I went to Wake Forest College (now University) in 1961 and graduated in 1965 with honors in history. Had a wonderful exchange student year in Berlin, Germany in 1963-64. I thought I wanted to become an academic specializing in medieval history (and use the great Latin base Ms. Kaczmarek gave us). So I went to Johns Hopkins as a Woodrow Wilson scholar--and bombed out. I don't have the aptitude for academic scholarship at all--mostly, I can't identify a good academic research topic if one walked up to me and said "Hello." So, I then went to George Washington University and got a masters in urban and regional planning. I worked for nearly 30 years as a planner for the Federal Highway Administration in Washington. I became the agency's headquarters expert in how to involve the public in planning transportation projects and holding effective public meetings/hearings. This actually means that I had a little paragraph in the U. S. Code (law passed by Congress) and some more regulatory material in the Code of Federal Regulations (regulations issued formally by Federal agencies) which I groomed and curried periodically. In the mean time, what I mostly did was to develop and teach adult short courses for state highway and transit agency staff on public involvement and effective public meetings and hearings. I'm now retired. In the mean time--I met Pete Mills while I was at Wake Forest and we married in 1966. A wonderful man....He is an electrical engineer, graduated from N. C. State in 1963, went to work for the Navy, then for NASA Goddard developing antennas for satellites, and then to Federal Highway developing vehicle detectors for smart highways. He's also retired now. Children. We adopted David at 5 1/2 years of age in 1988 in Paraguay. Christina came to us at 8 months in 1990 and is also Hispanic, but born in Washington, DC. David graduated with an AA degree from Landmark College in Vermont in 2006. Having a hard time finding his niche now. David thought he wanted to go into photography and went to photography school but lost interest. Right now he is home and working security at a local nightclub, the 9:30 Club. Christina is going to Montgomery College, a local community college, for her first two years. She has a lot of different ideas about what she wants to major in (political science, business, computer science are the current candidates). We are standing by on this.... As a retiree, I'm enjoying being home, gardening, church volunteer work (I write grant proposals for a homeless program), docenting in an historic house and knitting. I'm a member of a prayer shawl group at church. I've learned to knit there and am experimenting with new stitches and approaches. Currently, I'm learning to knit lace shawls. I really enjoy knitting for others and giving away through my group most of what I make. The most fun thing I've found to do in retirement is being a docent at Tudor Place Historic House and Garden in Georgetown. I love explaining the house, its contents, and the family who lived there for over 180 years to visitors. If you're in Washington, come by (I'm there every Thursday morning at 10 and 11) for a tour. Google Tudor Place Historic House and Garden for more info on the house where one of Martha Washington's granddaughters and her descendants lived along with a lot of things from Mt. Vernon they bought at Martha Washington's estate sale in 1802.

Muessel Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson Junior High School