1984

News Flash: real estate a priority for '84s. While it doesn't (take a rocket scientist to realize that many of us are at the same point in our lives, doing similar things and dealing with the same typical American lifestyle issues (I mean, we did all graduate together back 15 years ago), this month's column is dedicated to reminding us all just how small the world really is. (Column should be recited in a stirring voice over a choir humming "It's a small world after all" while a video of famous American homes plays.)

Our West-Coast correspondent DaveBrunelle says: "I was quite discouraged that I couldn't make it to our reunion. However, I had just joined a very busy, rather small pediatric group practice and could not get the necessary time off. (Sure, we believe you, Dave.) I love Seattle and have been here since I arrived in late-May of 1992 to complete my training in pediatrics at the Children's Hospital. And, like many transplants to this awesome Northwest region, I fell in love and 'just stayed.' I even bought a house last year, so it seems pretty official: I am a Seattlite. True to fashion, I do not cross the street until the indicator tells me I can, and then only 'within the painted crosswalk, even if it means letting my latte grow cold. It is a matter of civic pride more than safety." Gosh, sounds like Seattle was colonized not by folks fleeing the silicon wars in Northern California but by law-abiding Swiss.

From the other side of the continent, David Shedd reports from Maine that, "as some of you already know, I bought a home this month. Yes, I'm becoming a real person! I'm sorry if I've been slow about responding to things, or staying in touch...it's a pretty crazy time, what with moving and a new job at the same time. (Same old excuses Dave Brunelle used. Try being more creative next time.) I now have an honest-to-god guest room...50, call for reservations!" Hmm...about the only difference I can see between the two Daves besides geography is that David Shedd works for a realty firm, not a pediatric practice.

Anyone else considering buying a house should probably talk with Kate GraffMcNierny about the joys of home ownership. Kate and husband Ed '82 bought an old home in Groton, Mass., this past year and the tale of the wildlife who shared, and still share, their home would make even a Sierra Club member consider lethal methods of pest control. It certainly has driven their 6-year-old daughter Frances to potential animal brutality for, when asked what animal was a predator for squirrels, she replied, "a car?"

Finally, Marian Zischke Baldauf did not write to tell us about her new house but rather her new husband. She says, "I got married in September to a wonderful (yes, it's very possible!) Yalie, Hans Baldauf '81, in Orinda, Calif., just east of San Francisco (where we live). Hans is an architect, who, a year ago last spring, started a firm with two partners, one of whom is Chris von Eckartsberg. Class of '84 attendees at the wedding: Chris v., LaurenWoodhouse, Chrissy Burnley Bucklin,Kathy Marshall Diekroeger, CaryBernstein, and Tom McKay." Marian added that Chrissy had a baby girl the month before and that Tom and his wife, Erin, are expecting their second child.

6310 Cherry Tree Lane, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30328;