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Camilla Ray (Farley)

I, too, am a John Prine fan. My favorite is “Please Don’t Bury Me”.  Fun lyrics.  How is everyone doing during the “lockdown”?  I am finding lots of interesting things while sorting through boxes in my basement!

Bruce F. Burianek

I found a box of the N95 face masks that I bought years ago while sanding down a old dresser.  I gave them to my doctors office.

Bob Dove

John Prine's passing hit me pretty hard, too. I've been mining YouTube for historic footage including an hour on Channel 1's SoundStage in 1980 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HSm3a6YnO4 and a more recent taping of Sessions at West 54th which has a great version of "In Spite of Ourselves" with Iris Dement. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlphmUQVAcm0sdxn37bwztNXZCm7tWMN0 

John Prine was universally respected by people in the music industry, from Dylan on down, and loved around the world for the humor, heart, and humanity in his songs. Nobody else put words together like he did, and the basic chord structure of many of his songs meant lots of minimal musicians like myself could join in. 

William Gibson Heller

Did my best to support the economy today.....got a washer and dryer to replace the 25 year old ones.

Jim Gauker

Mark Wieting

Quick post:

Given these "uncertain times," what have y'all been doing? Illinois is not opening up very quickly. Courtney and I have been ordering dinner out from the same restaurant since the lockdown began. It's not even our favorite restaurant. Our favorite--Vietnamese--is closed. But we picked one and consistently overtipped  so we were well known when we called. Gotta support the folks who are working for tips. 
I'm worried about the states opening up "early" and the rising number of cases and deaths.  I feel I'm lucky not living paycheck to paycheck. Being retired makes this whole thing easier to get through. 
So what are your thoughts?

Linda Louise Crissey (Cotten)

Hanging Out with the Coronavirus

A few close friends and I were more or less surprised to see each other and compare notes post-holidays 2020.  It had been Christmastime since we’d last seen each other and was now late February, before the BIG change in our lives, and the conversation went along the lines of “Huh, I was sick, too, last month.”  “Yeah, coughing, aches and pains, some fierce fever.”  “Me, too, no wonder we didn’t get together in January.”  Perhaps those couple of hundred thousand international Consumer Electronic Show visitors brought more to Las Vegas than the latest 5G digital accoutrements.  And then, came the quarantine!  Stunning.  My hubby, who normally spends November to June, pouring over game stats, woke up one morning to the news that the NBA season was over.  Boom.  Just like that.  And everything closed.  I learned to take my meals and snacks with cloth napkins, since paper goods at the grocery store were an impossibility.  And learned to love the empty roads — with no place to go, folks simply stayed at home.  Kinda sad today to see the return of the hustle and bustle as Nevada is in phase 2 of opening up.  Deprived of a thirty-five year, every three week hair salon “fix,” I learned to embrace my gray hair and feel absolutely liberated!  So there was a flurry of craft projects there for a minute, including multilayered face masks for family, friends and neighbors.  And a bit of gardening, when the seasons briefly aligned in the Mojave Desert.  There was the continued written rant I started the day  after Donald J. Trump, the iDJiT, as I call him, was elected.  All that political stuff… Now that we’re masking and distancing and washing and keeping that Chlorox handy for injection, once we get the go-ahead, it’s time here, at least, for responsible gatherings.  Had the French ladies’ book club over last week to discuss en français three months’ worth of reading.  This was after a big housekeeping push on my part to put away the Valentine’s Day decor which had come out mid-January.  In any event, a good sized living room meant that our little handful of mostly octogenarian readers could space ourselves out in the four corners of the room and feel safe from one another’s viral strewn spittle.  Well, that was the plan, but two of my elderly friends forgot their hearing aids and were constantly jumping up to get closer to the conversation.  The “best laid plans,” n’est-ce pas?  And then there was this week’s resumption of our family Sunday brunch which had been on hiatus there since the beginning of the year.  The mimosas were great!  But not nearly as heartwarming as our three year old grandson jumping up and down at the front door, hollering “Grandma! Grandma! Grandma!”  What a treasure.  What a pleasure.  Wishing you all a happy recovery.

Kerrin Anne Kinsey (Sgourakis)

