Comments:
Well, here's a thumbnail sketch of 26 years - how could it be that long?!
I graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC in 1987 with a BA in economics. I played on the golf team there for a couple years as a walk-on, but never tore it up or anything. I found a job with Crum and Forster Personal Insurance as a supervisor trainee and had a great time playing golf and softball for the company team with some fun people. I met Greg that next year and we became engaged a year later - he was a professor of economics at Wake Forest, but before you draw any conclusions, he was not on faculty there until after I graduated. About 2 months prior to the wedding Greg discovered he was not offered the tenured position at Wake Forest, so we hoped to survive on my modest income in my tiny, roach-infested apartment while he searched for a new position; however two weeks before the wedding, Crum and Forster anounced their departure from personal lines, and I was out of a job too (too much softball and partying and not enough insurance apparently). Somehow, I believe with divine intervention, we both landed on our feet.
Greg has been a professor at Elon University since then, and I worked in customer service and product management at another insurance company. We had two beautiful boys in the next few years, and I decided to work part-time to be home with them as much as possible. That is when I switched from the company side of insurance to working in an agency - one of the best decisions I've made! After working 13 years as an agent, and with the owner retiring, I decided to buy the agency - no more part-time, that's for sure. Good thing I secured my loan in 2007 - now let's hope the economy rebounds so I can pay it off!
My boys are almost 16 and 14 now and are active in soccer and music and church where they have a great youth group. I still love golf and the outdoors and of course being a mom. Elon, NC is a great place to live with beaches and mountains on either side of us and plenty of families to do life with. I love my church and volunteer there frequently. I also volunteer with the Burlington Boys Choir, through which both boys developed a love for music, and the Starfish Project, a non-profit that rescues trafficked and sexually exploited young women in Asia. See Starfish-Project.com. I am a distributor of the handcrafted earrings they sell to support the shelter. Please support us if you are so inclined.
I'm looking forward to the reunion - most of you are frozen at age 18 in my mind since I have been very neglectful of keeping up contact. It will be a great time and thanks to Jen and Drew for putting it all together.
Karen
