1978: Dear John Blasburg, A constant in a somewhat transient life

Dear John,

In 1978 I flew solo from Denver to Boston, found the trunk my parents had shipped to Boston’s South Street train station and met up with a beloved cousin who was tasked with making sure I got to my destination- Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.  Once on Campus I mistook your dorm, an all boy’s dorm for mine.  You were literally the first person I met.

As it turns out, you are the one person, the only person I know, who was part of my high-school, college and graduate school years and beyond having chosen similar careers.  After leaving home at 15, I moved nine times including five different cities before settling into my almost 30 year stay in Minneapolis.  It’s just nice to know in this long life that there is at least one person who has had you in their rolodex, now a digital contacts list, all those years. 

Gratefully,

Ann Simonds

Aka Annie Hoagland