My husband and I were in Miami and Palm Beach FL on the 16th of March through the 25th.  Fortunately we were at our timeshares so we had a full kitchen.  The first couple of days the restaurants were open and then just the ones that decided to stay open for takeout.  We were within 1 mile of a Publix market, so could get food to cook.  For three days in Miami, his niece and her husband came down from Cocoa FL with food.  All homemade.  Pizza (yes, including the dough), spanokopita, white been soup, hummus, feta, olives.  We had several bottles of wine and managed to have a very good time. Jackson-Hartsfield airport in Atlanta and the airport in Palm Beach were DESERTED.  We have been through J-H on numerous occassions (think O'Hare).  It was a ghost "town".  Flights were about 1/3 full at best.  Most of the passengers had their own row.  Since then, I was able to go back to work so that didn't change.  I still went out for my 2 hour walk every day and we tried recipes we hadn't done in ages.  We also have ordered from our favorite Chinese, Italian and Burmese restaurants for take-out at least once a week.  We have a neighbor next door and we came up with a way to have "Happy Hour" with social distancing.  She goes out to her patio and we go out on our deck and talk over the fence.  We are loving the clean air and limited traffic.  We miss church, but ours had members of the parish council set up video so we can watch it on Sunday and also other parish venues.  We miss seeing our friends and I miss playing bridge and getting together with my Trivial girls, but we keep in touch through phone calls, e-mails and texting.  That's pretty much it.  Stay safe.  Take care.

Bruce F. Burianek

I have stayed home almost the entire time.  Have only been away from the house maybe 5 times just to see Doctors and to pick up medical supplies, everything else I had delivered.  Tried makeing some new recipes so good soom not so much.  Worked in my garden.  I need a haircut real bad I have never had my hair this long.  I had some N-95 masks that I donated to my doctors office along with a arge can of cookies and I also gave a large can of cookies to the ER o the local hospital.  Stay Safe

William Gibson Heller

As soon as the close in was put in place in Indiana  mid-March I went to the local food pantry and Salvation Army and wrote a big check to help them out.  I remember seeing people walking the street with styrofoam carry out boxes and wondered why.  The food pantry person told me why:  the close in meant no more meals could be served indoors so carry out was the only thing they could do and the cost of those items was completely unbudgeted.

Other than that, Bobbi and I were pretty much unaffected.  Oh sure, doc appts. were now done online, though Bobbi had a surgery in April to address a problem (turned out well, not cancer).  I cooked, got carry out I picked up on my own and as Mark noted tipped well.  And we've eaten dine-in a few times in past 4 weeks.  I continued to visit my local coffee shop and at first it was awkward, but pretty soon things loosened up and the regulars were there and we chatted from 6 ft.  Lately we have resumed our welcome hugs.  Just returned from an a.m. drive in the MG after coffee stop while Bobbi sleeps. Have been going to the YMCA past 2 weeks. Bought a lot of books on Amazon, favorite authors Daniel Silva, Michael Connelly, Chris Bohjalian.  Bobbi favors James Patterson

Got a nasal swab Covid test, negative.  Nephew is a nurse working the Covid ward, and he says they were never terribly busy.  And Bobbi's surgery area was pretty quiet when we were there.  Only deaths around here seem to have been at a nursing home, the same one both of us were in last Nov. when I had hip replacement rehab .

Look forward to normal as you all must as well.

Thomas L. Bakos

Well, times are always uncertain ... and full of opportunity.  I think, in that respect, nothing has really changed.  I've been working from a home office for the past 20 years.  We live in Southwest Colorado, not many peoiple here, so we are very familiar with "social distancing".  It's part of the normal.  We like it.

We have, basically, been forced into observer mode.  But, participation is coming back soon.  We can feel it in the air. 

It never ceases to amaze how stupid people can be.  We couldn't go many places until recently, but watching the world reaction filled our days with more amusement than we would have had in normal times.  You might have thought we would be concerned, but no.  The absurd can only amuse.  Then, of course, if I hold my teddy bear really tight and close so I can feel its softness on my arms and face, nothing bad can happen.    

I suspect the virus has not changed a lot in the past few months - only perceptions of it. The undertones of its history will be interesting to read.   

Yesterday the WHO announced that asymptomatic people are not the principle spreaders and it is unlikely they would spread the doisease at all.  Of course, early on the WHO claimed it could not be spread at all person to person.  So, one must be somewhat wary of this latest WHO view.  But, it makes a certain amount of sense.  Asymptomatic people, generally, don't cough or sneeze. They don't have those symptoms.  25% of deaths were in nursing homes which contained many older residents with co-morbid conditions.  That was not a surprise to me but it was to many of our favorite governors - apparently.   This whole thing got political very quickly.  That was unfortunate. The best advice from the beginning would have been if you're sick stay home.  If your sick with something elase, stay away from sick people. Don't wreck the economy.  

It turns out also that COVID-19 is not really all that deadly if you are in relatively good health either.   We feared fear itself!

Now, restaurants are opening here (the past couple of weeks).  The market is getting back up towards its old highs, and Biden occassionaly gets out of his basement.  You may have had riots (and now, mostly, civil protests - but none of that here) and a renewed political idiocy -  "Defund the Police"!  I thought the Green New Deal would be the nadir of political thought.  I was wrong.  But, I remain an observer.  Things are getting interesting again as we head towards November.   My prediction: A Repeal all Laws movement is just around the corner.  Out here BLM means Bureau of Land Management - thank the goodness fairies..

