above: with grandson
Carter Wilson Duncan
l
to r:
seated: son Robert Duncan, me
standing: daughter/law Wendy Duncan
daughter Sarah Duncan
After graduation, went right
to work at an oil company in Halesite. In a few years, moved into NYC
with Maggie Cederholm and Carol Ann Miller as roommates. Spent two years
in Greenwich Village in three different apartments (when the rent went
up, we moved), then left the city for married
life.
We lived in Northport briefly,
then moved to New Hampshire where daughter Sarah was born. It was there
that I realized I didn't like winter (think: 30 below 0, electronic dipsticks
and blankets over the hood of the car, and bumping along the road for
the first quarter mile because the tires were frozen out of round). We
left beautiful but cold New Hampshire for Northport, and moved into our
house the day son Robert was born. Raised the children in Northport,
but then turned 40 and realized life was finite. It was then that I realized
I didn't like marriage. That was also when I joined
Newsday and found I was making just enough money to scrape by on my own.
Divorced my husband and went on to my second (and current) life, which is much
better.
In fairness to my ex (who is
now deceased), we did have some fun times, including forming a blue grass
band when I was in my 30s (ex Bob did the forming, and he and I and two
others did the playing and the singing). For any familiar with Northport,
Bob was instrumental (no pun intended) in
starting Cow Harbor Day, and for the first few years our band played for the
square dance that was part of the celebration. Also have to give Bob credit (or
half credit) for our two wonderful kids.
Managed to get the kids through college (with a little - very little - help from my ex), and eventually to buy a nice little house in Huntington Station. (Somewhere between 1965 and 1992, Northport became trendy and priced itself out of my range, otherwise I would live there still - a great little village.) When my daughter started college, I did too, and finally graduated with a BS in man - agement nine years later. Have been with my "significant other" for over 20 years, and together we have six grandchildren-five on his side, and one 13-month-old on mine.
Son Rob lives in Texas with his wife Wendy and son Carter and works in oil exploration imaging, and daughter Sarah lives in Boston and manages computers for biomolecular study, but is well on her way to becoming a UU (Unitarian-Universalist) minister.
Am still at Newsday, now assistant manager of the educational services department, a job which marries my interest in education with being a "news junky."
For the valedictorian of the class, I was certainly a slow learner in the school of life, and have made many mistakes, none of which I regret as they have all made me the person I am today, hopefully wiser, and certainly more content within myself.
I loved seeing all at the mini reunion in Huntington, and am
just sorry I
didn't get to talk to everyone. Hope to do that next time and am looking
forward to seeing even more of the fabulous class of 56 then!
