My class of '87 questionaire!

MSJA Class of ‘87 (this has been shortened/edited for sanities sake)

Name
Brigid Eileen Glynn-Young

Married (how long?)/Single?
13 years married

Children? If so – tell us about them.
Briana is 7 in August, and Brandon is 5. For those who don't know our story, I've pasted to the bottom of this e-mail the letter that we sent out to family and friends, right after the kids came to us. :)

Briana is scarey smart. She'll be homeschooling me next year, I'm sure of it. She's been studying Latin since last Sept., and lovesss it. She listens to jazz cd's, classical music, bios of composers, history cd's, etc. at "nap time"...and is on her way to having the The Story of the World, Ancient Times history cd's by Susan Wise Bauer (set of 7!) memorized. She's interested in learning everything, wants to know how things "work", is a wonderful artist, reads like a bibliophile in the making, and sings along with Ella Fitzgerald like no child I've ever seen! She is incredibly articulate, says things that blow me away relugarly...and has insight into her earlier, pre-adoption life that just staggers my mind. She is an old soul, wise, sweet, vulnerable...but very strong and courageous too. She's been taking ballet for 2 yrs, and is quite good! A natural dancer, she's been offered a scholarship at her dance school so that she can take additional classes this winter. With our newly repaired piano the new attraction at home, she figured out how to tap out "Ode to Joy" the other day...and was so darn proud!
Brandon is snuggles and charisma, and belly laughs personified. He's so smart, doesn't miss a trick. Loves to "have school time" with me, and is learning to read. He's been obsessed with horses since he was 2, and he and Briana took riding lessons for a while, and are pretty fearless up there on those giant horses! Brandon could be president some day. Seriously. Wherever we go, people stop to talk to him, comment on how handsome he is, shake his hand...he's been campaigning for as long as I've known him! Everyone just responds to him, and he's innocently delighted by it. He doesn't have any concept of "cool", and doesn't seem to realize that the way people respond to him is any different from how they respond to others. He loves cars, and asks Matt to find car races on the tv so they can snuggle together and watch them. Finally, Matt's got someone to watch Nascar with. Bran loves to sing too, and has a "band practice" area set up in his room. Whenever he gets annoyed about something, or just needs a break from us girls...he goes to his room, turns on his little electric piano, and jams out to the canned music on it. It's quite hysterical. He loves cowboys, and after his western themed b'day party last Feb., he's decided he's going to be a cowboy priest when he grows up. He likes to try and say the Mass along with our parish priests...possibly to the annoyance of those around us...and loves to watch EWTN. BUT, he only wants to see Masses. Don't try and get him to watch a prayer service, or a speaker...noooo...he'll say with great indignation, "This isn't MASS! This is borrrring!" He's recently discovered golf on tv (one day I paused to watch some), and that's become our new thing. We sit and watch it together, and he's enthrauled. We've decided we'll learn how to play so we can do it together...fun, huh? Bran's been asking to have his own dance class at Briana's ballet school for 3 yrs...so he's now taking tap. He's completely adorable. Both kids auditioned for the NJSDA Company production of The Nutrcracker this year. They were accepted, and will be soldiers in the show. They get excited each week for Friday night rehearsals, and are beside themselves with excitement! Brandon keeps talking about how he finally gets to "go on the stage." Like he's been paying his dues all these years and has finally gotten his big break? LOL

