Marianne Krahulec:
CLASS OF 1965
Mineola High SchoolClass of 1965
Garden city park, NY
Messiah CollegeClass of 1991
Grantham, PA
Corpus Christi SchoolClass of 1961
Mineola, NY
Marianne's Story
High school--such a long time ago and such a time of insecurity. In those days, I was basically 3 persons: my outer and inner selves and the driven self with a passion for dancing. On the outside, an intelligent student, getting respectable results with minimal effort. Could I have done better if I had thought of myself, even for one moment, as "college bound"? Definitely yes, but the lack of anything resembling self-esteem on the inside, coupled with the total lack of funding, made that drive to dance an even more persistent hunger. Hours spent at the dance studio, working, taking class, constantly centered on that next performance filled my after school hours, but I do have some great memories of Mineola High: Dr. Berberich's fantastic English classes, Thespian plays with Mr. Wargo ("My office is NOT a student lounge!"), the Broadway revues and Girls' Week. All those hours given over to dance paid off when I went right into a touring dance troupe after graduation, and in May 1966, stepped onto the stage of Radio City Music Hall as a Rockette--one of the defining experiences of my life. Linda Gumiela from our MHS class, and Sharon Deery who graduated in 1966, were also Rockettes during the time I danced there; yes, Mineola was definitely well-represented on the Great Stage. I performed there until August of 1968, but the place itself and the sisterhood among those dancers takes a hold on each of us that spans the years and lasts a lifetime. We even have a Rockette Alumnae Association that helps with keeping in touch as well as undertaking many charitable activities. In my case, Radio City Music Hall touched my life even more deeply than it did those of the other 35 Rockettes on that stage, since I met my husband of 38 years, Jim Krahulec, right there when we both performed at RCMH in the summer of 1966. There was surely some divine intervention behind that meeting, some angelic muse that inspired the RCMH production staff to feature the Purdue University Band in that summer show, bringing that big (an...Expand for more
d equally big-hearted) tuba-playing, pharmacy major from Chicago into the life of the Long Island redhead, second from center. I remain awe-struck and forever grateful that someone far more knowledgeable than we controls such matters. In August 1968, our lives became one and the aftermath has made me a believer in that old cliche "time flies when you're having fun." I really need to excuse myself if this sounds like a Disney story, but together we loved and laughed; traveled and grew; produced and raised a son and 3 daughters; relocated our family and Jim's career from Chicago to Central PA in 1978. And education? Jim still had one year at Purdue after we got married, followed by my beautician's training, and his 3 years of Law School. He graduated just before Jimmy, our oldest, began Nursery School. From the time of our wedding thru August 2004 (when Mindy, our youngest, graduated Penn State), we had an unbroken 36 years of someone constantly being in school! Somewhere in there, I managed to earn my Bachelor's Degree and started a teaching career too. In 2000, we were blessed with a grandson, Ryan, who is now my "date" for many family celebrations since Jim passed away in August 2006--just 4 days after we celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary. Life is certainly different since then. So many times I'll have a new experience or hear a good joke, and I'll catch myself thinking "wait until Jim hears this . . ." So I miss the fun of retelling, but somehow I know that he hears it. I have too much good in my life, I'm too blessed with my kids and my grandson, with my work, and friends and my beautiful home, to feel badly. I had a love that was a treasure, and so many people never get to know love like that. Life goes on, and there's still so much I can do and give. So, I'm keeping busy. I still teach in a program for gifted middle-school kids; I coach quiz bowl teams, and direct many drama club activities with middle school and high school students. As they say on the T-shirts: life is good.
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