What will the new year of 2021 bring us?  Certainly, it can’t get worse than 2020, so we have to think truthfully in a positive way.  Too many of us have lost family members and friends to the Corona virus, to medical complications, to natural causes in unnatural situations (shutdowns of ALFs, nursing homes, independent living areas) where loved ones could no longer be in physical contact with us.  Socialization was on the skids and was being fought by those who felt nothing was really wrong so why not “do what I want!”? It was a sad state of affairs and it seemed like our great United States of America was on a slippery slope to degradation!  My mind kept turning to my Lord and Father – Are You challenging us the world over to wake up and really look at ourselves and how we are treating our fellow humans, our planet, our resources?  All You have ever asked of us is to love You and our neighbors – and we have done a piss-poor job of that!  So, my dear classmates, we move forward positively the best we can, wear the mask, social distance, get the vaccination; we will survive this! – Molly Sperandio

Sylvia Blackburn Felcyn here in retirement life care village located in an Atlanta suburb 10 minutes from our daughter Lindsay. Life here has been often spent quarantined.  Had spent time in ICU for kidney stone emergency in October.  Now am fine.  My husband Keith just had his 90th birthday in December.  Thankful 2020 is over and we will have a new administration.  Hope all is well with you, 

Ann Spengler Larkin: It was so good to see the end of 2020! Christmas was very different. My son lives in Troy about 3 miles from me. He came to my house for dinner and we felt safe as neither of us had been with any others. My granddaughter lives in Ohio where she is doing a Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and my grandson is living and working in the Harrisburg area and has had at least one business trip to Frederick. Neither was able to come home during the holidays. My wish for all of our classmates is for a healthy, peaceful 2021.

Antoinette Zawatzky Peirson:  You said it all with the words of lockdown masks & social distancing here at Roland Park Place.  I am glad I am here.  Soon we will receive the virus shot.  It has been boring & limiting, with room service food delivery but the administration keeps us updated with current news.  The temporal scanner  has been refined to the point that we are expected to check in once a week near the front desk.  We plant our feet on the X mark on the floor, smile, & are told that our temperature is normal.  This is tied in with an earlier photo which shows our face & name.  How is that for the latest technology?  I keep in touch with Eda Scheir Rubin who is fine & busy.

Miriam Spalding Keyser: We are doing well. Lots of restrictions have been added, but our community is doing well. We leave to shop and go to the library. There have been a few cases in the independent living area and one death, but we expect to get the shot before long. At some point we are due to get the shots; the long-term care people have had them for over a week. We have done a zillion puzzles it seems and been reading all the time. We can eat in the dining rooms but must sign up on Sunday morning and be given a code indicating where we are eating, the date and time and with whom we are eating – limit 4 at a table. There are long waits to get on the telephone to register. Many people just get food bags delivered to the door for three days. We try to eat with others and so we call until we get through to register for table seating at different venues. I still swim twice a week at 7:30 am and walk the grounds in good weather.

Hattie Snyder Bingham:  The best news I received in 2020 was that the urologist here made an incorrect diagnosis and my doctor at George Washington University Hospital, who performed the original surgery, declared no obstruction, no scar tissue and no infection.  A radioactive test was done and both kidneys are functioning well.  This was such a relief after thinking for 9 months that I had to have risky surgery.  What I had when admitted twice into the hospital here were extremely bad kidney infections.  I had never been so sick and scared when taken to the CCU because all my vitals went crazy. due to a blood infection.  We think the newly constructed villa at Willow Valley will be ready to move into around the end of August.  I am not looking forward to all that moving involves, selling the house, etc. but look forward to moving to such an outstanding environment that Willlow Valley Communities offers.  Willow Valley Communities is near Lancaster, PA.  Have a blessed New Year.

Barbara Yinger:  Just wanted to say our daughter, Laura died the end of June from a massive heart attack. We miss her terribly.  She was actively involved in her work and family, no history of heart issues, only  61 years old, a parent’s sadness for sure.  We drove out to Indiana for her memorial in spite of the pandemic and 2 weeks before my scheduled knee surgery.  Thank goodness my pre-surgery Covid test was negative and I can walk just fine.  Bob and I have continued to stay away from the Covid and look forward to the vaccine soon.  Living in this retirement community has proven to have it’s advantages keeping us safe.  I talk with Barbara Kaufman Harrison and Sue Bond Almy frequently.  Incidentally, Sue no longer does email due to painful wrists so would like to talk by phone.

Alice Riddle Metry:  Alice reports she and Fred are dealing with medical conditions that limit Fred from driving because of a stroke and use of the computer for Alice because of macular degeneration affecting her eyesight. They have not been back to Florida – their go-to state for warmth – since Covid hit but enjoy seeing their family members all year long.