Current profession (those of us who are unlucky enough to have to have one!!!!) – or if you’re a stay at home mom – what did you do before that?
~I worked for a Bernardsville based jewelry company for a number of years, assembling and designing pieces made of sterling silver from a factory in Bali, and antique beads from all over Indonesia. It was pretty amazing...it felt like I should be paying my boss for letting me play with all those goodies. It was an amazing experience, really cool. The business is now in Carmel, CA. I've got a killer jewelry collection because of that job. Gotta love buying at cost.
~I was a pre-school teacher for 7 years in Bernardsville. This job arrived at just the "right" time in my life, and I ended up staying because I loved it so much. I have some dear friends there still, and my students are all pre-teens now. It makes me feel old when I see them, but it's really fun to hear their memories.
~ I was about to "retire" from teaching, and was going back to school. I was offered the job of Youth Minister at our parish. They hadn't had any Y.M. in 18 years, so it was a really exciting challenge to create the ministry from scratch, for the 6-12th graders. It was 5 of the best years of my life. It was almost 3 yrs. ago that I resigned, two weeks after the children arrived. I've been blessed to have many of the now-college-age kids still a part of my life. We had a Christmas party/reunion here this year, several of them babysit the kids, and we try and make sure we make time for summer bbq's and movie nights with them. They are very dear to us!
~My current "profession" is a stay-at-home, homeschooling-mom. We just finished our second year of schooling at home, it's been a real adventure. We are now part of a homeschool co-op called St. Gregory's. I'll be teaching Latin to Briana's age group. The children are taking 4 classes there. (Logic & Latin, History, English Lit/Great Books program, Science.) We also do a day of schooling once a week with one of my oldest friends who was a math teacher...together we do math (she leads this, of course!) and art history/appreciation/techniques. She's homeschooling her 2 kids as well.
We're loving this adventure so far, but I'm taking it year by year, kid by kid. I don't know what the future holds, we'll see when we get there!

Favorite teacher at the Mt? (why)
Sr. Mary Eugene...she made me fall in love with English lit. I also loved the history teacher with the curly hair, am drawing a total blank about her name. She started the Peace and Justice club, and really inspired me in the areas of human rights and my involvement in political issues. There was really sweet nun who taught us art too, (senior year?) she was so encouraging of me...really lobbied for A.D. to give me permission to leave during school hrs. to train with Tim. Sadly, at this moment I can't remember her name. She gave me her beautiful set of professional oil paints because one day I mentioned that I was saving up my babysitting money to buy a set for myself. She realized that money was an issue in my family, and there wasn't any extra for stuff like that. I still have the case them came in...it reminds me that kindnesses have really long lasting affects on peoples lives.

Teacher you liked the least? (why)
"A.D." (Sr. Ann Delores) freshman year teaching us that horrific, mind-numbingly boring study habits class was hell on earth...and Mrs. Meis was my spanish speaking nemesis. Seriously. By the way, that study habits class didn't help me at all. Sheesh.

Favorite movie/actress/actor?
Favorite Movies: The trouble with Angels (reminds me of the Mount! It's a classic in my family.), Autie Mame, Much Ado About Nothing, Anne of Green Gables,How to Make an American Quilt, Only You, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers...there's a long list of my favorites...to many to list here.

Fav. Actresses: Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Dame Judie Dench, Helen Miran, Audrey Hepburn, Hailey Mills, Joan Cusak

Actors: Cary Grant, Dermot Mulroney, Brad Pitt (although I don't like all his movies, he's brilliant), John Cusak, Fred Astair (old movie geek in the house)

Favorite book?
Jane Eyre, In This House of Brede, The Secret Life of Bees...blah, blah, blah...LONG list...

Do you watch Desperate Housewives and Grays?
Yep, both. What about October Road, Ugly Betty, and Men in Trees?

How has your life been different than you imagined it would be whey we were still "young"?
I didn't have a really specific "dream" about my adult life or career. I thought I might want to get married and have children and be a stay-at-home mom like my mother was for us. I also knew that I'd always be an artist in some capacity. I also LOVED Youth Ministry, and did dream of being a Youth Minister some day. I guess the thing that I didn't imagine, was the journey to parenthood that I've had, that's for sure. Coming from a large family it never occured to me that I'd battle infertility and never have a birth child of my own. That never even entered my mind...I thought I'd have a big (6+ kids) family too.

