Let me tell you a story about eight women who live separate lives yet share a deep, everlasting bond.
We are the Marywood women who for nearly 10 years have gathered on the Central Coast for a girls’ weekend every spring away from husbands and families so we can renew our friendships, take a breather and catch up on each other’s lives.
Four of us live in Orange County, one in Los Angeles, and three in the Bay Area. One is a scientist who competes in crew; another is an attorney and active volunteer. There’s a divorced music teacher, an occupational therapist, a CPA, a high-powered business executive and a nurse. And there’s me, a writer and editor who served as yearbook editor in the Bicentennial Class of ’76.
All but one of us have children and one of us is a grandmother. We have chosen different lifestyles and careers and inhabit various rungs on the socioeconomic ladder. What holds us together?
Marywood. The place where we learned to think critically about the world, cherish our spirituality, celebrate individuality, take responsibility and act independently; the place we developed our core selves and grew to know that we deserve to compete on a level playing field with men.
Marywood High School alumnae lamented the razing of our school this year to make way for the development of new homes. Yet it wasn’t just the brick and mortar that we wept for but the memories and values we shared. Marywood was more than a high school for girls – it was a place where we developed our personal relationships with the Holy Trinity and tuned our moral compasses.
It’s comforting to know that so much of the school we love was carefully taken down and reused. We are glad to know that we can visit the beautiful stained-glass chapel windows when they are installed in the new church at Holy Trinity Parish in Ladera Ranch. We can visit the rose bushes that today grace the Christ Cathedral grounds.
That my Marywood friends and I have loved each other for more than 40 years is a testament to the school’s power. The bond we share is everlasting.
Marywood made us the women we are today.
I’m proud to be a Marywood girl.