Better Late Than Never. Greetings from Lynn Coyle Darrow.

I wrote my blog over a week ago and was too embarrassed to post what seemed like a novel. Thanks to the recent posts, I feel much better about opting out of drafting a shorter version!

I feel a lifetime older from our high school days. So much has transpired in this time. I feel so fortunate to have enjoyed the ride a majority of the time over last 20 years. For me there have been a lot more ups than downs and as I get older I feel like I’m winning the game at this point.

I couldn’t wait for high school to end. Don’t get me wrong, I walked away with some of my dearest friends that will be a part of my life forever, but I knew there was so much more life ahead of us. For me, going away to college wasn’t in the realm of possibilities. I am the youngest of 7 children so having the privilege of attending school away from home wasn’t really an option. I received a great education from CSUN and finished with a degree in Engineering. Engineering school was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life but the investment has been good to me over the years.

Before I left CSUN I was hired as a product engineer for Teradyne in Agoura Hills. Since I had worked almost full time while going to college, I treated myself to a 6 week European vacation before I entered the professional workforce. I have very fond memories of taking in the European culture, skiing in Zee Lam See, Austria, doing endless pub crawls in England and Germany and getting the worst sunburn of my life in Italy (ok, that memory is not so fond).

Once I settled into work at Teradyne, they quickly unsettled me and sent me to support the Texas region for an average of 60% of my time. I installed and repaired many test systems over several years. What do you ask was I doing? Well the testing equipment that Teradyne builds is wickedly complex machinery. Just about every electronic part behind your everyday electronic devices (cell phones, computers, printers, cameras, etc…) is tested on equipment Teradyne manufactures. As technology gets faster and more complex, this equipment has to take a leading edge and be faster while allowing software engineers to customize the equipment to test a very large array of electronic components. Now, don’t get the wrong idea, I didn’t have near the smarts of the architects who engineered this equipment, but I did have a raging tool box that even my brothers would have envied. I did have the advantage of being smaller framed than someone in my life. Let’s just say the Grandfatherly-like gents in the field regularly enjoyed happy hour at the local saloon in Texas and could barely bend or crawl inside this equipment to perform installations and/or repairs. I was the lucky one who was all too willing to do the grunt work. After a few years of this labor intensive job, it was time to move on for me. I settled into marketing as a product manager after spending a few years in software engineering coordinating software updates and software license distribution to customers. Learning the software release process has been an invaluable experience for me. As a product manager I supported the European territory. These were self-inflicted tough years for me as not only was I traveling to Europe frequently, I married my husband of 12 years during my intensely time consuming promotion. To top in off, I decided to take advantage of a full-ride tuition program at Teradyne and get my MBA in Marketing (at the same time as my husband Chris) from California Lutheran University. I did enjoy getting to visit with Mark Grondin and JVS on repeated occasions in Germany (so much fun in Amsterdam!), but the strain of so much responsibility almost destroyed my marriage. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, which was the case for us.

Although the town home in Westlake I had purchased in 1994 seemed huge when I bought it, we were ready to purchase a larger house. Thank goodness! We sold our stock at what seemed too low, but we then thanked our lucky stars a couple years later when stock prices came tumbling down. We moved to our suburbia lifestyle in Moorpark in 1999, where we still live today. My career took a different direction at Teradyne when as a product manager they repeatedly asked me to run special projects. For the next 7 years I would evolve to a certified Project Manager and was responsible for Program Management of Teradyne’s business applications used to custom quote/configure the testing equipment I once used to install and fix. Although I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing, someone moved my cheese. The company restructured umpteen times and essentially merged the East and West Coast design/manufacturing centers. Needless to say, I spent about 30% of my time traveling between Agoura Hills and Boston over the next few years while my husband was left behind to care for 2 small children. I did get to enjoy visits w/ Daniella Carusi on several occasions during my visits. Although I definitely enjoyed Boston culture, the weather blows! I admit it, I’m a SoCal girl and just don’t know if I could ever permanently leave what I consider to be one of the best climates in the world. The last couple years at Teradyne were disheartening for me. Teradyne took what seemed like a never ending downturn and simply couldn’t get the restructuring to the point where expenses were in alignment with revenue. I was laid off from Teradyne in my 13^th year of service after dozens of layoffs had impacted so many of my coworkers before me. At first you feel lucky to be spared in a layoff, but at some point, I’m not sure who is better off, the person getting laid off or the person left holding the bag. I still remember the day of my departure. People were so amazed at how overjoyed I was. The environment had taken its toll, the once entrepreneurial nature had been squelched, the novelty of traveling had long since worn off and as I put it, I was ready for that chapter of my life to close.

