{"id":510,"date":"2009-12-27T20:06:09","date_gmt":"2009-12-28T00:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/?page_id=510"},"modified":"2010-06-14T18:04:54","modified_gmt":"2010-06-14T22:04:54","slug":"ann-freemans-speech","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/?page_id=510","title":{"rendered":"Co-President’s Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talk delivered by Anne Hobson Freeman, Co-President Class of 1956, at the 109th meeting of the Alumnae Association in Thomas Great Hall, Bryn Mawr College, May 28, 2006<\/p>\n

\nFor our 50th reunion booklet, the editor, Gladys Roberts Thomas, asked each member of the Class to summarize her life in 250 words. \u201cThat\u2019s less than five words a year!\u201d one classmate quipped. Nevertheless, 101—or 88 per cent—rose to the challenge\n<\/p>\n

Above each biographical sketch, there is a tiny photograph scanned from the \u201856 yearbook by our web mistress, Norma Sedgewick Rockel, showing the author\u2019s face with every hair around it neatly smoothed<\/u> in the fashion of fifties. On the right, a color photograph of that same face today, with white—or dyed—hair flying free.\n<\/p>\n

We rejoice in this evidence of our liberation, but we also love<\/u> the faces of those girls who were about to plunge into their endlessly surprising lives. And we relate to them instantly<\/u>—and therefore to each other—after half a century.\n<\/p>\n

\nLOOKING BACK NOW, HOW DO WE THINK BRYN MAWR HELPED US?\n<\/p>\n

\nOne classmate writes: \u201cBryn Mawr added to the confidence<\/u> my immigrant family and excellent high school had already instilled—allowing me to attempt virtually anything—not everything successfully<\/u>—but enough to make life very satisfying.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nAnother says: \u201cBryn Mawr is my umbrella against the uncertainties of the world. Best of all is the rainbow, the small band of classmates, roommates, sisters of the heart, who can always be depended on to cheer, chide, mourn, giggle, hoot, rejoice or just be there<\/u>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nBryn Mawr encouraged us to look hard at the world around us and keep our eyes trained on the gap between what is<\/u> and what might be. One classmate with this disquieting habit writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back on the scientific and technological wonders of the 20th Century, I feel sorrow<\/u> that governments cannot master the art of peaceful coexistence; that the earth\u2019s resources are not targeted to alleviate suffering; that global education is not focused on controlling population growth and preserving the environment. Shame augments sorrow…. I dream that a new Eleanor Roosevelt will emerge, become our first woman president and restore our national purpose. I have not seen such a candidate but continue to hope.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nAND WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SINCE GRADUATION?\n<\/p>\n

\nThat we can adapt to change—and Lord knows we\u2019ve seen changes—and that learning is a lifelong undertaking. One of us, who nursed her husband for six years before his death, writes: \u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot about love and grieving and am now trying for a good balance in my life.\u201d That balance includes, for her, travel to far-flung places and time with her grandchildren. For others it includes falling in love with the harpsichord after decades at the piano—or mentoring at-risk teenagers—or abandoning life in the city to take up sheep farming.\n<\/p>\n

\nWhatever course we choose, most of us are struggling to refocus our lives as we proceed through this extra helping of time that the lucky ones in our generation have been given—thanks largely to modern medicine.\n<\/p>\n

\nFor us now \u201cluck\u201d translates as \u201creasonably good health.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nAs we move into largely uncharted seas, we are navigating by instinct, mostly, and seem to be doing a fairly good job. As the time ahead grows shorter, several say, \u201cEvery day seems like a wonderful gift.\u201d One then apologizes for \u201csounding like Pollyanna—but I think I\u2019ve come to terms with my life and aging<\/u> and find that a positive attitude helps me negotiate this stage of life.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nThis attitude is shared by another recent retiree who enjoys two or three trips abroad each year and says that \u201cas long as there is breath and a reasonably functioning skeletal structure, I am looking forward to more…. In my gut, I know that there is no armor against fate, and yet—expectations and hope persist.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nThere is no way to summarize the idiosyncratic, sometimes heart-wrenching, and often searingly honest reflections of my classmates. But if I had to name one<\/u> quality as source of the vitality<\/u> coursing through their essays it would be \u201ccuriosity.\u201d Virtually insatiable curiosity. That gift given to us at birth, which the Bryn Mawr experience nourished, trained and expanded.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn sum, I believe, \u201cCuriosity keeps these cats alive<\/u>!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talk delivered by Anne Hobson Freeman, Co-President Class of 1956, at the 109th meeting of the Alumnae Association in Thomas Great Hall, Bryn Mawr College, May 28, 2006 For our 50th reunion booklet, the editor, Gladys Roberts Thomas, asked each … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":924,"featured_media":0,"parent":382,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-510","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/924"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/510\/revisions\/590"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/class1956.blogs.brynmawr.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}