How’d you meet you significant other?
I'd just innocently climbed out of the shower in my parents house on Saturday morning, and someone knocked on the bathroom door. I wrapped up in a towel and opened the door thinking it was one of my sisters. It was some guy I'd never seen before...and he needed to go potty. I headed off to my room to get dressed, and once downstairs was introduced to the guy who'd needed the bathroom...a Navy buddy of a friend of the family who was home on a short leave from the Navy. I paid no attention to him, didn't even really talk to him. He told our friend later that day that he'd met his future wife. A week later he called and told me he was coming back from S.C. to take me to dinner...and despite my total lack of interest or enthusiasm, I was slightly impressed by his bossiness...and said okay. To keep myself from being bored on the date (out to dinner at the Black Horse Pub in Mendham), I decided to entertain myself by asking him every single question that I'd ever wished I'd asked a guy, any guy. It took about 3 hrs., and he threw every question right back at me after thoroughly answering them himself...and by the time he'd answered every thing I could think of about his family, his personal life, his mental health, his finances, his political views, his religion/faith issues and beliefs, his interests and hobbies, pet peeves, his weaknesses and shortcomings, his hobbies, his values, his hopes and dreams for his future, etc...I knew this was someone I wanted to be friends with. A few weeks later Mom and I went to S.C. to visit him and our family friend who was his best friend, and we officially started the dating portion of our relationship. LOL. He told me he was going to marry me that weekend, and I laughed and told him..."I'm truly not interested in hearing that. I'm not into that kind of talk." We dated for 7 months, and were engaged for 8 months...married at O.L.P.H. in Bernardsville on Feb. 25th, 1994.

What wouldn’t/don’t we know about you now?
Hmmm...There are many things you don't know about me. In reality, most of us don't know much about one another at all at this point, do we? Something kind of fun that you don't know is that for some of my childhood and into my early 20's I was a female model for a pretty famous painter. He allowed a retrospective of his work at Temple in...1992 ?...and the schools art gallery was a large three story farm house type building. Every floor had paintings of me, and one room in particular had about 20 paintings of me on one big wall. It was surreal. He was an illustrator, largely "fantasy art" (ie. original Star Wars poster, Lord of the Rings, etc.), so I'm on many fantasy/sci-fi/adventure book covers, in calenders, on posters, etc...as a mermaid, princess, amazon woman, fairy, Tolkein-esc women, Native American, etc. It was a lot of fun and I got to wear really cool costumes and antique clothing. (dress-up for a big kid, really) His wife had a huge collection of antique clothes and costumes. This wasn't some random thing, they are like extended members of my family, like an aunt and uncle...I grew up in their home and we spent all the major holidays together. He passed away about 2 yrs. ago from a fluke infection (staph) he contracted during a short stay in the hospital for the flu...it was terribly tragic.

~I spent last winter illustrating a Catholic Special Ed catechetical tool. I didn't come up the idea, the person who thought it up found me through a family member...and we colaborated on the concept, and I did the art work for each card. It was a lot of work, and a real learning experience for me. She's been meeting and talking with Catholic publishing companies...who knows if it'll get picked up. If not, she has a family member who'll independently publish it for us. I'm blessedly not involved in this whole portion of the project, so whatever happens happens. Regardless, it was a very cool experience!

Places of travel over the past 20 years?

~Various locals in the U.S...more places than I could name...but two of my favorite places are Savannah, GA, and Ocean Grove, NJ

~2 weeks in Toronto...Matt and I took our Youth Group to World Youth Day to see Pope John Paul II. Life-changing experience for us.

~Had an amazing adventure in Spain with my sister Erin (she lived there for a semester during college, she was a spanish major), my sister Maura, and my father. He'd studied at the same school in Valencia, Spain, when he was in college as a spanish major himself...and had never been back. We had the most fantastic, bonding time together. I'm dying to go back.

Hobbies – what do you love to do most in your free time?
~I love music, always have. My sisters and I have been singing together our whole lives. It's an important thing we share together, and it's often a part of our fun/hanging-out family time. All my sisters play instruments, and I've been "playing" (I use that term loosely) the guitar since I got involved in Antioch in high school. I play it like a typical Youth Minister, what I lack in skill I make up for in enthusiasm. I rarely play now though, and when I do...ouch!

~I really love books...I collect books from the 1800's-to the early 1960's. Not just any books, I'm very chosey...but a used book store, or a used book sale of any kind and I'm in heaven. Maybe it goes without saying, but I'm an avid bibliophile, and I love sharing books with all the other readers in my life.

~I've been creating art since I was a child. I paint and draw. But not as often as I'd like to.

~I knit, I'm not that skilled...but I make a good scarf. lol.