Louise Reed: Still alive and kicking. Skin cancer surgeries, asthma and arthritic joint changes cause her to have to wear braces on an arm and ankle and have kept her busy with doctors’ appointments and the need for a full-time aide. She still has one son and family fairly close for visits while the other is in MD.  She had to give up her car so is mostly home-bound.

Nancy Tressel Brown: Medical issues abound, but the fight is on.  Nancy was on dialysis for kidney disease and was able to beat that to the surprise of her doctor.  She is recovering, working on getting her strength back.  Her husband, Roger, had a bout with the Covid virus, was hospitalized, but now doing well.

Sue Bond Almy: Independent living in a retirement facility saw lockdowns and no visitations, but following guidelines has kept Sue and her husband well.  They will receive their first dose of the vaccine 1/31 and the second on 2/23. The family was able to celebrate Thanksgiving together at her daughter’s home but Christmas was celebrated in the garage, complete with decorations, with Anne’s three sons, wives and two great grands. It was different but done out of concern for the elders’ health being uppermost in the thoughts of the kids.  She will miss having her daughter close by as that family splits their time between MD and FL.

Sylvia Felcyn: We are in a retirement life care village in an Atlanta suburb 10 minutes from our daughter Lindsay.  Life here has been often spent quarantined.  I spent time in ICU for kidney stone emergency in October; now am fine.  My husband Keith just had his 90th birthday in December.  We are thankful 2020 is over and we will have a new administration.

Molly Smith Sperandio:  In six months of 2020, I sadly had to deal with the loss of two of my four sisters, my last brother-in-law, a nephew and grandnephew. I’m lucky to have my daughter and family living with me, and am content to read, play games on my cell phone and watch TV. All my volunteer activities which kept me scheduled and socialized were gone, but I managed to work all three elections which were true and honest!  Our church reopened following CDC guidelines, but I’m finding more people are getting used to “meeting on Zoom” or watching on Facebook or YouTube. In-church attendance is down about 80%. I look forward to starting AARP Tax consulting in February as soon as the powers that be figure out how we will be doing it with social distancing. I am also entering a two-year clinical trial for a vaccine being produced by Tampa General Hospital and USF Medical Center. We carry on with the Lord’s blessings!

Sue Winter Smith passed away in September of 2018; Mary Thomas Summers passed away in September of 2019; Pat Pickett Tanco passed away in January of 2020. God speed to a safer, more humane place.

ALICE RIDDLE METRY: Alice is dealing with macular degeneration so it is difficult to read e-mails, letters and books very well.  She asked me to put her phone number in the column because she would love to hear from anyone via phone: 313-882-8709.  Her husband, Fred, had a stroke in August, ’19 and is working hard to get away from the walker.  There is no driving for them, so their annual trip to Florida did not take place this year.

BARBARA THOMAS YINGER: Tommie reports ”No virus here, so far.  I’ve kept busy finishing baby quilts for CareWear Foundation which is centered here in Frederick by a former Hood Home Ec. Professor/grad, Bonnie Hagerman.  A Fla. volunteer pieces the small quilts and mail them to Bonnie, then she puts the backing on it and sends it to me to sew together and quilt, on the machine of course.  I work with lovely fabrics and put something together for someone else to enjoy, somewhere in the US in a health care system.  Masks have been another thing.  I made over 100 and coordinated with several other ladies here to make over 300 for the health care workers and residents at this facility, Buckingham’s Choice near Frederick, Md.  I’m also in charge of the greenhouse here but it is winding down with most residents putting their plants outside for the summer.  Plants and sewing have seemed to be my forte for many years and it’s been a joy.

CAROLYN STEVENS AMSTUTZ: Good to hear from you, I’m glad you are surviving the pandemic. Life is certainly different these days. Since I’m in a retirement community we are a bit restricted, but being taken care of very well.  We are not allowed visitors in our apartments, but can meet with them outside. Fortunately, the weather has been good, so getting out and walking and seeing people keeps me sane!  And I did get out to get my haircut …yahoo.  Both my daughters, one in Albany and one in England, as well as their husbands, are working from home. All are fine, thank goodness.   I seem to be OK for an almost 85-year-old, except that macular degeneration is starting to get the better of me. I’m afraid my bridge playing days are behind me unfortunately. I have to talked  to Alice Metry and Tressie.