Why you ask did I stay at Teradyne during such turmoil? Believe me; I don’t think my husband will ever quite understand! Quite simply, I was a young Mom. Jimmy was born on 02/02/02 (what a cool Bday) and Chelsea Rose was born in 2004. In high school I was certain that I’d never have kids, but the rockiness of professional life wasn’t leaving me fulfilled. My time clock kicked in and well, the rest is history. I stayed at Teradyne because I was able to telecommute and work out of my home office 3 days a week for several years. I was the project manager and could set my schedule to suit my needs. I do not know how I could have pulled of raising two young children without that flexibility Teradyne gave me. So for me, Teradyne was a worthy experience. They invested in my training, allowed me to make mistakes on their dime, sent me to many destinations, supported a flexible working schedule, and gave me the opportunity to grow in areas that interested me. Going through the pain of continuous downsizing was hard at the time, but has left me with a better understanding of the process that is inevitable in the working environment.

Once I left Teradyne, I had NO intention of going back to work for a long, long, time. After 13 years I had received a handsome severance package that allowed me to play with my kids and get paid for a good chunk of it! I was able to take the kids out of daycare, except for a few hours a week so that I could also perform my new duties as a full-time Mom, maid and cook. During this time I was able to hang out more with my high school chums: Lisa Macias, Kathy Hayes and Mark Boccicchicio. Life was great during the 18 months that I was home with the kids. Everything was simpler. For the first time I felt like I could stop and smell the roses. I am so fortunate to have had that time. During this period, Chris received a 10 week paid sabbatical from his company (yes companies do exist who believe in paid sabbaticals). We decided to do the unthinkable. We packed up our kids (4 and 2 at the time) and headed to Europe for 6 weeks. The many frequent flyer miles I had earned paid for our flights. My cousin in Northern Ireland hosted us for 4 of the 6 weeks, inclusive of most meals and she even loaned us her car for the whole trip. Our only expense was the occasional meal, entertainment and perhaps a few too many souvenirs. Traveling to Europe with the kids was quite different than the dozens of time we had vacationed in Europe pre-kids. Instead of endless museums and churches, we saw endless parks. I must say the parks in Ireland, England and Scotland kick ass over what we have in America. Kids can actually be kids and they aren’t so paranoid about removing any and all obstacles that might inflict harm to children just trying to have fun. We even got some Mommy and Daddy time when after 3 weeks; we left our cutie pies w/ my cousin and traveled around Southern Ireland for a week.

We then left Ireland for England followed by Scotland. If anyone ever gets the chance, I highly recommend Scotland during The Edinburgh Festival. We were able to see Howard Jones in an acoustic concert w/ only 40 people in a restaurant basement for about $40. That was just one of thousands of venues available during the 4 week long Festival event in Edinburgh.

Needless to say, having time off from work for more than just a few weeks since I was 16 was terrific. The timing was perfect to allow me to try my hand at being a full-time Mom. However, all good things must come to an end. In 2003 we had decided to invest in rental property to diversify our portfolio. Although we’ve done great in terms of equity in the property, equity doesn’t pay the bills. We had dipped into our savings during my time off and it was finally time to increase our reserves. I rejoined the workforce in Jan. of 2007. Although I was expecting the process of finding work to be lengthy, my educational background, experience and PMP certification (project management) paid off. I found employment within weeks of seeking work. I am now contracting as a Business Consultant and my current client is the Safety Net Foundation, which is funded entirely by Amgen. The Safety Net Foundation distributes Amgen products to qualifying patients who meet program guidelines free of cost. I work on Amgen’s main campus in Thousand Oaks. As a business consultant my responsibilities have run the gamut. My latest title is Project Visionary. Didn’t know such a name existed but the work is satisfying and I’m happy because I get to work 30 hours a week, which lessens the stress of having to go back to work and yet juggle family life too. Thank goodness my husband’s work covers our benefits which will allow me to take time off between contracts. I’m just hoping one of those breaks will be sooner vs. later….

So, 20 years in a nutshell? Can’t believe 20 years has come and gone? Well for me, I feel like I’ve relished every minute of it. I have satiated my travel bug, completed my formal education plan, have 2 adorable and healthy kids, a loving husband with a happy marriage, and am surrounded by family and friends. I’ve sadly experienced the death of both of my parents who are no longer suffering and have ridden the thrilling yet challenging waves of my professional career. I look forward to the next 20 years with the same anticipation of the last. I can’t hold back my sense of positive things for the future. Now that our 20 year reunion is fast approaching, I look forward to getting reacquainted with some old friends. I love to see the walls created by youth crumble as we all grow older. I’ve loved reading about everyone’s adventures and life antidotes. I can’t believe it has taken me weeks to finally write this blog and then how hard it was to stop writing once I finally started. Thanks Amy once again for launching this great communication vehicle. Lisa and Carol, you are awesome for taking on the challenge of spearheading our reunion.

For a quick update on the reunion, we now have 77 people confirmed for Saturday's event at the White House. We have at least 10-15 more people who've verbally committed but I've yet to receive their registration. If you are one of those people, get to it and send in your registration. If it is easier for you, send an instant funds transfer via paypal to 87eagles@pacbell.net. We'll be hard pressed to have another reunion with such a great turnout, so don't miss out on this opportunity to get reacquainted with some old friends. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!