~I love classic old movies, and we have a very diverse music collection (totally love jazz, classic rock, folk, r&b, classical, opera, etc.), and I play the piano every day. I'm not a good piano player, and I don't play for anyone elses enjoyment...quite the opposite I'm sure. But I love working on jazz standards and classical pieces...I love a good challenge, and it's a challenge for me because I'm NOT good! lol

If you could go back to highschool – what would you do differently?
I'd study a LOT harder! I'd also waste less energy on boys who don't end up being significant...and I'd be more involved in life at the Mount. I'd be on the soccer team! I'd spend more time with my girlfriends from OLPH's Antioch too. Big time.

Any defining experiences or moments in your adult life thus far?
Wow...yes. We had a few years in my family that felt like a cluster of tragedy. My 25 yr. old cousin (married father of 5) was killed in a motorcycle accident, and two days later his grandmother (who was not my grandmother, but was very dear to me) died. About a year later my sweet uncle died (leaving a wife and 5 kids). My parents and I were with him when he died, and it was deeply profound for my faith. A year later my youngest aunt, one of my life-long friends, died of cancer. I worked a block from her home, so most every day for her last year of life I had time every day with her. There are no words to describe what it was like. It was too much loss in such a short period of time.

Favorite cocktail (if you have kids, ya gotta have one!!!!!)
In the summer I love an ice cold gin and tonic...I love a dirty, dry martini...good wine always does the job...and the list goes on. I also love a shot of tequilla with my sisters...but I'm a total light-weight now and have to seriously keep track of my intake or I'm sick as a DOG.

Favorite vacation spot?
Many... depends on chapter in my life, etc. Spain was high on the list, and we loved Toronto. Great city. Our first family vacation with the children was a week in Ocean Grove, NJ...a beautiful victorian town down at the shore. It was pretty much a dream come true for me.

Favorite pair of shoes?
Have a little bit of a shoe "thing"...have many favorite pairs. On any given day/season it's different. Buttt...I have these strappy red stilletto sandles that have "Barbie" written all over them! (not literally!)

How many times have you moved?
During my marraige? 3...we've been in this house for 10 yrs.

Favorite place to live?
Here, small lake community. We live a block from the lake, it's gorgeous.

Do you still have your uniform?
I have the skirt in a box somewhere.

Have you studied anything we don't know about?
I studied Design (interior) at CCM. I have 3 Design classes left to take.

I had an apprenticeship with the artist I told you about above, Tim Hildebrandt. He set up a work table for me, next to his. Unbelievable. My workig with him started when I was a junior at the Mount. I had permission to leave school during the double club period, and a gym class (I think, it's rather hazy at this point)...and twice a week his wife would come and get me and we'd drive down to the bottom of the hill there in Peapack to their home. I also spent my Saturdays there. I look back on that opportunity with total awe. I was so young I didn't really get what a once in a life time thing it was. But I loved every minute of it. It was amazing on every level.

I went to William Paterson as an English major...didn't stay there.

I'm two classes away from being certified in Youth Ministry at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall.

I also did a two year apprenticeship with a renowned Hawaiian (sp?) painter, Shirley REO Beene.

Where did you honeymoon?
Williamsburg, VA. Matt and I both LOVE history, so it seemed a natural choice. It was gorgeous, very deserted (Feb.), and quite cozy.

After today will you stay in touch?
Absolutaly.

What inspires you today?
My faith, my husband and children, my sisters, art, music, other creative people...and especially learning new things.

What is the one thing you are most proud of accomplishing or trying to accomplish?
I don't know...for cathartic reasons I wrote extensively about the role grief has had in my faith journey. I wrote just because I felt compeled to...writing it was the important part, it allowed me to really examine myself.
I'm also having fun writing a novel. I've wanted to try it my whole life, but always felt so intimidated by the process. With the encouragement of a friend I decided one day to just TRY...and it's been really fun. I don't have any idea if it'll be anything worth reading when I'm finished...but I'm just enjoying the experience and not worrying about that.

The things I'm most proud of aren't things I've done though. I'm most proud of my family, the relationships we have with one another, my precious children. I'm proud of my husband, he is one of the finest men I know. That's the stuff that matters to me.

Most embarrassing moment?
OH God...so many when I was young and shy. Barely any in my adult life. I can't actually think of any at the moment.

