Carol Ree:  

Dear Commerce Friends, It doesn't seem like it's over 43 years since graduation in 1965. There are days when I wish I was that young and naive again. But life goes on. After graduation, I became employed by a business machines company and then married in 1968 to an Italian guy who graduated from Christopher Columbus HS and we moved into NYC. We had been together prior to getting married and dated for 4 years during HS, he even went with me to the prom along with Joyce Benoit (Santillo). I lived in the city until 1970, when my daughter was born and then moved to New Rochelle. I lived there until I moved to IL in 1978 due to a job transfer for my husband. It was a great shock to move to IL, the state is very flat and the area we moved to was nothing but farm land. It was culture shock for me and buying groceries really became quite a chore especially buying speciality Italian foods. But we made do and I learned to like the area. After my divorce in 1983, after 15 years of marriage, I decided to stay in IL for my daughter's sake. Easier living and better economic reasons. During my divorced years, I vowed to pursue my career & advanced myself many times over. I never wanted to remain dependant on anyone else but myself. I am now a Vice President with Allstate Insurance Corp...Expand for more