It’s such a joy to reconnect with our classmates and learn about everyone’s journeys! I’m especially amazed by how many of us still call New Jersey home.
Looking back on memories from high school, one of my earliest jobs was working at the Heritage Diner, aka the “Ritz” during the summers. Let’s just say I wasn’t the best waitress… I even made my dad come in and pretend to be a customer so he could leave a big tip and talk me up to the manager! They loved me, but I did not love working there as I was always assigned to the counter, making 25-cent tips on a cup of coffee. Even after all these years, I still go back with my kids, and each visit brings back so many memories.
I was originally expected to follow in my mother’s footsteps and become a nurse, but I couldn’t see myself pursuing that path. Instead, in high school, I took a job at a local dental office, and after a year there, I decided to apply to dental hygiene school. I attended Northwestern University and graduated in 1980. After graduation, I returned to home to Livingston and worked in the same dental office where I’d started. Two years later, I furthered my career in dentistry and enrolled at UMDNJ (now Rutgers Dental School), earning my degree in 1985. You guessed it, I went right back to that same office as a general dentist on Mt. Pleasant Avenue.
It wasn’t long before I discovered my deep passion in treating periodontal disease. This led me to pursue a residency and advanced training as a Periodontist. Becoming a Board-Certified Periodontist, an achievement earned by only about 20% of us in the field, was one of the most challenging but rewarding milestones of my career. After working at several practices, I opened my own office in Chatham in 1991, where I still practice today. I truly love what I do and feel lucky to be just as passionate about it now as when I started. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my husband, a Prosthodontist specializing in esthetics, implants, and tooth replacement, joined me in my practice. Working side-by-side and collaborating on complex cases has been one of the unexpected joys of this chapter.
On the personal note, I met my husband, Dr. Carlos Moglianesi, in dental school at Rutgers. He was born in Los Angeles and was one of only three students from outside the tristate area. Even though we weren’t close back then, we always sat next to each other since our last names both started with “M.” After graduation, he moved back to LA to obtain his specialty degree. It wasn’t until a decade later when we both found ourselves back in New Jersey that we reconnected and the rest is history! We got married! Carlos had two children from a previous marriage, who now live in Alaska and Colorado, and I’m lucky to be their stepmom. Together, Carlos and I have beautiful twins, Andrew and Brianna, who are the lights of my life.
Brianna graduated from the University of Michigan in 2023 with a BS in Public Health. She was on the fencing team and helped lead Michigan to a national title! I was so proud when she won an individual silver medal. Brianna has travelled all over the country, even fencing at the Junior Olympics. She recently completed her MPH at Emory University and will be starting Medical School at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson this July!
Andrew graduated from the University of Rochester with a BS in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Optical Engineering. He now lives in San Diego and works for a defense contractor. He played soccer at Rochester and trained with the Sevilla Soccer Club in Spain on multiple occasions. We loved going to Spain and Germany to watch him play. With both his father and grandfather having played professional soccer, I guess you could say it’s in his blood!
Outside of work, we love to travel and have visited over 40 countries and almost every U.S. state. Carlos speaks multiple languages, which comes in handy when we travel, especially when lecturing about dental implants all over the world. We often travel to Argentina to visit his family and enjoy vacations there, but one of my most memorable trips was to Israel, where our children had their B’nai Mitzvah on Masada. Exploring the country and seeing its natural beauty and history was something truly unforgettable. We even crossed into Jordan to visit Petra, which was incredible as well. We split our time between our home in Warren and vacation homes in Scottsdale, AZ, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
On one Cabo trip about 10 years ago, I stepped way outside my comfort zone and joined an ATV tour. I had never been on one before and long story short, I flipped the vehicle down a mountain and ended up in a cactus ditch with the wheel spinning above me. I remember seeing my family who thought it was over for me, yet it was a miracle I wasn’t crushed. They rescued me and drove me to the nearest hospital. It turned out I had a compression fracture of my back, broken ribs and a blood clot, and spent the next 3 months flat on my back. This was so hard for me to miss that much work but I healed fine. Needless to say, I don’t recommend foreign hospitals… or solo ATV rides!
One item on my bucket list was seeing Helene Fischer, the “Taylor Swift of Europe”, in concert. My husband introduced her to me and we have followed her for years, yet we could never get tickets. I finally found two tickets on StubHub and convinced my husband to fly to Berlin with me in January in the freezing cold. We then drove 2 hours east of Berlin to a remote countryside, ending up at a VFW hall. Confused but hopeful, we went in, only to realize it was a Helene Fischer impersonator! There were 30 senior citizens in the audience and no one spoke English. The show started and I started to cry! Need I say, I was so upset and couldn’t explain why we travelled all this way and were unhappy. Oh well, at least we got to explore Berlin!
Two years ago, when my daughter was leaving for school in Georgia, I needed to find her a car. I placed an ad on Facebook and to my surprise, classmate Karen Metsky Cowen, who I hadn’t seen in 45 years, responded! I was friends with her in school and lost touch after high school. She connected me with her uncle who was selling his son’s car in Westfield, and just like that, we reconnected. We talked and I wound up getting the car and finding out she lives here in Jersey. Facebook is amazing and I’d love to reconnect with even more familiar faces!
Looking ahead, we’re not sure where we’ll retire; we’re still working, still traveling, and still loving life. My 93-year-old mother lives with us now, and we have a sweet little Havanese rescue named Chami who rules the house and is a total lap dog. In our spare time, Carlos and I love playing golf and watching soccer matches. I live in Warren and continue to work in Chatham and would love to reconnect with anyone in the area. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at the reunion! Thank you, Michael!