Have you ever had plastic surgery? (Please specify)
No, but man...if I could afford it, I'd have some "work". LOL What a funny question!

Funniest experience at the MT
I love remembering smoking behind the convent wall with Marina...and the one time I cut class with...Liz?...and we hid in the bathroom right outside the auditorium...second to last week of senior year? And we got away with it! And senior year I pulled a VERY rebelious move and cut a whole day of school, called the Mt. and pretended to be my mom calling me out sick...My two best friends from home skipped out on Bernards High that day...and how/why we did this naughty thing just makes me laugh. We were on the Antioch Team, and in two days we had our retreat...and we needed to get our final Talk drafts and Palancas done. I couldn't make this up. That's how non-delinquent we were...we hid out in my friends house and worked on all our retreat stuff. Youth is wasted on the young? Maybe. I remember sneaking around inside the convent senior year with Marina too, we just wanted to see if we could do it. It was one of our Trouble with Angels moments. Seriously, if you haven't seen the movie...run to the store and rent it. And Rhonda reminded me that I got her thrown out of History for tickling her (I looked innocent behind the convulsing Rhonda)...and that memory made me laugh a LOT.

Funniest experience later in life
You know how funny stories often are only funny in the context of the moment? I had a truly hysterical partying experiences with my sister Shannon ...just thinking about it can make us snort with laughter...but it wouldn't read all that funny if you weren't there. I come from a big, loud, very female driven Irish family. Laughter is the core of everything...so the funny experiences just keep rolling in.

Most sad memory from the MT
I can't think of one...WAIT! When the space shuttle exploded and they told us in school...remember that? It was aweful.

Most sad memory later in life
I had 6 miscarraiges in 11 years, before we adopted our two children. It was very sad for us. The loss of my grandmother two years ago...huge. I miss her very much.

Happiest memory from the MT
Every story we've remembered in our e-mails, the memories I listed above...the ones I've yet to remember until you all remind me...I really, really loved the Mount. Short of my struggles with Algebra, Chemistry and Spanish...I have nothing but happy memories at this point.

Happiest memory later in life
My wedding, the day our children were delivered to our house, and our official adoption day. Heavenly.

Have you ever had plastic surgery? (Please specify)
You don't have to ask me twice, I'm not lying. Read my lips..."I've had NO work!" And when you see me, you'll see the evidence of that yourselves! lol

LETTER about kids BELOW...

Hello dear friends and family,

As many of you may have heard...we've had a bit of a life changing week! We recieved a call last Thursday that there were two siblings we'd been matched up with for possible adoption, and by late this past monday afternoon...they were here! Briana and Brandon have been in the System since infancy, and it's been hard for them. Brandon has a kidney disorder called Nephrotic Syndrome. There is daily medication and medical protical, and only 1000 milligrams of sodium daily diet (which we're all living on now), and his asthma has required nebulizor treatments...but it's all quite do-able and amazing. It already feels like something we've been doing for a long time. I say this rather bleery-eyed and exhausted. We are experiencing the luxury of a cup of tea once the children are down for the night...and just soaking up the feeling of a very warm, full house...with exhaustion well earned, and some small triumphs and struggles somehow survived. There is definite euphoria involved here!

There is no way to really do justice to this experience in a mass e-mail, I know. Our phone has been ringing off the hook, and in the midst of the intense change/work/wonder/terror/drama/tears/laughter/trauma that we are dealing with and experiencing here...there is just no time to even answer the phone. I heard it ring 6 seperate times just tonight while we were handling bedtime. I knew that friends and family were thinking of us, rejoicing with us, and calling to send love, support and joy. I'm sorry we haven't been able to call each of you seperately and tell you our news...please keep calling, keep praying for us...and know how grateful we are for each and every one of you in our lives. Bedtime is a time full of acting out, obvious anxiety/fear, many tears, rocking these two children until we can't feel our arms. And it's amazingly wonderful. At one point Brandon opened his eyes and looked up at me (I was rocking him) and said, "Hi Brigid...Hi Mama." He gave me a dimpled smile, and then closed his eyes.
~He'd randomly asked me at dinner tonight what my name was. They'd been calling us Mommy/Mama/Daddy/Papa since they arrived...instant familiarity from years of foster homes. We opted for 'Mama and Papa" to distinguish ourselves from any association with all the other temporary housing they've had because everyone before us was Mommy and Daddy. So...the "Mama" has been heard about 1000 in the last 72 hours...the the "Hi Brigid..." well, that felt like a little reminder of who I am, and that in the midst of these overwelming moments of joy and stress...Jesus is just letting me know he still sees me.

