Class Notes, November–December, 2004
Wednesday December 15, 2004 Category: Archives Permanent Link
I rarely have any class notes of my own to contribute. After all, I’ve lived in the same apartment in the same neighborhood since 1996! So to mix things up a bit, I’ve moved five blocks down the street next to Prospect Park. (Unfortunately, Kerry Duffy ‘95 wasn’t around to help me move this time and it was a nightmare.) There have always been quite a few Cornellians in this neighborhood, although my closest friends from our class have snubbed Park Slope for the East Village,Williamsburg, and Carroll Gardens.
While hunting for an apartment last month (a demoralizing experience in this city), I ran into a lot of other graduates and we shared stories about humid summers in Ithaca, wine-touring in the Finger Lakes, and work-avoidance methods at Uris Library.After working at that fine library for so many years, I found it surprising that anyone could actually concentrate on their assignments these days. In my time, there was only one girl chatting on her cell phone for several hours at a time. Now there must be at least 50.
I also miss Ithaca every time I have to write out a rent check to my landlord. I can’t believe I was only paying around $300 for an apartment on Stewart Avenue and I got to shop at Wegmans. That’s insane and not too far from the cost of utilities–why did I ever move?!
Okay, enough reminiscing. As usual, we’ve received a lot of news about infants and their ecstatically happy–and undoubtedly exhausted–parents. Erin Sullivan Caimano says that she and her husband Jeff “welcomed Ryan into our little family on September 9, 2003. He’s in the fun stage now and is sporting his first tooth.We took him to Disney World in March. The 80-degree weather beat the New York St. Patrick’s Day 12-inch snowfall! Our first family vacation, even though Ryan won’t remember.We have some cute shots with Mickey! I’m working as a Six Sigma project engineer with General Electric Silicones in New York. I actually love my job.” Erin, Jeff, and baby Ryan reside in Clifton Park, NJ.Now I’m curious, Erin.What comes after the aforementioned “fun stage”?
Lisa Courchaine Derouin and her husband now have a second child in their family: “Riley Joseph was born on May 31, 2004.” From Ithaca, Veronica Vazquez reports that her son Malachi Asa Vazquez-Carr was born on July 6.”He weighed only five pounds and two ounces at birth, and was nearly four weeks earlier than anticipated.” Judit Saenz-Badillos, who works as a pediatrician in Boston, had baby girl Judit Maria Laidlaw on June 21, 2004. Vanessa Gubbins Dodson and her husband Thomas ‘95 welcomed Madeline Parker Dodson into the world on January 20, 2004. Orin Zwick and his wife Marni named the newest addition to their family Carly Brooke. And finally, Erin Fitzpatrick gave birth to Molly on December 17, 2003.
Over in Seattle,WA, Erik and Catherine Meeks Schwiebert ‘98 are happy to announce the birth of their first child,Andrew Keith, also on December 17, 2003. The proud parents are hoping that Andrew’s eyes stay blue like his mother’s. Erik also says that he’s a development lead in the Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft, coming up on eight years there. “I work with teammates in Ireland and Japan to produce localized versions of Mac Office.” Heather Mahoney Schultz, MD ‘00, and her husband Dan may be moving out to the Pacific Northwest. But for now, Heather is enjoying San Diego and says that her son Max is doing well and will be 2 in July. She is working as a general pediatrician parttime at a community health clinic in San Ysidro, CA, a Mexican border town 20 minutes south of San Diego. “I get to use my Spanish-speaking skills every day I’m in the clinic, which is a great opportunity.”
Suzanne Weidberg Klein and her husband Devon, who moved to Boston from New York City in June, report that Matt and Bonnie Meyer Altman just had a baby boy, Jake Benjamin. “All are happy and healthy and doing great.”Congratulations to all of the new parents!
Thanks to Quinn O’Sullivan, I get to mention Kid Rock in my column. If anyone has any class news about Pamela Anderson or Tommy Lee, please send it in immediately. That would be even more unexpected. Quinn recently quit her job with Guinness and opened up an Irish Pub on Music Row in Nashville. She’s had Travis Tritt, Steve Winwood, Peter Wolfe (the J. Geils Band), and Kid Rock play music and eat at her new place!
Jessica Cattelino also has some exciting announcements. She says that she received her PhD in anthropology this past May from NYU. “I’m now joining the anthropology dept. faculty at the U. of Chicago. My partner, Noah Zatz ‘94,MA ‘96, is taking a faculty position at the UCLA Law School. We’ll be keeping the airlines in business, flying the Chicago–L.A. route. I remain active in Telluride Association and am currently the president, so I enjoy the chance to see Telluriders regularly.”
In other news, Mick Merritt and his partner Rich just completed a major renovation of their New York City apartment that took four months.Mick was promoted to principal consultant at CSC’s Global Health Solutions. Scott Cohen and Erin Witek ‘98 went with their families to Aruba in November 2003. Scott is a pediatrician and practices in Beverly Hills. Erin was finishing her residency in orthodontics this August from UCLA. Scott attended the U. of Miami for medical school and Erin attended Columbia U. for dental school. Please send all of your news! –Allie Cahill, Courtney Rubin, and Sheryl Magzamen.
