Beth Gainsburg (Bauer)

Hi George,

I can't thank you enough for sending on all those newsletters. It was great to catch up and see how people are doing. I retired in July and it feels really nice. Now that both my husband and I are no longer working - we plan on catching up on life! We now have two sailboats – we are going to keep the smaller sailboat to cruise in Maine during the summers and to sail the bigger sailboat we just bought down to the Caribbean. We’ll sail it down in fall 2009 and then keep the boat down there for our winter get-aways. We spent this past summer on the newer boat sailing around Maine and fine tuning what we will need for the big adventure!

One of the things I definitely want to do in my retirement - besides sail in Maine and in the Caribbean is to catch up with old friends, new friends, renew and grow relationships. I have many wonderful memories of growing up in Great Neck - it was definitely a unique experience. The last few years have been difficult for me and my husband as parents pass away or become stricken with dementia. Siblings become older and get ill and our members of the class of ''72 become older (who us?) too. It's important to remember and be grateful for all the good things in life, how much fun there is still to be had with adventures around the corner, and that we can contribute to making the world a better place - even if that is "just" at a one to one person level.

Thanks again George - for keeping us all in touch!
Beth Gainsburg Bauer