We've had so many moments of utter awe and wonder...our first night with them in our home was full of moments of looking at one another over some domestic task and just crying together in wonder and amazment...I don't think we are nearly finished with THAT yet. It is obvious that they are very wounded, and that brings with it a certain level of fear...the fear that we won't be able to give them enough of what they need, or help them enough, that they won't be able to heal enough...but Matt and I are feeling so carried by the Lord right now that it's tangible. We are counting on His faithfulness to us, he's not let us down yet, and we don't think he will when it comes to these two precious childrens lives. In three days I've seen more miracles and more of God's face in this house, than I could have ever imagined.

Our first night with the children was incredible on so many levels. Some heartbreaking moments of comforting Briana and trying to help her feel safe and loved. She is an amazingly strong, brave, precious little girl. I got about 3 hours of sleep that night, and ended up with Brandon in my arms in our bed where he blessedly finally got some sleep. He was so restless and stressed.
I woke this morning at 7:30 with the realization that we'd had a full night of sleep. My first audible though was..."Praise God, from whom all blessings flow..."
About 1.2 seconds later two little just-out-of-bed-sleepy-and warm in their p.j.'s bundles were climbing in bed with us. All I could think was...how is it that in any moment of our lives we might forget how much God cares about our needs, and loves us? He's giving us a little taste of heaven right here to sustain us until we're really there. Tonight we saw a lot of anxiety...and after our incredibly cozy day of fun and the newfound comfort of our routines, the children were probably feeling a lot of fear about starting to get comfortable here. Getting comfortable isn't safe for them because they always end up having to leave. There was definite hyper-vigilance on Briana's part...she and I talked about why she was afraid, and about how this house and this house is full of love and angels, and how we are here to keep her safe and to take care of she and Brandon. Again she wanted to know..."Are we really staying?" We all prayed together, and that seemed to really help them settle down.

I've been awed, quite frankly, by this man I'm married to. Matt has been a tower of tenderness, wisdom, insight, and compassion. It's not that I hadn't seen all those qualities a hundred times over in him over the last 12 years...but this Matt is like a refined-by-fire version. Amazing.

I know many of you want to come and meet the children and have a visit. We want that too! We will plan a large gathering in the not-too distant future...but right now we are just trying to get the day-to-day into some kind of rythm that will help the children feel safe and secure. If you'd like to visit, a Saturday or Sunday would be best, or if you have any time on a week day during the day. Evenings are like a delicate dance...and so far it's been really beautiful, and hard. Please give us a call and we can spread the visits out a bit... we will try to field as many calls as we can. If you leave a message, please know that we love you...but we might not get to call you back. I will try and check my e-mail once a day, and will more likey respond here because it's just faster. There have been dozens of calls about many of you wanting to bring gifts for the children. They arrived with enough clothing to clothe all the children in our family, and some. And we've had a pretty large quantity of toys here. They also have toys from Christmas in their foster home, and I think what's here is plenty for now. Some of the things aren't even open yet. I'd like to eventually like to go to an Educational store and get some good wooden puzzles, and other floor and table top learning toys appropriate for a 3 yr. old, and for Briana who is 6. But right now we're just trying to find homes for all the loot we've got to house and make accessable. I stepped on a plastic Sponge Bob today...and had this moment of blinding insight into the 360 degree turn our life has made in just three short days. The best gift these children, or Matt and I, for that matter, could get would be your prayers. Between all of you, you could probably Novena us on into the teen years...and God only knows we'll need it!

We love you all, and can't wait to talk with each and every one of you. We can't thank you enough for your love and support.
I'm sending pictures soon...I have to figure out how to do it! Peace~in Christ,
Brigid and Matt