For Susan

I lost a sister yesterday. Susan Robins Purifoy and I became sisters in the fall of 1965 when we went racing down Maple Street as new Kappa pledges at the University of Arkansas.

For three years we lived together in the Kappa house with 73 other girls. We sang "Kappa Spirit" on the front lawn, played Bridge in the library, stayed up all night studying, and scheduled our classes so we could watch "As the World Turns" at noon on the one television set.

We rejoiced in each others successes, and Susan was definitely a success, beautiful both inside and out. She was Miss University of Arkansas in 1965 and the 1966 Cotton Bowl Queen.

We shared good times and bad. One of the good times for Susan came in 1968 when she married Thomas in Hawaii. They met when Thomas was a houseboy at the Kappa house. I had known him forever, since we both grew up in Camden. They dated, fell in love and became engaged. Then Thomas joined the Navy and was sent to Vietnam.

In the spring of 1968, he had an R&R in Hawaii and somehow made it coincide with our Spring Break. So Susan flew to Hawaii, and they were married by a Navy chaplain. When she returned to Fayetteville, we had to get special dispensation from Kappa national to allow her to continue living in the Kappa house. After all, she was now a married woman.

Since graduating we have been back to Fayetteville for several pledge class reunions. At the last reunion Susan and I got to room together with several others in the "dorm" at the back of the house. She was still the same sweet girl she's always been. We will miss her.

Pledge Class Reunion, Spring 2006