Letters from Dr. Gose

1996

Dear True Heidelbergers:
Kim Lambert got it right about our reunion in her Christmas letter: "It was an incredible experience. An experience of a lifetime." Hopefully by now everyone received my follow-up letter of appreciation and has seen the Pepperdine People article. President Davenport also mentioned us at some length in his speech to the Associates, a speech that is now in print! Meanwhile we are looking forward with great anticipation to the twenty year reunion in 2006, probably August, here in Malibu! You will be expected to bring all your children so I can work on them for the Year In Heidelberg for 2016!

The more immediate project is our page on the Net. It is not fully functioning yet, but you can see it on the Pepperdine page. Address is: http://www.pepperdine.edu Once you have the Pepperdine page, click on "Departments." Then click on "Information Resources," then, "Academic Project Design," then "Web projects," then separately on "The Heidelberg Program," and "The Heidelberg Program Pictures Page." You can see pictures of Heidelberg, the reunion, and some of our kids. Many more pictures to come. Hopefully this letter will also appear there. Very shortly we should have each of my yearly letters including one I had forgotten about that I sent your parents and guardians from Heidelberg, and our directory, besides the photo records. I anticipate that very shortly you will be able to post your own messages to all of us. I am admittedly very excited about the prospects this technology has for connecting us in important ways. (Remember the Sociology article on "networking" for those who took that class from me?)

Meanwhile, thank you for continuing to include us in an extended family! Carlos continues to flourish in the film industry. Dana and Kim are still in one of my own hometowns, Bremerton, with Kim teaching fifth grade. Janet and Garry Bailey are neighbors and it is a joy to see their Annie. Shannon, Sheldon, and Brady are enjoying Panama. R's hard to believe, though, that Shannon has a maid? Jon, Camille, and Madeline Rose are still in southern California, with Jon still working as General Counsel. Bill, Midori, and Christopher have moved to Bellevue Washington, and are expecting a boy shortly. Kathy Bristow went to Tim Young's wedding, was seated by Maz, and liked the whole thing so much word has it she is getting married to someone from Michaelann's home town, Steubenville, Ohio. Tanja still wants to work for the FBI, but continues to insist it is not because of the X-Files. David, Zoila, and Matthew report that David is now a private eye. (It'd be fun to hear him trade war stories with Shannon.) Russ, Becky, and Kayla have been involved in starting and running a new business that takes advantage of the internet. Char passed her boards and is an N.P. and for the moment working as an R.N. at Beth Israel . Haven't heard from Audrey, but heard the rumor she is doing well in Sacramento. Caroline and Jeff write that they are the parents of two great children, Cole and Jordan. Caroline is also working with both Sage and Discovery Toys. Debbie and Tracy had a baby girl in June, Kylie Danielle, so Alexa has company. Debbie also finished her M.A. in early Childhood. Monica and Jesus both finished M.A.s and administrative credentials, and are enjoying their new home. Janille's Joshua expects a new sibling soon as Janille is pg! Shayne is still an attorney and has moved to Mesa, Arizona. Carolyn passed her comps towards her Ph.D. in electrical engineering. I received a card and picture from Jeff and Shelley. Jeff is still an attorney, which invariably brings up the story of the time when... Tom is working with Southwestern Bell Telephone as a Manager in Budget Analysis. Creedance is a freshman this year at Pepperdine. I cannot begin to express my joy with having her here as a student where I teach. I am reprising the softball class next term in her honor! Janice has been inspiring me in ceramics. Creedance will be going to Heidelberg as a student in the fall (after a summer art program in Florence). And I will take my first ever sabbatical in the Fall. Brett continues to e-mail me jokes and funny stories, and seems to have several thriving businesses although importing applecorn (sp?, but I'm all too sure you know to what that refers) seems to be his special project. Danielle and John have added Bennett Daniel to their family. Camille, Timothy, and Bennett along with the Martin's children give us a nice corp group for the 2016 program! I understand Cristina is still in Costa Mesa and doing quite well. Kevin and Michelle continue to have many adventures in Austria. Reading their reports suggests that they are either gifted accountants, or the Lord has been providing miracles. Dane had a cancer scare in Frankfurt and it was great to have Steve Nicks there to keep us posted.

