Where did 20 years go?

Wow, how do I put 20 years into a few paragraphs? Even though I now live near Silicon Valley, this is my first post on a blog. Amazing, huh?! I have enjoyed reading everyone's posts and wish I had my Chaminade year book to remember what everyone looked like 20 years ago.

After graduating from Chaminade, I went to UCLA and majored in Economics. After graduation, I went to work in the banking industry and lived in Manhattan/Hermosa Beach. I loved living at the beach and would have never moved if it wasn't for my now husband John, who I met when we were both living in Hermosa. In 1997, John and a new job brought me to Northern California were we currently live.

After a successful career as a Vice President and Investment Analyst for a mutual fund company, I finally got my dream job as mother to our three children. John and I were married in 1999 and settled in Dublin, a suburb east of San Francisco. Our first child, Andrew was born on September 5, 2002. I had an extremely difficult delivery and nearly died. After that experience, we weren't sure if we would have any more children. Fortunately, I like to say that God intervened and made that decision for us. Our second child, Emily was born on August23, 2003, 11 1/2 months after Drew. Life was crazy with two small children less than a year apart, but fortunately, I have a really good friend whose children are nearly the same age as mine. Someone to sympathize with me when things really get tough.

Just when things were starting to get easy, we decided to leave baby #3 in God's hands. That very same month, Abigail was conceived and baby #3 was born on June 2, 2006. While I always thought that I would have four children, I have to admit that having 3 children under the age of five has been harder than I thought. So three is it and I am enjoying every minute of it. The picture above was taken at our house in Tahoe over last Christmas break.

I hate to admit that I have not kept in touch with any of my Chaminade friends. Having lived in Northern California for the last 10 years makes it difficult to even run into any old friends. It's sad to think that we were so close for six years and now I don't even know where they are. So, if Katie, Paige, Margaret or Undine are out there, send me an e-mail. I'd love to hear how you are doing.

I'm still not sure if we will make it down south for the reunion. My son is starting Kindergarten and I will be busy with preschool and Sunday school for my son and daughter. I put my financial background to use as the Treasurer for the preschool and am busy running the Sunday school program for our Catholic church to insure that my children get into their school. Crazy! That being said, we will try and make it down for the festivities. It's amazing how fast 20 years has gone by......Kristine (Iwafuchi) Walsh

dublin_walsh@yahoo.com