Marti Watson Garlett

I did attend the reunion and had a great fun time! I particularly enjoyed the day at the races and touring the old AHS. Going in to the weekend, I had a very groundless fear that I wouldn't know anyone. Loved seeing so many familiar faces and chatting, chatting.

My husband Fred and I live a quiet life in the foothills above Glendora, California (east Los Angeles County). We have beautiful mountain views, a swimming pool, a large flower garden, two large patios, one with a pergola, and lots of comfy chairs for hanging out with friends and family. Fred is a dean emeritus at Azusa Pacific University (8 minutes away from our home), but I no longer work though I do take on consulting jobs from time to time. I have been to Washington DC since the reunion and am planning a trip to England in the spring where our son Kyle and his wife Carrie live. Our grandchildren are nearby, and they have their own bedroom in our house, which makes me very happy.

Life is good.

I've lived in the South (South Carolina and Tennessee), the Midwest (Kansas and Missouri, not to mention Illinois), and the West (Southern California for the last 20+ years) but never in the Northeast, though I've held senior executive positions with corporations based in New York City, Boston, and Baltimore, meaning I've traveled to the Northeast extensively and often felt like I was living there.

Two years out of high school, at the age of 19, I married my college sweetheart, Fred Garlett, who holds both a master's and a doctorate from Columbia University in NYC. Fred currently serves as Dean of the School of Adult and Professional Studies at Azusa Pacific University. We have traveled through all of our degrees and professorates together. My master's degree is from Vanderbilt University, my Ed.S. from Wichita State University, and my Ph.D. from the Claremont Colleges.

My career has been in education, mostly as a teacher educator and college dean. When I was "Miss Marti," the on-air teacher for the children's television program Romper Room, I was simultaneously a full-time professor. Later, I became the Founding Dean of the Teachers College at Western Governors University, offering the first online competency-based educator licensure programs in the United States. I traveled to all 50 state capitals throughout the course of this job. I have also traveled the world (35+ countries on six continents) and taught graduate students on-site in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. I retired on disability in 2009 after a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, an incurable and progressive disease. That said, I remain on the Board of Directors of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) in Washington, DC. My energy is compromised but not my passions.

My youngest son, Kyle, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma as a senior in high school. It recurred about two years later after his freshman year in college. Then in another two years or so, it came back for a third time. He underwent a grueling bone marrow transplant, which had several bad side effects: it compromised the blood flow in his joints (he had both a shoulder and hip replacement); it caused a secondary cancer, in his case leukemia; and it essentially killed his heart. After more than five years on the heart transplant list, Kyle finally received his new heart in 2006 and is now an inspiring triathlete whose memoir is entitled "Heart of Iron." Just this last December 2012, my husband Fred was diagnosed with a rare skin cancer that had invaded his entire right trigeminal (facial) nerve. He completed radiation and chemotherapy late February 2013. I fancy myself as somewhat of a medical expert, at least where patient advocacy is concerned.

I'm now (2014) serving as Client Services Director for my son Marc, a family trust attorney.

I've already traveled so extensively and have had such a rich life, I don't have much of a bucket list and am content to live quietly, ensuring my husband is well and living his full life. His professional life gives him vitality. I want him to have that vitality.

My favorite part of AHS was the choral music programs. I participated in as many musical groups and choirs as I could and was given leading roles in "Carousel" and "Flower Drum Song." Dr. Robert Wolff, our director, truly mentored me. I stayed in touch with him until his death a few years ago in West Virginia. He spent many years as a music professor at Marshall University.

One time I was standing by the staircase outside the choir room door. Classmates coming up the stairs would greet me and immediately wrinkle their noses, wondering aloud what the cafeteria was making for lunch that had such a strong odor. I knew right then (but of course too embarrassed to admit it to anyone) that it was me. Someone had told me I'd have shinier hair if I rinsed it with vinegar, which I'd done that very morning.

If you can find a bit of humor in difficult situations, you win.