my daughter, Lisa, who is 22. For those two alone, I would never trade that part of my life for something else. 

 My husband secured a position as General Counsel to a Real Estate Development Firm so we moved to Atlanta in 1987. Neil was 8 months old and I decided to retire my wings and become a stay at home mom. My parents also lived in Atlanta at that time, which was wonderful. We spent a lot of time together, and my children have many wonderful memories of their grandparents. My father passed away in Feb of 2001 and my Mom moved down to Dunedin, Florida.  As the kids grew up, I became involved with part time teaching and also had the luxury of being at home when they were. During that time, a lot of my identity was connected to what my kids were doing: Science Olympiad Mom (me? Science?) Cheer Mom (me? Cheerleading?) Library Mom (yes, that one is imaginable!) and so on...I got back in touch with "moi' when I began a small French Tutoring business in the Atlanta area. I really enjoyed that, and hope to continue with it for years to come.

 Which brings me to the present..."Finally" you say, right? My children live far away now, Neil in is Israel, and Lisa is in Lake Tahoe. No real family ties for me there anymore so I left Atlanta last August to help my sister and be with my ailing mother, both, in the Clearwater area. I thank God that I was able to make that move,  My mother passed away on December 27th surrounded by her loving family, We buried her on New Year's Eve, marking  the end of a very difficult and sad year.  I decided to stay here and on January 20th, I closed on a beautiful waterfront condo on Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, Florida. I wake to the sound of the lazy Gulf and the sight of dolphins as they roll and frolic outside of my bedroom and Florida room windows. I feel like I have landed in Paradise! I still do not know if I will be able to make it for the reunion, however I am working on it. Thanks for reading my novella and I look forward to reading yours!