Brief synopsis of my life since 1965

Hi Don,

My husband and I will not be attending the reunion because we will be on our way to Alaska. Sorry to miss it but would love a copy of the CD. Here is a brief synopsis of my life since 1965.

After leaving Mountain Lakes, I attended Mt. Holyoke College where I graduated in 1969. Shortly after that I married and this was followed by the birth of a wonderful child - Brad Andrew. During the early 1970s, I taught elementary school on Guam and subsequently in Illinois. A few years later I was divorced and went back to school for a bachelors degree in nursing. For the next several years, I worked for the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Illinois where I served as Director of Nursing and Executive Director. In fact, from 1969 through 2000 I was involved in teaching and nursing and loved both. I count myself lucky. Both vocations were challenging but the gratification of helping other people was most rewarding. Another wonderful event in my life was marriage in 1982 to Thurman Smith. He had three children so I went from a household of two to a household of six in one jump. I would not trade these years, which were trying at times, for anything in the world. With thirty-five years in the state university retirement system, Thurman retired in 2001, and we moved to Maeystown, a small German community about 35 miles south of the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Currently I do volunteer work at Cardinal Glennon Children's hospital in St. Louis and in the adult literacy program here in southwestern Illinois. Thurman divides his time between working in the flower beds, especially with his holly bushes, and reading, researching and writing and is in the final stages of revision for a book on the iconography of Martin Luther. We also do as much traveling as we can and would like to do more. Last June we went on a cruise along the Danube from Budapest to the Black Sea and finished our trip with a few extra days in Romania. Come this winter we will be in Australia, New Zealand, and the Fiji Islands for Christmas and New Years. In addition, we have five grandchildren with two more on the way.

Give my best to everyone and have a wonderful reunion.
Best wishes,
Debby (Donaldson) Smith