From our Graduation, I went straight into the working world. The same rocky home life that kept me from being fully present, and enjoying the joys of high school life, also required me to be self-sufficient immediately. I attended school at night while working my way up the ranks at Prudential in Roseland, to ultimately becoming a Software Engineer.

Around that time, a couple ’77 classmates and I were wrapping up our respective “starter marriages.” With that course correction behind me, I then married one of those classmate’s older brother. (You’ll have to use context clues here)

Rich Gaudio (LHS class ’70) and I were married at the United States Military Academy at West Point, on a beautiful, storybook day- complete with horse and carriage, full military dress and a reception overlooking the Hudson Valley River. From there my Military Intelligence Officer husband and I left the Livingston area for the far-off land of Fort Monmouth New Jersey.

I took a short stint consulting to AT&T before moving on to writing code for and field testing our military’s battlefield communication systems and the NATO Interface Unit. (Cool huh? Well at least it was several decades ago.) During that time, I finally graduated college, six months pregnant with my third daughter in four years.

Fast forward five years: at 37 years old, we hit a bump. I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and went through extensive treatment, only to have it reoccur again at 40. Knowing the prognosis was not good, I chose to remain at home, spending all the time I would be given with my children. (Spoiler alert…I am still here).

The years that followed were spent being fully present. I was a Girl Scout Leader for all three girls from kindergarten to 12th grade. I taught Sunday School, ran Vacation Bible School, chaired lip sync shows, and school dances. I sewed costumes and created themed parties. I spent 20+ years on a team organizing a charity ball for Fisher House, which houses recuperating soldiers and their families. For that event I created a life-size gingerbread house and family. For the church, I built a parade float. Occasionally I spoke to companies for Breast Cancer Awareness programs. I assisted my husband in business. I ‘wifed’ to his ‘officer,’ until he retired.

Today we live a mile or so from Fort Monmouth, in a house where we raised three amazing women – who are all still local, all successful, and all wildly different. They all seem fond of us and we really like them too (including the men they married, crazy right?) They are the most interesting people we know and are our best friends.

My husband of 40 plus years has been more than I could have ever dreamt. Other than having our car stolen at gun point and the time I accidentally ran myself over with our minivan (again, still ok…) our lives have not been terribly exciting.

We have not climbed Mount Everest and have no plans to do so…Pickleball, tap dance lessons, creating my art and family dinners fill our days.

If we were to close that storybook today, it just simply says…”and they lived happily ever after.”

I want to thank Michael for putting out the heroic effort to keep the class informed and engaged. If he could get me to participate, he truly has a gift. It is interesting to see all the varied paths we all could have traveled since we all launched from a singular point in time, into 650+ (?) different directions.