365 Days to 30/365 People Who Were Along for the Ride

Day #339 - Dr. E.

The guardian angel I’ve never met. The vet who saved Charmer’s life.

When we put our house on the market near Annapolis, Charmer went to stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s up in Pennsylvania. And she got sick. Really, really sick. My mom took her to her vet, Dr. E. They didn’t know what was causing the symptoms and did everything to diagnose her – from xrays to exploratory surgery to see if there was something in Charmer’s belly that shouldn’t be there.

And I don’t know what happened, but Dr. E. had some sort of revelation that Charmer’s immune system was attacking itself. And that revelation literally saved Charmer’s life. She was quickly put on a cocktail of prescriptions – including steroids. It was a rocky road. But I have no doubt that Charmer is still here today because of Dr. E.

Day #338 - Molly C.

Mollster! Molly Marine! What to call her?

I met Molly the first week of freshman year. I’m pretty sure Sharon (my roommate) met her first through their engineering classes and introduced us to Molly, who lived down the hall from us. Sharon, Molly, Meckenzie, and I quickly became a tight group – playing basketball with the boys and pulling down each other’s athletic shorts on the way up the stairs back to our dorm from our 4:30 p.m. dinners (yes, we ate like senior citizens).

Molly was always fun. She knew how to have a good time and most of my best college memories involve Molly - from kegs on ice (another safe social excursion) to her 21st birthday party. Our senior year, Molly decided to walk on to the soccer team. Yup, just like that. And she did.  Senior year, when most of our classmates were planning post-grad trips, Molly was helping me plan our wedding as the maid of honor. I was proud to have her up there with us.

After graduating, Molly took a really great job with UPS (she was an industrial engineering major at Lehigh), but after a few years decided that she wanted to do more. And most of you know what that more was – joining the Marines, going to flight school, and eventually becoming a helicopter pilot. And somewhere in there, she met Jeff – her husband and another great guy.
I am proud to know Molly and to be her friend. She just returned from her second trip oversees – this time Afghanistan (last time it was Iraq). I think her entire friends and family sighed a collective sigh of relief.

Day #336 - Brett H.

Brett was Ken’s plebe year roommate at the Naval Academy and they stayed roommates for all four years at the Academy.

Brett is a good guy. Period. He’s dependable, fun, and a good friend. Ken and I started dating at the end of their senior year and got engaged when he and Brett were in the early stages of flight school together in Florida. Many fun days were spent with Brett and his wife Andrea. It was just a few days after their wedding that we got engaged ourselves.

I like spending time with Brett (and Andrea) because it’s easy. They are easy friends. They are now the parents to two really beautiful children, Grace and Griffin.

A few years ago, we found out that Brett had cancer. No one deserves cancer, obviously, but especially someone who adds so much value to the world like Brett. He fought like no other and the cancer is now in remission. He is in my thoughts every day.

Day #335 - Karen F.

Karen, in a way, is our fairy godmother. Because she brought us Charmer. Karen was Charmer’s breeder and lucky for us, decided that Charmer didn’t have the personality of a show dog and her ears were too long for breeding. Or so that’s the story we heard. We didn’t care. She was perfect to us, and still is.

It has been fun keeping in touch with Karen and letting her know what’s new in Charmer’s world. And it was really fun two years ago to drive up to Pennsylvania and back to Karen’s house so Carron could pick out her precious Camden.

Day #334 - Annie H.

Annie is a new friend (I have added people to the list as the year has gone on). And you can’t beat this “small world” story.

A few months ago, my mom called me to tell me that her friend Irene had a friend whose daughter was delivering at the same hospital as me and was due two day after baby boy (did you follow that?) So I told my mom to get her info and I would send her an e-mail.

My mom called Irene and asked her for more info about this girl named Annie. Irene said, “She is married to a boy named Brock H. and lives in Baltimore.” Well, I know Brock H. Remember this?

So Annie and I quickly became e-mail friends. And oh how we laughed (and still do) at the circumstances that have brought us together. I hope it’s the beginning of a great friendship. Who would have thought?

Day #333 - Laura H.

Laura is one of the great graphic designers that I am fortunate enough to work with these days. I say fortunate enough because we pay her and she makes me (and in turn, us) look good.

She is also a work from home mom, so I have been grilling her these last few months on how she makes it all tick, and she has been nothing but a wonderful resource.

Day #332 - Elisa S.

Elisa was my neighbor and friend growing up on Shadow Lane and is the twin sister to Kate. Kate was an athletic blonde and Elisa was the dancer brunette. From a young age, it became apparent that Elisa was going to be a really, really talented dancer. She was (and still is) very elegant and beautiful. And I always admired her perfect hairbuns. Ha. She is on the far right of this photo (I am in front of her).

Many mornings were spent at the Soulier house before school. Many afternoons were spent exploring the woods around our houses with the Soulier girls. I don’t think I’ve seen Elisa since my wedding day more than eight years ago. I can’t believe it.

Day #331 - Rich S.

Rich is the assistant headmaster at St. Paul’s. And a really, really awesome guy. He was one of my favorite people to interview with because I thought he asked me real questions. And I learned during that interview that he had once been a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. How awesome is that?

Rich is a great, passionate teacher. He is hysterical and a pleasure to work with, but gets his work done and done really well. I only wish that someday our kids would have one teacher like Rich. This is his last year at St. Paul’s and I am really, really going to miss him.

Day #329 - Gen S.

When we moved close to Annapolis, we decided that we would sponsor midshipmen from the Naval Academy. We started out saying we would sponsor two. And then they called and said they were in desperate need of sponsors and could we take three? Sure, we said. Then we get to the night where we go and meet the mids we’ll sponsor and they are still short. Can we take four? Why not. Just call me octomom.

The activity of meeting your mids was very much like the Price is Right. You walked over to their company, which were seated in stadium-like seats, and they called your midshipman down. Well, we went over to Gen’s company and here she comes – on crutches. Ken yells up, “Send her back, we don’t want a broken one.”

Gen quickly became a part of our little family, spending her Saturdays eating our food, studying, sleeping, and scratching Charmer constantly. She was a joy to have around – easy and polite. Gen was never a burden.

She was a huge success at the Academy. Huge. And she is now in graduate school, with plans to go to flight school with the Marines.

Day #328 - Teri S.

Teri was my other freshman year RA. She lived immediately next to Sharon and I in a (what I remember) ginormous room. In the grand scheme of things, I imagine an RA at Lehigh could have much worse next door neighbors than quiet Sharon and I.

She had a very blunt perspective on life and I really liked it. I have one vague memory of us contemplating getting a tattoo one night in Teri’s room and we decided to try out the sharpies on our backs to see what we would look like with tats.

I stayed in touch with Teri throughout my years at Lehigh and she came to our wedding. I still get a Christmas card from her, but would love to take her out to dinner and really catch up!