EUGENIE SMITH DURLAND: I’m glad to report that Bill and I are healthy in spite of being 84 and 89 – who’d believe it?! All our kids, grandkids and great grandkids are fine too. Not much news since we are staying home except for groceries and docs. We are lucky to live right on the edge of two large parks with walking trails so we are able to get out to walk every day without coming near others. Our youngest son lives near us and drops in several times a week with his son who has down syndrome. Our youngest daughter lives in Boulder. She’s a school teacher so has to teach on line and its driving her crazy. If I tried to report on all our kids and grandkids this note would be about 3 pages long so I’ll stop there. One of our biggest disappointments is the absence of baseball and I’m sure lots of others have similar moans. But I hope we all live through it. Peace, Genie Durland

HATTIE SNYDER BINGHAM: My husband, Gene, and I moved from Chantilly, VA to a community near Fredericksburg, VA fifteen years ago after both of us retired from National Institutes of Health.  We have three children, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. Our daughter, Cheryl, recently moved from Damascus, MD to Frederick, MD and we are looking forward to walking the Hood campus together.  Another daughter, Julianne, lives in South Carolina, and our son, Keith, lives way too far away in Reno, NV.  Our granddaughter, Lynsey, just moved out West to Richland, WA after graduating with a Nurse Practitioner’s Degree.  I sing in the church choir and am active in the church and community.  The thing I like most since moving to Virginia is living a manageable distance from DC, thus being able to enjoy the “POPs concerts by The National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center.  I had an unexpected health issue this January through March when I had to make two emergency trips to the hospital due to my right kidney not functioning.  The second time I went to the hospital I had a blood infection and ended up in the CCU because all my vitals went crazy due to the blood infection.  I had surgery in 2004 for a congenital condition where there was a blockage where the ureter enters the kidney.  After all these years scar tissue built up causing the blockage to happen again.  The urologist put in a 6 to 12 month urinary stent to avoid a trip to the hospital while COVID-19 is active.  We’ll have to research the best medical options. We were to celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary this year but we had to put it off until next year due to the virus. We were so disappointed that our Reno family couldn’t come this June since flying  wasn’t an option.  Like a lot of senior friends, we have spent the last two years researching Life Care facilities and communities.  In the fall of 2021 we plan to move into a villa in”Willow Valley Communities” located in Willow Valley, PA which is close to Lancaster, PA.  My Email address is: hattiebingham2@gmail.com

LOUISE REED: I continue to shelter in place and stay away from any virus.  I am doing O.K. – not swell like in college.  I have an aide to help me from AM to 6PM daily.  She helps with meals, household chores, grocery shopping, etc. I use a walker to get around the house and a wheel chair when I go outside.  I have a brace on my left arm so need someone to push me in the wheelchair! I guess I had a previous fracture and didn’t do anything about it, so now I have bone fragments breaking off and rubbing against bone which is painful. The brace stabilizes it some what. No more trips for me!!

MARA ECKSTEINS BUNUEL: I really do not have any great news.  Do wish to let you know that Pat Pickett Tanco died early Jan. 2020.  Her brother called me.  Pat was taken down to Texas where her son & fam. live.  All her children and family were there.  She was buried in Rockville, Md.  It was very sad for me, we were half-sisters at Hood and we kept up our friendship for years.  She would usually come to my house and stay overnight, had always so much to talk about.  Other than that I keep at home, my son the doctor is very busy, but brings my groceries every Saturday. I don’t know when we shall get out of this pandemic..With that horrid, stupid idiot in the White House the virus will multiply as long as we get more places open regardless of human lives lost.  Keep safe.

MIRIAM SPAULDING KEYSER: Doing well- Oak Crest is providing 3 dinner meals plus extras every 3 days. Our son David brings other food items and essentials to the gate and those things are delivered to us. We are limited to our apartment and outside to walk to our garden plot. We are only to leave grounds for doctors, etc. Life is very different. I was able to talk with  Dot Lewis. Her husband Irv died last summer, and she has moved to a senior facility near her daughter in Boston. We are still planning on gathering with the family at the Outer Banks, NC for a week in July. I still am spending time on family genealogy- right now Bill’s Keyser family;

NANCY PAUL STIMSON:  Here goes!  I am still alive. Been shut in for three months. No bridge, no Mahjong, no dinners out, no church, no nothing.  My great grandson turned one the end of May. His sister will be three in July. They live in Doylestown, Penna. thankfully my granddaughter brought them to see me in January. Wouldn’t be able to come now. Times are crazy. Have certainly been affected by the virus. One friends husband died, several others I know have recovered. Can’t open our condo pool this summer.  She has heard that Sue Truby may have Alzheimer’s Disease?

ROBERTA GEEHAN HORTON:  Sad to report the death of my former roommate, Susan Winter Smith, in September, 2018.  She suffered from pulmonary fibrosis.  I have not seen mention of her passing in the Hood Magazine. I spoke with her 10 days before she passed.  Bob and I are still mostly confined at home, due to the virus, the same home since l966.  We are thankful that it is all on one floor.  We can still enjoy our daily walks on a nearby greenway  Our health is pretty good.  I am now out of most back pain caused by spinal stenosis after neurologic treatments. Bob had a coronary event last August but is much improved after having a stent put in.  Enjoyed a recent telephone chat with Mimi Spauldng Keyser.

