May 2022
Hi y’all from Knoxville, Tennessee! I hope this letter is finding all of you well and enjoying some sunny spring weather, although my daughter up in Fargo told me it snowed yesterday! Hopefully we will all be enjoying sunny and warm temps soon enough no matter where we might live.
It’s hard to believe that our 30-year reunion was already six months ago. We were a small but mighty group for the weekend, with somewhere around 40 of us gathering for the official reunion dinner on Saturday night. I certainly enjoyed catching up with everyone over the three days I was there. The weather was nice enough to be able to walk around campus as well as enjoy some of the football game. There were also quite a few new places downtown to check out, including some new restaurants as well as a CiderWorks Taproom. We’re hoping that by the time our 35-year reunion rolls around we’ll be back to having Homecoming for all alumni on the same weekend. We know the short notice, change in date this past year made it difficult for people to attend. Hopefully by 2026(!), we’ll be as back to normal as we can be.
I have two daughters who are now both in college. Our oldest is a junior at North Dakota University, and our youngest is just finishing up her first year at the University of Iowa. I know, I know, I somewhat failed at having a family legacy at Luther. We tried our hardest, both girls actually LOVE Decorah, but having gone to very small high schools, they were looking for something a little bigger than Luther for their college years. Even though I can’t be a proud Luther parent, one thing I am always hoping for is that my girls have a “Luther-like” college experience. Living far away from grandparents and other relatives, my girls have grown up surrounded by friends that are family, with many of those friends being former Luther classmates of both myself, and my husband David. Our girls have been able to see the close bonds we have with these friends, and have heard many wonderful stories from our college years-although they will probably never hear all of our stories. ;) We’ve had some great conversations as a family discussing the fact that one can’t always expect the same kind of experiences and relationships David and I had at Luther on all college campuses. I know because of the modeling our girls have seen over the years from us and our friends, they have sought to find and build relationships with those sorts of people that will become lifelong friends for them. So, even if they are not cheering for the Norse or wearing blue, there is still a little bit of Luther in each of them.
This will be your annual reminder to join the “Luther College Class of 1991” Facebook group. We don’t share a whole ton on the page, but it has been a great way for people to reconnect in preparation for the reunion, as well as after the reunion. I’ve loved seeing a couple of people posts things like, “Hey, a group of us 91 alums are going to be in Kansas City come and join us tonight at this bar!” The page also allowed us to share the sad news of Quentin Silberstien’s passing and YouTube link to his funeral, as many of us saw and talked to him just a few months before at the 30-year reunion. Liking the page is an easy way to stay connected to your classmates and news from Luther without any sort of major commitment.
If you ever find yourself in eastern Tennessee, please let me know, I would love to see some Luther blue mixed in with all the UT orange I see! Knoxville is pretty close to the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and Dollywood; I am happy to be a personal tour guide for anyone that needs one!
Make it a great day! Go Norse!
