Happy August! The summer seems to be slipping by.  Big thank you to Michael for all that you do.

My story actually doesn’t begin in Livingston. I grew up in Orange at 379 High Street, right across from the Star Tavern (still the best). My dad was a firefighter/paramedic and we could not leave the town until I was in 8th grade when the residential requirement for city employees law changed. We moved in that July and I started at Mt Pleasant in September.

It is so hard to believe it’s almost 50 years! It’s interesting that the first person I met in Livingston was also a transplant having moved from Newark. That person was Cindy Russo and we’re still friends today!

After graduation I attended William Patterson but quickly realized that formal college wasn’t where I belonged. I began to work at Prudential in the “new” area of Information Technology (IT).

I spent the next 40 years, with more schooling and obtaining five professional certifications, working in Information Security/Cyber Security for a number of companies. The most fun was working as a consultant and working with many dot com companies “back in the day.”  I’ve presented to CEOs wearing robes and petting lizards during our meetings – fun and very interesting. I would eventually retire from, for what would end up being, through a series of acquisitions, HSBC, a large international bank. Working at HSBC with a team of super smart information security professionals under me, was a really great career. It afforded me to travel a lot. As it is a global bank, my teams (I was in Jersey City) were spread throughout the world from Buffalo to Chicago to Salinas to Tampa. I spent a lot of my time in Vancouver and London’s Canary Wharf. I had teams in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Hong Kong. Staying one step ahead of the hackers was exciting but we didn’t always win.

I took a hiatus after my third daughter was born and opened a home day care business. One of the “kids” that I hired to help in my business has continued her own business for the past 28 years! I also obtained a New Jersey real estate license!

I met my husband Mike in 1983 at Prudential, and we married in 1985. He dreamed of living on a lot of land out in Hunterdon County. So, using that real estate license, we purchased a little over five acres. We cleared the land ourselves and we contracted builders to build the house. We are still in that house and Mike plans on being buried in the backyard! Many a deer was hunted here from a tree stand I could see from the deck.

In 1986 we welcomed our first daughter Kaitlyn, followed by Erin in 1988, and Alyson in 1991. Something that we always promised we would do was adopt from China. In 2000 we started the paperwork toward that journey but with the events of September 11, 2001, and the SARS epidemic in China, the paperwork sort of stalled. We had a choice to re-do a lot of it or to just stop the process but we kept going and in August of 2003 we were matched with our daughter Anna (Chen Yong Chun) from Changsha, Hunan Province. Because of all of the delays, China opened travel very quickly and we travelled in October to her village and all over China. It was a whirlwind trip of 15 days to bring her home. We travelled with a group of 10 families from all over the US and we remain in touch; our girls are still Hunan Sisters today. Anna was 8 months old and I turned 44 in China. The plan was to adopt before 40 but you know about God and plans! Anna participated in softball, soccer, tennis games, prom pictures, and college visits all at a very young age finding her passion was in gymnastics.

Today both Mike and I are retired, both having worked our careers in Information Security.

Three of our daughters are married and we have six grandchildren ages four, three, three, two, and the last two are nine months.  The weddings and babies came very quickly.  I guess that happens when they’re close in age!

Katy after graduating Rutgers works as a consultant for Verizon placing their contractors in IT positions. She and her husband Tyler, who manages logistics at DHL, have Colson (who is the first boy in 53 years for the Baker side of the family), and Nora who is my birthday twin! Erin graduated from Drexel and is a lifestyle photographer owning her own business (I share/post her beautiful work all the time). She and her husband Mike, who is an architect, have Sloane and Max. Alyson graduated from NECI and worked as a baker for many years, which is where she met her husband Eric who manages the Shop Rite in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. They have Lenna and Scarlet.  The last of the crew, after graduating Rutgers with a double major, Anna, will be moving to Philadelphia soon to continue her pursuit to becoming a Doctor of Psychology. She will be working towards a masters in Couples and Family therapy. She’ll be attending Jefferson University College of Health Professionals. 

I am blessed that they are all close, still in New Jersey, and I can help with the kids. Being “Lolo” is the best. Besides the kids and grands, I am mommy to Francis our 11-year-old lab and Mabel our blind bulldog who is eight.

I spend a lot of time volunteering at our church and in our community, running a couple of women’s groups and am hoping to start a ministry for our homebound soon. I believe giving back is so important and I’ve been blessed with many great spiritual mentors and friends.

For four years, I had care of my mom and now she’s thriving at an assisted living facility in Basking Ridge just turning 90.

I am looking forward to finally traveling. Mike and I have visited Aruba a few times, of course Florida but our happy place is Ocean City, Maryland with everyone. As the babies get bigger, I’m hoping they’ll enjoy it as well!

On my last trip with Anna, I was excited to spend time with Lynn Friedson Jones and I can say nothing has changed.  I still keep in touch with Cindy, Lynn, and Jennifer Russo. When we are together it’s like 1977, and we speak or text often.

Let me close with a little reminder to always keep your eyes open because you never know who you’ll meet sitting in a waiting room. At the end of June, I had a great catch up with Honey Davidson Barry as we waited for our appointments. It’s a reminder that it’s a small world.

I wish the best for all of you and look forward to more surprises!