Life is so full of surprises - most of them pleasant and an occasional unpleasant turn of events. Our lives have been full of the good kind and we are so thankful for this. One of the biggest surprises occured in our lives when we got word that the new School of Nursing at Nyack College was being named after our daughter, Cheryl. Nyack was planning the dedication of this new school to coincide with Nyack College Homecoming and our family was all invited to attend! What an exciting turn of events.
We took a plane from Atlanta to White Plains where Mark and Katy and family met us and took us across the bridge to Nyack and to a lovely hotel in Nanuet, where the College had rented rooms for all of our family. It was fun being there in the same hotel, and it was also the place where the Board of Managers and many other College related people were staying, so we had a fun time touching base with everyone again.
Clousers and Bubnas were overseas at that time, but Phenicies, Mark and family and John and Sheryl and we all attended. All of the Phenicie kids were also there. So we were a big crowd. The hotel had a large comfortable reception room there near the entrance, and that became our private living room to get together and enjoy this family time.
The Big Day arrived. Cheryl had been designated to give the Founders Day address. The gathering was in the Gym, with the student body and many visitors attending. Cheryl did a great job in her message and the kids interrupted with clapping and were right with her. She had to be nervous but did not show it, and we all sat in a long row and proudly listened to her.
Then it was up to the building where the School of Nursing is located, on the main campus. There was first an official meeting where the Rockland County and New York state officials were present. People then toured the nursing school part of the building where there were consultation rooms, classrooms and beds for patients. After that we were all invited up to the President's Dining room for a dinner prepared by John's crew at the cafeteria. They did themselves proud and we all enjoyed the attractive and tasty lunch that was served. There were more speeches made....and finally it was over and we headed back to the hotel for the evening.
From Nyack we traveled up to Connecticut to see Mark and Katy's new home and stayed there. Then went on to Dad's old homestead and the really old home of his grandparents out in the country. Still standing and occupied by people who are trying to restore it to its former state. An interesting side trip which we all made together.
We also were invited to have lunch at the Pierce Memorial Home in Brooklyn, which used to be Dad's home as a boy. The boys loved going up to the bedroom where Papa used to sleep as a boy at the top of the house. There is now a lovely nursing home and retired residential apartments so we toured those also. And were served a lovely meal in a private dining room in the Pierce Home. Sixteen of us were there for that luncheon, as Lu and Fran also joined us.
So it was both a trip down memory lane and a celebration of the future of Nyack College and we are proud of the new nursing school which bears our daughter's name!
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