Unofficial High School Reunion

This weekend I attended a wedding in Old Town Albuquerque. The bride was a friend of mine since high school. She is the only person I've kept in touch with since. It seemed like half the graduating class was at her wedding. I sat at a table with fellow classmates and there were many others scattered in the crowd - including our high school principal Mr. Rendon. It was kind of nice to catch up with this group of people, especially since we didn't have an official high school reunion. The planning committee just couldn't pull it together. Maybe for our 20th? I won't hold my breath.

I also stayed with an old college roommate. The night I arrived we stayed up late talking. I enjoyed hanging out with her family and getting to know her two boys.

This was a great walk down memory lane. It had been a long time since I sat around a table sharing stories from my youth.

Enjoy the "unofficial reunion" photo. This was a good portion of the Capital High folks who attended posing with the bride.

Spoke with a detective

I have FINALLY found someone to listen to me in the police department. I spoke with a female detective in the missing person division. She listened to my story and told me she is going to look into it. She will try to locate the SSN and birthdate to enter my friend into the database, the detective will also look for my friend's 30 year old daughter to see if she has heard anything from her. I am relieved someone is willing to pursue the case. I pray they find her alive, I'm just not confident this will be the end result.

Please pray the detective will be able to locate my friend.

Nuevo Mexico

Friday I leave to New Mexico. I'll be attending the wedding of the only person I've kept in contact with since high school. She actually keeps in contact with a number of high school buddies, so it will likely be an unofficial reunion. I never had a high school reunion, the planning committee couldn't pull it together.

I will be staying with an old roommate from college. She married someone she met in college on a blind date. I was in the wedding about 10 years ago. They have two boys. I haven't seen her since 2002. We talk infrequently and email from time to time. When I contacted her to say I am coming to town, there was no hesitation in letting me stay with them. We spoke on the phone last night and it was like there was no distance at all...we could have talked for hours. We all need friends like that in our lives. In one of my favorite books of all time, All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren (soon to be a movie with Sean Penn), the author calls these "friends of your youth." These are the kinds of friends who we have known for so long, we may loose touch with, but we can pick right up where we left off...friends of your youth.

This will also be the first time I've stepped foot in New Mexico since 2004. It is hard to believe it has been that long...time goes quickly. A lot has changed since I was there last. There are people I didn't tell I was coming. There just isn't enough time to see everyone. I will spend limited time with my family in Santa Fe on Sunday and Monday. I return to my adopted homeland Monday afternoon. I'll take lots of pictures and maybe post a couple from the trip.

Rachel Green

...this is my new nickname at work - Rachel Green from the TV show Friends. Why? Because I have hired a male assistant. I've been absolutely swamped at work. They agreed to hire a student worker for me through June. He started last week. He's been very helpful with student inquiries, filing, etc. My co-workers started teasing me because he also takes on other tasks I don't assign to him - things related to my comfort, getting me drinks and stuff like that. Because we are a State institution they don't turn on the air conditioning until a designated date and time - not determined by the weather, but rather by the budget constraints. It's been 80-90 degrees Fairenheit, the air conditioning is not on. Yesterday "hot" did not describe the conditions of my office - sweltering sauna was more like it. Some people left early because it was giving them a headache. My assistant took it upon himself to find a fan on campus and set it up in my office. I didn't ask him to do it, it's just one of those things guys do...a perk of having a male assistant, I guess. It probably doesn't help that he goes around campus introducing himself as "Sheri's assistant." I've decided every woman should have a male assistant. Come to think of it, many women do, they just call them "husband." Smile!

Job saga continues...

I spoke with the current Executive Director yesterday. We have scheduled an interview for the end of the month. At that meeting I will meet with the search committee. The final interview will be May 3 with the full board of directors. I'll keep you posted...