Ronna LaPato

Wow-36 years! Didn’t they go by fast! Well, after graduation, I went to college for a year and then entered the real world-the workforce! I went to work at the then Norwood Hospital in the brand-new Physical Medicine Dept. as a Secretary—and I do mean brand-new! There were still wires hanging down from the ceiling as we treated our first patient! During the 2 ½ years that I worked there, I got married and lived in Germany for 5 months, where my Army (drafted) husband was stationed. We were very lucky—this was the time of the Vietnam war, so Germany was a dream come true!

After he was discharged, we came home and did the usual thing-worked, bought a house, and in 1976, our first daughter, Amy Rebecca, was born. Our second daughter, Megan Lynne, came along 3 years later. We moved to Stoughton and life went on. We bought Jim’s Variety store in Canton center and tried our hand at a 16 hour day, 7 days a week. That didn’t last long, 2 years later we sold it!

In 1980 I started working in Tupperware, and it was the best thing I ever did! This gave me the opportunity to prove myself, as it really is your own business, to fail or succeed. Well, I worked hard, was very successful, and became a manager within a year. With this new-found confidence and financial gain, I was able to divorce my husband.

Ten months later, I met my present husband, Patrick (although I didn’t marry him until 13 years later), and life became very exciting! We have traveled extensively all over the states, including Hawaii, and just before the reunion in April, we are going to Germany and then Bermuda. (Don’t worry, I will manage to fit in the reunion committee meetings.) We did get married on 9/9/99 (he picked the date so he wouldn’t ever forget our anniversary!), which was a Thursday night. We decided to have a canal cruise, golfing, and a BBQ at our summer house in Onset the next day since a lot of guests came from out of state. Did you notice that all these activities are outdoors? Yup, you guessed it! A huge rain and wind storm the entire day! The golfing was canceled, but the canal cruise was on, and the BBQ took place under a tent. That would not have been so bad, but my mother slipped boarding the boat for the cruise and had to be rushed to the hospital with a broken shoulder! Amy and her new boyfriend, (second time we met him) Matt went to the hospital with her so I could go on the rainy cruise and then run the BBQ for the 75 crazy people who came in spite of the pouring rain! Did I mention that this was the hottest, driest summer we have had in many, many years, until that day? This is just a sample of how my life has been.

Amy, 24, graduated Framingham State College with a degree in Nutrition and got a job in New Hampshire as a Nutrition Care Manger at a Continuing Care Retirement Center (something that we all should start to look into), where she met Matt. Within a year, she got married, bought a house in Nashua, NH and bought a puppy. Come to find out, that house is down the street from Al Karlsberg! She is presently attending Rivier College for her Masters in Counseling.

Megan, 21, is living at home and attending Bridgewater State College for a degree in Early Childhood Education. We don’t expect her to move out any time soon. Home is too comfortable-she practically has her own Condo!

For the past 10 years, I have been working for a small book publisher in Norwood. I guess that brings you up to date. I am really excited about the reunion and I would like to thank Jeff Kublin for all the work he has done. Having this web page is so fantastic! It allows us to catch up with everyone and in doing so, it creates such an air of excitement! See you at the Reunion!