I spent LHS summers at Lake Wallenpaupack in Northeastern Pennsylvania, racing sailboats with family and friends. After graduation I left for the University of Vermont, where the second week I met a cute, tall, outdoorsy guy climbing Mt. Mansfield. At the summit he asked why I looked sad instead of excited. I told him I was turning eighteen the next day and was homesick. He said, “I’ll take you out for birthday dinner!” That was our first date. Vermont backpacking was gorgeous, and I continued the Rowley family tradition of sailing, first on Lake Champlain, then in sailing club competition with other New England schools. With a student season pass at Stowe, skiing was constant. I made extra money playing guitar and singing at campus restaurants and events, and dated that cute, outdoorsy guy on and off throughout our undergrad years. We both finished in December ’80, me with a degree in social work, he an engineer, and married that summer. It’s been 43 years so far! We joke that we get along so well because we had all our really big fights before we got married.

Charlie’s engineering job required regular relocation. I worked in adult long-term care in Texas, and pediatric long-term care in Massachusetts. We explored everywhere we lived, finding new places to ski, hike, canoe, kayak and sail. We were joined by our beloved sons in late 1984, and 1987. They joined our adventures starting at two weeks, learning water baby swimming in the pool, and boating right away. I invited friends to join me with their babies, canoeing down Florida rivers and tubing on lakes behind our motorboat.

My social work jobs required educating parents and clients, and I often heard, “You should be a teacher!” Once the boys were born, I went back to grad school for my certification and M.Ed, teaching preschool then kindergarten, coaching micro soccer in PA, and finally finishing my grad research after moving to Evergreen, Colorado. More backpacking, downhill and cross-country skiing, plus great neighbors and friends. Once I had the boys settled, I taught gifted ed., then kindergarten half time, two full days a week plus alternating Fridays. My girlfriend arranged the same schedule so we could put our kids on the morning bus, skis on our roof, zip up to Loveland or A-basin to ski, then get back in time for the school bus. I sang in choir, led cherub choir, did music for Vacation Bible School, and drove the boys to all the sports Charlie coached, and scout meetings he co-led with a friend. Our extended families loved visiting Colorado. My dad flew out once with his ski buddy, arriving to pull rolls of Taylor Ham for us from each of his ski boots!

We were transferred to Maryland in 2000. It was tough to leave Colorado, but the good part was being closer to our wonderful families. Here I taught third grade. I was honored by my district and state for my work, but the greatest rewards were the kids’ joy and accomplishments. Charlie had to travel at length for responsibilities in Boston and California, so I opted to leave full time teaching to join him. (When my teammates asked me to come back to sub for them I found I was a good teacher, but a terrible sub!) I learned to snowboard, and to scuba dive so I could join Charlie underwater, and had our boys certify for family dive trips. I hiked, and joined sailing clubs sailed in Boston and Sausalito, so we could be on the water when we weren’t taking off on our sailboat on Chesapeake Bay.

These days we’re often sharing escapades with our boys, their spouses, and our two beloved granddaughters. We’ll be celebrating Dad’s 92nd birthday this month. My dad, John, may be remembered by some as our principal at Heritage Junior High, and also for his time as a town councilman and Mayor of Livingston. We just downsized our property to a HOA home in Frederick, Maryland, so we can travel knowing yard work is done. Maybe I should unpack the rest of the boxes first? We’ve had fun trips in the past, from skiing and wine-tasting in the Andes, to Portugal, China, Italy, and Tanzania, but there are many more destinations we’d like to visit. Just exploring our new community and hiking the nearby Appalachians is a joy. Every day is a new adventure!