Hi Bill, Sure looks like a great party--so sorry I'll be missing it!  I'd love the parties, but the bike ride and tour of the organ at Heinz Chapel sound really good too, not to mention the Steeler tailgate. Maybe next time. Take care and have a great time at the reunion!     Your St. B's girlfriend, Mary

Hello all!  Thanks to Billy Irwin (my old St. Bernard’s pal) and everyone else who has put the reunion, the website, and the communication in place.  Looks really well organized, with several great events, and I’m sure it will be excellent.  I’m truly sorry I won’t be able to be there.  As Bill mentioned recently, most of us were strangers to each other—being 1 of 720 or so, how could it be otherwise?  But I know a bond exists that you can only share with siblings and classmates—the people you grew up with are part of who you are, your roots. I’ve really enjoyed the bios, pulling up hazy memories of people I may have shared a class with or used to see in the hall.  There’s only one person I’ve stayed connected to—shout-out to Angepheasant!—so I thought I’d send in my bio to see if it sparked reconnection with other old friends.  Please contact me if you’re so inspired!

In the summer of ’72 (remember “Take it Easy” & “Brandy”?), I fell in love with Craig Kelly, ’71, and we started a long-distance relationship through our college years.  I went to Northwestern, intending to major in education.  (I had helped out in the Special Ed. Class at Mt. Lebo—dear Jeannie Tchirkow was a member of that class, and one of our ’72 classmates.)  I switched to French (no thanks to good-old-Dottie Dean, rather to my father’s proud French heritage) when I decided I really wanted Special Ed (not available at NU).  I made a new plan to study in France my Jr. year, and get my masters at Pitt in Special Ed. Check. Craig was in law school at Pitt, so it all worked out quite nicely. (Why didn’t I run into Dick Ruprecht et al at Gustines, or listening to the band Gravel at the Decade?  Maybe I waited on them at The Wooden Keg.)

Still with Craig but not engaged, I took a teaching job in Atlanta (a class of kindergarteners with behavior disorders) while he applied to the Army as a JAG officer.  When we found out he was being sent to Heidelberg Germany, we decided the time to marry had come.   Had a wonderful 4 years there, traveling all over Europe—quel rêve!  I was lucky to land a job as a resource teacher in a DOD elementary school in glorious Patrick Henry Village and worked there until our first son was born, when I began my second career as a stay-at-home mom.  I occasionally worked part-time (teaching soldiers basic math) or tutoring, but mostly reveled in the joy of raising our 3 sons, Robbie, Chip and Ernie, (or was it Larry, Moe and Curly?) and doing all the usual mom stuff of volunteering, cooking, chauffeuring, etc.  

We moved back to Mt. Lebo as my husband started private practice with my dad and we enjoyed 5 happy years on McCully St.—having the next 2 babies, spending time with both sets of grandparents and extended families, going to Steeler, Pitt and Pirate games.  It was a good life.  But Craig was unhappy in private practice, and sought a corporate job.  One of our Army friends connected him to the legal department at National Semiconductor near San Jose, and we were on our way to the beautiful Bay Area. What was supposed to be a 3 to 5 year adventure in Silicon Valley has lasted 24 years. I got over the lack of cloud cover and the ridiculously incessant sunny days and stopped ordering the kids to go outside to play because it wasn’t raining, and we built a life in California where people actually “go to the snow”. Still think it’s pitiful, especially embarrassing when I’m the one using that expression. And you know you’ve been in California too long when you go to bed with socks on or think it’s freezing at 51 degrees…. 

In the meantime, our marriage fell apart, and divorce, like the engagement, came around 7 years later.  It was a long haul, and though I’ve accepted it and moved on, it’s still a very sad thing for a family, especially one so far from loving support of extended family and old friends.  My “was-band” and I are on good terms, co-parenting through the years, and sharing the milestone experiences with our kids.  I am grateful for the memories, and especially for our children.  Our youngest son contracted leukemia at the age of 14, and thanking God for the wonders of modern medicine, is a survivor and doing well today.  Our oldest had ADHD, and though we all struggled with that, he’s doing fine at almost 31 years old.  I’m back at my first love, teaching, and having started a resource program at the Catholic school my kids went to in San Jose.   I’ve also become a volunteer with CHADD, leading classes for parents of children with ADHD. I’m pleased to be able to share my life experience with younger parents and their children who are struggling with the challenges the disorder presents to them. 

A while back I was blessed to meet a wonderful man (on match.com!) who is also the father of 3 boys.  (How did that happen—where are the girls?)  Happily, 2 of the guys are engaged, and we have a couple of lovely future daughters-in-law! Treve and I have been together over 10 years now, married in 2009.  He’s a fabulous, soulful guy, a model and an inspiration to me, and together we’re discovering the true joys that marriage can bring.  We have “lived and learned” and are grateful for the opportunity to get it right.  Mostly, we spend time trying to “remember our memories”, as one of my little buddies at Holy Family School once said.  As Simon and Garfunkel said, “Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left you.”

I’ve attached a shot of the cover of a book that somehow just recently bubbled to the top at our house.  It’s a celebration of the glorious 70s in Pittsburgh, and we were there!    mckwag@hotmail.com   on Facebook look for Mary Cromer Kelly