Mark and Michelle brought us Miles Stephen, who checked in at 9 pounds five ounces! I look forward to putting "our" wedding pictures on our page. Stephanie and Kevin ran into Char in Boston, small world, and are expecting a second son to join Connor here in December. Erin visited recently, inspired me to want to create "Church with Erin," over the Net, more on that later. Erin is still with the University of Chicago and consults with Pepperdine on European programs. I heard from Cindy and Arno. Cindy is about done with her dissertation and is working with Torey Pinces High School. Rumor has it that Sarah has been very successful in business in Connecticut. I heard from Brian just before the reunion and he was doing well with his nursing studies. I haven't heard from Jeanne. Connie and Rick were on campus recently and I got to carry Rachel Kama! Connie finished her degree and gave birth both in April. Kim, Scott, Luke and Micah are doing well and Scott and Kim are co-teaching softball with me starting in January. Patrick has started his Ph.D. program at USC and continues to work in Pasadena Schools. Michaelann and Curtis had to leave Brock, Thomas, and Augustine home for the reunion, but MariAnna Elizabeth, who is now a year old, stole the show! I hear from Steve that Dena and Carina are doing well in Riverside. Maz continues to act and is still with ADP as well. Steve continues to be our cosmopolitan world traveler working with Pepperdine in France, Germany, and other comers of the world. Jon Rankin continues to give tacit support to the Docetics point of view. Kowanda, Ron, Derrick, and Douglas have a new home in Keizer, Oregon. Don, Kim, and Jordan did add the twins, Corrine Emily and Elise Isabel, to the family since last news letter. They arrived just in time for the tax deduction, 12/28/95. Diana is still in Irvine with Pacific Computer. Haven't heard lately from Scriv but trust he is okay and still living in Santa Monica. Cara is now with Wells Fargo and Michael is half way done with his Pepperdine Business program. Haven't heard from Jan since she went back to school. Kristy's parents stayed with us last week as we celebrated Kristy's completion of her M.A. here at Pepperdine. Kristy was recently featured in the Arizona school. Her distinction--the roof was blown off her classroom during a heavy wind storm...and...and...the person known as my favorite student...and I did steal the Sting poster for her in Switzerland, is...is...is..pg! Better hurry if you want to stay with Brad and Kristy in the Pooh room. I have the great fortune of seeing Karin most days in the Humanities Office, a good reason to have moved my office to CAC 311. Brad and Margaret have added a son, Benjamin, to keep Hannah busy. Julie has moved to Las Vegas, 5002 Rainbow #205, Las Vegas, NV 89118, (702) 368-4855. It makes me a little nervous thinking our D.A. is living in Vegas, but so it gose...Paul, Konni, and Zachary are recovering from the notoriety of Paul's interning at the Simpson trial. Kim (and Kevin) continues to work on her teaching credential at Claremont. Carrie, Andy, Jenna, Jessica, and all of us were deeply saddened by her father's death to cancer this month. David, Gayle, Alyssa, and Christopher have been amazing in their ability to cope with all that they've experienced...Eric, Jennifer and I have been trying to get ahold of each other for weeks by phone, which makes me think ATandT should invest heavily in e-mail because it makes communication more likely? I would truly love to visit them in their idyllic surroundings in Chatham. And Jennifer's sister is now a classmate of Creedance! If you know anything about Todd, Kimberly, Emily, and Daniel, please let me know. I thought Todd was going to be at the reunion, and I don't have a current phone number or e-mail address for him. Tim and Nicole married and are living in Arlington, Virginia. Paige married Steve Shull and they are living in Ohio. I do hope I haven't overlooked anyone.

I turn a half century next week! I still like to point out that at our reunion Creedance was virtually the age you were when you went to Heidelberg, and you are now about the age Janice was when she seemed so old to you. Time, an amazing concept. Now I have the twenty year reunion to look forward to, and can hardly wait to see what Monica and Jon plan for us in 2006, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, and I can imagine that I actually will go with most of your children back to Germany in 2016 with your careful counsel not to let them do the things you did....As I turn fifty I will indulge myself in a bit of sentimentalism...you all had such different roles in what was such a precious year for us, we are connected in many special ways. I thank God for the connectedness.

Wishing you happy Christmas and merry New Year!

Michael, Janice, Creedance
Back to Menu