Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Sisters

kappa 020 I spent last weekend catching up with my sisters—about 50 of them.  We became sisters more than 40 years ago when we pledged our loyalty to Gamma Nu Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Arkansas.

Back in the day we came from cities like Little Rock, Dallas and Houston and from small Arkansas towns such as Camden, Lewisville, Hughes, Newport, Eudora, Marvell and Pocahontas.  We are more scattered now.  We still live in Little Rock, Dallas, Houston and Eudora, but we also came from as far away as Alabama, Florida, Maryland, New York City and California for a reunion in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

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kappa 008 After a few whispers of "who's that over there," we soon began to recognize those same sweet girls in faces that are all too quickly 45 years older.  And suddenly the room was filled with lively chatter reminiscent of dinner conversations at the Kappa house in the 1960's.  But now instead of classes, dates, pledge duties, lock outs and the prospects for initiation, we shared stories of marriages, children, grandchildren and careers.

We also reminisced about our college days and even tried singing a few Kappa songs.  And while we may not remember all of the secret stuff, some of us still know most of the words to "Oh, Pat, Says She."

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Fayetteville 018 The weekend ended with a presentation of plans for the construction of a new chapter house on the Arkansas campus.   We could scarcely believe that the beautiful white house on the hill is in need of replacement.  After all, it's practically brand new.  Well, it was when we moved into it in 1965 and lived for several weeks with no stalls to separate the potties and workmen standing on the ends of our beds to install light fixtures when we woke up in the morning.

Where did all the years go?

Thanks to all of those sisters who made the weekend possible.  We are lucky to have them and to know that they will get us together again before too many more years go by.  After all, it's important to stay connected with your sisters.

Loyally,

7 comments:

nanny said...

Love the group picture.....the hair styles bring back memories.
You must point your picture out!

The front row, second on left, I recognize her, but can't think of her name!

Joyce said...

Oh how fun...these are my favorite kind of reunions. We've had a couple and i'm hoping there will be something this summer...we do some informal get togethers as able. Looks like you had a great turnout.

Unknown said...

Can't believe I forgot my camera! So sorry that I could not be there Saturday. I am already looking forward to the next one...perhaps in the new chapter house???? Hope your trip is great:)

Unknown said...

We're right behind y'all. Sigma Chi, Baylor, Eta Omega, 1978-2010 = 32 years!

We all expected each other to be fat, bald, etc., but the ones with all-white hair were really surprising, for reasons which are unclear to me.

In any event, love pics and the post.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Kathy!! Looks as though i really missed out. A new house? A new house? i am typing this through misty eyes. So many memories. dianna

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful word picture you created of the reunion weekend! I'm sorry I was not able to join you. Thank you for posting the old and the new photos. In the pledge class pic, I'm the only one you can't see: I'm standing behind Jan (nee Harris) Ford Mustin. Guess the photographer thought the site of my face might break the camera. (-: A new house?! Why, it was brand new--except for Old Gray--when we moved in just a few years ago. To add to the memories: remember we had yard duty, instead of phone duty, for the first few days until the phone was installed in the phone room near the front door. Ah, those were the days ...
Lynne Stanley Fisher

Carol ReMarks said...

Aaaawww, I wish I had done stuff like that at that age. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.