Last Wednesday Mer and I went over to the home of our friends and colleagues Dave and Chrissy Kamp. They had invited us over for dinner, and we happily accepted. The Kamps live nearby, just ten minutes away or so, so it was a relaxed drive to a relaxing evening.
Mer and I are very fond of Dave and Chrissy. Dave is fairly quiet, with a good sense of humor and a very helpful spirit – Dave was one of my friends who helped me put on a new roof two years ago. Chrissy is always “on” – she is energetic and very funny. Dave teaches chemistry and Chrissy teaches calculus at CVCA. They have a son, Tyler, who is eight and is quiet and seems to be bright (he spent much of our after-dinner time playing with an electronics kit).
Dave and Chrissy collaborated on dinner. We had pork chops, broccoli and cheese, stuffing, and crescent rolls. It was excellent. Dessert was a berry pie with ice cream. We chatted a lot about work, especially J-term, since it is upon us. Dave and Chrissy are leading a J-term trip to Alabama to Space Camp for the second year in a row, and the trip is full again this year. Next year they hope to do a diving excursion to the Bahamas. We sat around the living room while we talked, so I got to help Tyler once in awhile on his circuit projects. That was cool. It was a great little evening. Mer and I are very fond of our colleagues – we work with good people.
On Thursday, we went to a local reception for a recently married couple. Art McMahon used to teach at CVCA, but for several years he has been at a school in Haiti. While there, he met a young and amazing Haitian woman named Miquette. She had become convinced that hope for Haitian children was in education, so she started a program called TeacHaiti, which tries to help children get schooling. That evolved into opening a school, and then expanded again to helping feed the children once a day at school so that they could focus on learning. Art and Miquette were married in Haiti back in October, but they wanted to have a reception here in Ohio, where Art is from.
We only got to see Art and Miquette briefly, as could be expected in a room full of people who were there to see them and wish them well. They are a handsome couple, and they are doing a lot of good in Haiti. In addition to seeing Art and Miquette, we got to see a ton of CVCA folks. We saw Dave and Chrissy and Tyler again, and Mer had a great conversation with some students whom she taught in her first years at CVCA – they are now in their mid-twenties and married and have good career jobs. They thanked Mer for teaching them how to write well, since they either write a lot in their jobs or get complimented on their writing. I’m always happy when Mer gets good feedback on her work, since she pours herself in to her job so much.
We got to see some parents of former students, and some former colleagues, and Mer got to see a few classmates from her time at CVCA. It was sort of a multigenerational reunion, and it was good to see so many people.
On a fun note, a few months ago one of Mer’s former students had gone to Jordan for a semester abroad. She brought back a brightly-colored belly-dancing belt/scarf for Mer, and it is covered in small metal disks that catch the light and jingle together when she walks. It is a fun little item. and Mer wore it over a basic black dress to the party. It was much commented on, and also helped me keep track of where she was in the room.