We had a light snow here in SW Colorado overnight.  Yes, we know it's June but the weather here is as strange as almost everything else.  Not to worry though - it's almost all melted and we will be back up to the low 80's by tomorrow.  See, thiings right themselves.  There is always something good to look forward to.  Keep your eyes on the road ahead and don't step in the crap.  

Mark, not to worry, you'll be back to undertipping in no time.   

Susan Ann Harrington (Hauke)

What have I been doing....been cooking every night and although I love to cook, 7 nights a week is getting to me. Have only carried out once. Catching up on reading a stack of books I had set aside. Been doing quite a bit of gardening, which I love, and the yard looks great!  Hubby is working (contractor/residential remodeling) and seems everyone wants a new deck so he is swamped😄 Been zooming with friends and family. On Friday at 4:30 wine time with my daughters Kristen and Stacy via FaceTime and sometimes my son Mark joins us. Have not been to hair salon since mid March and my roots look like it. Not ready to embrace gray hair and have appointment next week, although my husband says he doesn't see it😱  Watched my granddaughter Kylie's virtual graduation from North Central College in Naperville. Proud of her!  Life is good, although I am ready to get back to some sort of normal  Stay healthy and safe!<>>

Mark Wieting

An update to my previous post, with a little more detail.

We are still staying close to home but opening up a bit. I have tackled some "home" projects like building an extension for our deck, which entailed digging [with a power auger] holes for the concrete piers, mixing and pouring the concrete, then building the wood part. Yes, I got my son Miles and a younger friend to do the augering, but Miles and I mixed and poured the concrete. When I told one of my old colleagues that I was going to do this project, he said, "Mark, we are the same age and I think that makes you 75. What's wrong with you?" A neighbor helped with the wood part--an 18-foot 2 x 12 is pretty unwieldy. We put to the test the old adage, "measure twice, cut once." Only made a few mistakes by not following it.

Courtney and I have been playing golf once a week with friends. Masks up to the first tee, then no masks, just 6' between us and them. Courtney is still kind of a beginner, so, although she can hit the ball pretty consistently, long holes are a nemesis. So we have invented "our game." I hit a drive, and she omits the tee shot, walks to about where my shot landed and plays from there. Our friends like it, too, because it makes long holes much more manageable and fun for Courtney and Barb. My once fluid golf swing is getting a bit creaky and more compact. It's always a good walk for 9 holes. We have lunch on the outdoor patio at the golf course restaurant.

We have had socially distanced cocktails on the driveway with neighbors, and Zoom cocktails with former colleagues, sort of like Sue Hauke's "wine hour."

Although I used to be a night owl, watching Jimmy Kimmel and/or Steven Colbert, and sometimes even Seth Meyers, for the past few months I find myself going to bed at ungodly hours: 9:30 or even 9:00!

With "co-morbidities" [sounds awful in itself] I am being pretty careful. Wearing a mask is not an issue for me and I find it odd that people will wear a mask to get into a store but not cover their noses with the mask. I know it's a political issue for some ["I have rights and the government can't tell me what to do"] but I think the government tells us to do all sorts of stuff like: drive on the right side of the road, pay your taxes by April 15, don't shoot your gun in your back yard in a subdivision, don't rob banks.

Now that the weather seems consistently warm as the official start of summer approaches tomorrow, I hope that means 85-90 degrees for you and not 100-105. Enjoy the summer!

Helene Annie Rousset (Goutal)

We all experience the same thing, stay at home, wear a  mask,  no kisses, no handshakes. 

Though the situation is improving we are all expected to .be extremely careful when we meet others. 

For the first time in months I have my daughters and grandchildren with me and it is awkward not being able to get really close .

I had planned a trip to Washington DC in October,  but I'm afraid I'll have to stay home as I doubt the situation will allow it. 

Don't let that virus ruin  your summer.  There are plenty of beautiful days to come.

Mark Wieting

Here's a thought to get some conversation going:

Although any of us on this site can contact any of the 90+ others we've found, there are people in our class that haven't been found and we would like--maybe in the worst way--to contact and have a conversation with, maybe share a beer or a glass of wine with.

I actually have a long list. But let's ask each of you, "Who are the two people from our class you would most like to reconnect with?" It might narrow things down to limit it to one woman and one man.

So here's my list as a starter: Maureen Kelleher and Bill Berghammer. Both struck me as much more intelligent than me, with interesting views that I never could come up with. I thought I had a line on contacting Berghammer but it turned up nothing, and Maureen never hit my investigative horizon.

So who are on your list and why?

William Gibson Heller

I'll play along, Mark.  My two would be Jeannine Wheeler and Doug Hoyt.  

Jeannine was my first prom date and I clearly remember talking with one of the women at Bollinger's Pharmacy where I worked about what kind of flower to get for the dance.  She introduced me to Cymbidiums and that is what I got. I wonder if Jeannine has kept it all these years along with her dress! 

