Kim (Kathryn) Hilbert:  

Hi out there--While it is difficult to imagine how anyone remembers me from HS, I DO remember many of YOU! My first 2 and 1/2 years were at San Carlos HS where I went to school with kids that I basically grew up with--and were very near and dear to me. I moved before graduation and did not stay in touch with anyone for long after moving to the DC area. I would love to know how everyone is doing. I remember many of my SC friends better than my WT Woodson friends because of having more history in grade school at Heather Elementary and Tierra Linda Middle School. In many ways I wish my family had never left California--but that was not to be our journey-- I came to Woodson in the middle of Jr. year from the Bay Area in California. My dad was having a "mid-life crisis" (with a woman on the east coast, apparently) and my parents began divorcing once we were settled there. I had four younger siblings at home and a lot of worries. I wanted friends but the situation at home was not very conducive to building a network...I got very lucky and met a very nice young man and had my first "falling in love" experience. It ended "tragically" and with drama but...how could it not have done? I did not apply myself in school and fell in with some verrry seedy characters (you know who you are;) who helped me get through these hard times. I remember being stoned and driving really fast on Rolling Road....and a "trip" to DC during school hours where all the animals at the Zoo were purple, pink and blue with orange spots on them...I guess I had to act-out a little bit with all that mess going on at home...but there were a few of you who did hang in there with me and I do appreciate it. It must have been hard, but I really needed some friends...so if you were one of them, I thank you very much and would like to hear from you. I was never quite that "lost" again in my life and I appreciate the support I got during that hard time. Somehow I managed to come out of all that with a GPA that still allowed me a choice of colleges....but..... I married at 19 (a nice Italian-Catholic doctor from Connecticut in his Internship year at Georgetown) and we had a son in 1974. We did the suburban thing--bought a cute house in Bethesda and settled in. My dad died in 1977 and that was not good for my family. My mom moved back to California with my sister and 3 brothers and that was hard for me. I divorced in the early '80's because he had decided by then that it wasn't a good idea for me to have a career of my own after all...another tragic ending. I finished school, but not at Georgetown as I lost my tuition grant in the divorce...finished my last hours at St. Mary's College of Maryland, worked as a substance abuse and eating disorders counselor in various settings until I could afford graduate school at VCU/MCV in Richmond. Completed the MSW program there and practiced psychiatric social work for the next 17 years there (mostly in private practice). Oh--forgot to mention--was not alone all that time. You won't believe this girly-girl that I was (and still am), but I lived a lesbian lifestyle with a wonderful, beautiful neuro-psychologist and stayed together 24years. Did I mention that I was diagnosed with systemic lupus in my 20's? Yes, well, I ended up having a small stroke from it in 2002 which is why I retired early and (Jane and I) moved to the beautiful (high) desert southwest. My memory is affected and now I know what ADD feels like, but thankfully I do not drool or drag my right leg anymore ;) I have one son who lives, with his family, in Potomac, Maryland. He and his wife do not approve of all the changes I have made over the course of my life. Instead of evolving, they think I should have stayed put (with his Dad, of course). I hope, very much, that their attitude about the "mistakes" they think I have made will change one day~until then, we remain essentially estranged. I may be retired, but I am not completely idle. For a couple of years I attempted to complete a Seminary program with the Ecumenical Catholic Church, while serving as Eucharistic Minister to the Sick and Homebound and teaching Faith Formation classes to 6-12 year olds in our Parish. This kept me out of trouble for awhile...which, apparently, because of those...Expand for more