1986

Nothing is simple these days. In the good old days there was just Coke; one didn't have to bother comparing the features of Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Coke, or Coke Classic. Milk used to be simpler, too. Even the ancient art of proposing marriage has become complex. The gallant male humbly kneeling before the maiden, though still charming, is giving way to more exotic, daring proposals. Two recent '86 engagements illustrate this.

In December Kristen Thompson joined her boyfriend, Bruce Daley, and his family in Winter Park for a winter ski retreat. At first family dinners and Trivial Pursuit games filled their days. Sounds innocent enough, right? This was all plotted to drain Kirsten of any ideas of leaving Colorado the proud owner of a diamond. New Year's Day found Kristin and the Daley clan awaiting the chairlift when Bruce sprang into action. Feigning a call of nature, he asked Kristen to wait while he attended to this task. The rest of the family boarded the chair lift. A few minutes later Bruce appeared and they boarded the lift. If Kristen was looking closely she might have noticed that Bruce was sweating a bit more than usual, but she didn't realize anything was up until she spotted a big banner (held under the chairlift by Bruce's family) saying "Kristin will you marry me?" So as not to embarrass her friend in front of his family Kristin said yes and now she is stuck marrying him on Labor Day weekend. After accepting the proposal they skied down a trail named "Long Haul." Bruce is a sales engineer with a software firm; Kristen is an account executive with a software firm in Boston.

Kathy Gord also fell victim to an imaginative proposal. Actually, Kathy wasn't too surprised by her beau's maneuvers because the two had already booked a church and reception site prior to their engagement, so she was expecting a proposal some time before the wedding date. Sean had always dreamed of proposing on a tropical beach, but there wasn't one in Washington, D.C., in January so he created his own island paradise. He rented a palm tree, bought a few leis, painted an Aloha sign, turned up the heat, and presto: a homemade romantic beach. To complete the scene he placed Kathy's bare feet in a tray of sand. Next he popped the Q, but instead of presenting her the ring he forced her to find it. After searching through the sand and a few other places (she won't tell us where) she finally found the ring frozen in the ice cube floating in her drink. Sean is in advertising in D.C.; Kathy is in public relations with the Brick Institute of America.

Several other '86s were recently engaged or married. I'm sure their proposals or marriages were equally as fun, but unfortunately I don't have the details. Sarah Metzgar married Stephen Smero in October. Sarah is a sales promotion manager at the First American National Bank of New York in Albany. Her husband is a general contractor. David Thurston recently married Robin Hayden. David is studying for his M.B.A. at Northeastern; Robin is a student at the Harvard School of Education. Michael Pinneault is engaged to Heather Archer '87. Michael is at Harvard Law.

Bruce Chafee has relocated his body from Philadelphia to Boston, where he works alongside Kristen Thompson at a software company.

Debbie Burke recently began working for Information Builders, a Boston area company which is writing a "4CL computer language." Debbie is a consultant and program teacher. Dan Katzir has moved to London where he still works for Bain & Co., a consulting firm. Rick Mallen is a firstyear student at Harvard Law. And Scott Sandell has moved to San Francisco where he is working with a software company.

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