Doug Hoyt was the drummer in a trio wherein I played the string bass (borrowed from the school with Mr. Wisnieski's permission) and another guy (not our class) played the accordian!    Some beautiful music that was.....not.  I remember playing in Glen Ellyn for some H.S. age group and my fingers getting raw from picking the strings.  We didn't play together very long, I had developed an allergy to the accordian from my first exposure to it before I got onto a cello.

Mary Lou Schmidt (Brunner)

Bill, Doug Hoyt is my facebook friend, but he never posts anything. I know you're not on FB, but Looking at his profile, he lives in Racine, WI. There isn't much other info on him. Maybe this will help you locate him.

Kerrin Anne Kinsey (Sgourakis)

I would choose Pat (Patricia) Lee.  She came to GE in our senior year from New Jersey.  She was incredibly intelligent and had a fantastic wry and sometimes sarcastic sense of humor (as do I).

Also, Barry Nute.  I have seen him on facebook from time to time.  I actually did not know him at GE.  After graduation, Carol Kramer and I were out cruising one evening and ran into him.  He had a friend with him.  The friend later became my first husband.  My mom taught us all how to play bridge and we did for a number of years. 

Don Comfort

Okay...I have been wondering about these two for a long time.

Sandra Schroedel:  Sandra and I were in art classes together (she was a very good artist and I was...); and we each were in Mrs. Gerhardt's water shows at the Commons pool.  Sandra did synchronbized swimming. She was very talented.

Jeff Boyd:  I remember Jeff from the track team, but mostly from our effort to post a Homecomming banner across Main Street from the Dairy Queen side to First Church side.  Naturally we were unprepared, and never expected a significant wind which prevented us from completing the task.  We laughed so hard it hurt.

William Gibson Heller

Great story about the banner.  Even with some advanced search capability from my development office's software Jeff was elusive, so was Bill Eppley and others that seemed like they'd be findable as they were such outgoing folks it was hard to concieve they didn't have digital tracks.

Jim Gauker

Mark Wieting

Jim, Pat Fiene, who now goes by George, his real first name, I believe, lives in Minnesota. I exchanged a few messages with him on Facebook 10? years ago. He had photos of his large catches [fish]. Then he got off FB and I haven't been able to find him. His brother is on FB but hasn't responded to any inquiries [by me] about Pat. I'd love to see  him, too.

Mary Lou, I also tried to contact Doug Hoyt through FB--we went to camp together in 7th grade [a looooong time ago]--but received no reply.

Okay, since I have the floor, I'm going to add two more names. Eric Heckman was one of the only, if not only, person in our class from a family that voted Democratic in 1960.  I remember he wore two Nixon buttons together, so it was "Nix on Nixon."

And the last I heard of Craig Young, he was said to have been in a rowboat on the West Coast in about 1968, aiming to chain himself to a troop ship going to Vietnam. I don't know if the story is true, and I would sure like to find out if it is. I still can see the picture in the yearbook [ours or the year before] of Craig going over the bar in pole vault practice.

Helene Annie Rousset (Goutal)

Do you remember Connie Kinzler?  I remember going out for a burger with her and  a few others and she  just burst out laughing when I ordered  a " chase burger "

I googled her  once  and she was  a nurse in the Chicago area. 

I also lost track of Judy  Williamson  who did not live far from Linda Crissey, my best friend  at GE

Bob Dove

Mark, Craig Young would be on my list. As I recall, he lived near Hammerschmidt School. Once, when I was at his house for a sleepover, we climbed out on his roof to grab giant iclcles from the eves. It being winter, the roof was slippery and I went sliding off, landing flat on my back in his front yard. No serious injury, but it knocked all the air out of my lungs so I couldn't speak when his mom rushed out to see if I was conscious. Of course, I was ultimately happy to be unijured and very glad I missed landing on a metal rod stuck in the ground nearby, but always felt bad about giving his mom such a scare!

 Bill Watson would be another one. We lived 4 houses apart on Martha Street and were fast friends in grade school. We shared an enthusiasm for stamp collecting. Is that even a thing anymore? 

I would love to talk with Barry Sweeny, but he passed away at age 66. He was at GE for only the second semester of our senior year, but we became lifelong friends. He and his Willowbrook girlfriend introduced me to Kathleen McGuire (also Willowbrook). We got married in 1967 and are still together. I owe the best parts of my life to Barry.

Mark Wieting

Bob, you can contact Bill Watson, or anyone who's signed up for this site, by clicking on Classmate Profiles above, and scrolling to his name. Anyone who has submitted a profile can be reached by the link "Send NAME a private message."

No guarantee anyone will respond but it is worth a try and trying to find a William Watson on Facebook would take several years. I imagine there are 300 of them on FB.

Good luck!