TANIE STROHECKER SHARKEY WHITE:  sends greetings to all 1957 gals (no gents in those days).  Would love to see any of you traveling to or through Hudson, Ohio.   All is well.  330-650-1053

MOLLY SPERANDIO: In CA – if my plane still flies – I have my last grand graduating from high school and his brother graduating from college – on the same day.  I just heard yesterday from the college grad that their ceremony will be cancelled and he is starting a new job in Los Angeles on 5/28, so won’t even be there!  I’ll find out on 5/12 when I, hopefully, can get in on a Zoom call with my youngest grandson.  His school is holding a Grands and Seniors “get together” to talk about the differences between our graduation from high school and theirs.  Should be interesting!  As to the PA trip; in Lancaster – I lost a brother-in-law (my last) to acute leukemia, diagnosed at the age of 89 (would have been 90 in June) 2 weeks before he died!  I have a nephew (70-acute renal cancer) and another sister (88 – bedridden with dementia) on death’s door; so I am feeling the need to go see them – even through a window; and then on to Bethlehem to see my oldest sister (94) where we have held our family reunions for the past 39 years.  She still lives alone in her own home, is well, and we probably won’t have a reunion, but I can at least visit with her.  I will take my chances and pray that gas stations will be open along I-95 for gas and potty breaks!

EUGENIA SMITH DURLAND: We are all so old now that – at least in my case – news kind of dries up. Bill and I are alive and well but not traveling much anymore. We are very active in our Quaker Meeting, which is a Sanctuary Church among other things. We still teach in the adult religious education program. And we still work hard for the Dems! We want to see our democracy restored in 2020. We got our newest great grandchild in December so he’s nearly a year old. That makes 5 greats! Our children and grandchildren are all well and busy with their careers. Two of our children live nearby – Julia in Boulder and Christian in Denver and six of our grandchildren and all of our greats are in various parts of Colorado. So we are well looked after.

BARBARA THOMAS YINGER:  Sue Bond Almy and I talk on the phone as do Bobby Kaufman Harrison and I.  I’ve been “fussing’ with my left knee for the past 6 months, physical therapy and 2 different shots with minimal relief.  I think I’m going to have to “bite the bullet” and have surgery.  I won a blue ribbon (first prize) at the Frederick Fair on a quilt I made (see the blue ribbon?).  ‘First time in 30 yrs. or more that I’ve entered anything here.  The Frederick Art Club, of which I’m a member, is honoring Claire McCardell with a statue in Frederick.  She was a Hood student in the ’40s and then went to NYC to study clothing design.  I volunteered to make a dress like one of her designs and will be featured in a special showing sometime this year.  There are quite a few Hood alums in the Art Club so it’s been interesting to meet them.  I haven’t made clothes in years so this was a challenge.

CAROL HARKNESS KILREA:  Off in the AM for Boston and Maine – will spend time with Susan Peterson and Carl – always such fun! Our trip to Scotland was marvelous – the people and the history and the beauty – wow!! On the way home we both fell on the escalator @ the Airport in Scotland – happy to say a bit sore and, of course, embarrassment the only consequences! Continue to enjoy the Chicago Symphony and the Lyric Opera but it is always so good to return to our small community on the Lake – we are now part of the 61^ST National Park, but should not feel a great difference! It’s the Indiana National Park -full of wetlands/birds migrating and nesting/ sand dunes/just a plethora of nature at its best both plant wise and animal wise! Lucky me!!!!  Happy holiday season to everyone!!

MIRIAM SPAULDING KEYSER:  2019 has been a busy year. Our 1^st  Great Grandchild was born Easter Day. Maeve is the daughter of our eldest grandchild, Logan and his wife Mackenzie. Her presence added to the family Beach Week at the Outer Banks. Only a week later everyone headed to Roanoke, VA for the wedding of Ethan and Alexis. Ethan is Matt’s eldest. On the way home I fell and hurt my back, but therapy seems to be helping.  Bill and I are still active here at Oak Crest. Our garden provided both flowers and produce.  We both are on the Welcome committee and help with the weekly concerts.  Does anyone know anything about Dot Hofstadter Lewis and Irv?  The phone # I have is disconnected and the Email is not functioning. We have kept in touch with them over the years and visited with them just a year ago. I am really worried. Let me know if you hear anything.

LOUISE REED:  Well, this past 9 months or so have been difficult.  I‘ve had a number of falls and ended up in hospitals and rehabs.  I think I could write a book on the good and bad rehabs.  I am now home, being careful and presently have 24/7 care.  I would like to get rid of the nighttime care soon. So no trips or excursions for me now.

MOLLY SPERANDIO:  No tax consulting this year due to my hip replacement; but that didn’t keep me from flying out to Davis, CA in June for the high school graduation of my 7^th of 8 grandchildren, Sophi. I was still able to drive to PA in April, June and October and enjoyed having the CA family visit here in FL a week in August.