Christopher Murphy:
CLASS OF 1974
Immaculate Conception SchoolClass of 1974
Amenia, NY
Dutchess Community CollegeClass of 1981
Poughkeepsie, NY
Webutuck High SchoolClass of 1978
Amenia, NY
Christopher's Story
Life
In the summer of 1981 after I got out of DCC I took a leave of abscence from work and sailed on the QE2 to England. I spent 7 weeks in Europe, the last 2 weeks in Luxembourg on a Dairy Farm. Kinda like a Busman's Holiday in a way. The reason for the farm stay was this: the prev. year an exchange student from Luxembourg, Pia, stayed with our family and was in my sister Leah's class at Webutuck. Having Pia in our house for a year was a very positive experience for myself and my family. She is a farmers daughter like my sisters and understood rural life. She is a very positive person and got along with all of us. I felt that would be interesting to see how Luxembourg farmers went about farming and because I was going to be in the "neighborhood" I thought it was a good Idea to "drop in". my conclusion was this: we could learn a few things from them and we could teach them a few things. As a result of my visit there I would be a different farmer today (if I a was farmer) than I would have been before. I also took a farmhouse tour of Ireland and a 3 week tour that included france, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and The Netherlands. It was a great trip and until I met Tamara it was the last time I went overseas until 2005. I moved to New Orleans, LA in the very end of 1981 and lived there until the end of Aug 2003. I really liked NOLA, it was a cool place to live. Mardi Gras is my favorite Holiday (it is a state holiday in LA). the creativity of people with their costumes is incredible. I think it is fun to dress up in something ridiculous and walk around in public and see that I am mild compared to many others. While living in NOLA I mostly worked and had many life experiences. On Dec 31, 1987 I got married for the first time. In Nov 1988 I told Ex wife #1 she had to go. Lots of learning experiences there, not all of them pleasant. I then got married again in May of 1995. In Oct. of 1997 because she realized that I was serious about not having any children and much to my disappointment at the time she decided to leave and become Ex wife #2.
I like to travel whenever possible and I did travel within the USA as much as I could. I prefer to drive because I can "detour" thru. different places from the straight line to my final destination either on the way there or back or both ways. I took 3 different trips driving out west, the shortest was just over 4000 miles the other 2 were over 6000 miles each.
I have skied on 12 different mountains in 6 different states out west. My conclusion: they are all good if not great but they are different from each other in character. if you want nice people in the lift line with you go to Alta or Steamboat. if you want the Porsche and Mercedes crowd in line with you go to Vail. I visited the Pacific northwest, Vancouver and parts of BC on one trip. on another I drove from Moms house to Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and came back thru quebec. In Sept of 2003 I Moved to Central FL and Now live in what I call the "Land of the Rodent", Orlando. I left NOLA after living there for 21 years because as much as liked the place I didn't want to loose everything I owned to a storm. They were talking about Katrina every year I lived there, she just didn't have a name yet. The first full year I lived in Orlando 3 Hurricanes blew over my house but it is, unlike NOLA, above sea level and inland. One of the things I like about living in Orlando is the different things I can do on a day off during the year. Bike week in Daytona is one example. another is the Fun and Sun Fly in Lakeland. Where else can I watch a Space Shuttle or Delta 4 Heavy Launch just by spending an hour in my car on a day off? There is also all the touristy crap here available to entertain myself with on a day off if I choose to. the best part of a Annual Pass to Sea World is the fact the I can get 2 free beers (Odoul's for me--I am a true Non-drinker these days) a day there. it makes it easier to decide to take a "walk in the park" on a sunday afternoon. On June 4th 2004 I married Tamara Artamonova and have been happily married for the longest period of my life. She grew up in Moscow in the Soviet Union and lived there until she was in her 30's and moved here to the US in 1994 with her Ex Husband. She has lived here in FL for many years longer than I have. As a result of meeting Tamara I have been to Moscow three different times and it is an interesting place. Because I am lazy I can only speak a little bit of Russian. But in my defense I will say that my vocabulary is larger than most of the other American Husbands she knows combined!
Neither of us has any children but I have 12 Niece's and Nephew's and she has a Niece, Great Niece and a Nephew in Moscow. I really like being a Uncle. the best part is the ability to sent the kids home to their parents when they act up.
I have many stories I can tell about working in the ER, traveling, Mardi Gras, the Ex wives, living in NOLA or family stories. what I wrote above is the highlights. I hope I didn't bore you, the reader, too much.
School
Like all of us my school experience was a mixture of good and bad. Unlike some of us...Expand for more
I choose to focus on the good and just try to accept that the bad happened. I say that because I have heard that some of our classmates don't attend Reunions or maintain contact with other classmates because they "had such a horrible experience". I admit that it irritates me to hear that. If I want to play that kind of game I have all kinds of material I could work with and feel justified. But what is the point of focusing on the bad to the extent that it impairs ones ability to recognize and remember the good? Even if the ratio of good to bad is less than ideal there was some things that were good for all of us. I just have this to say to the ones who's experience was "Bad": why don't you Check out with others, esp ones outside of your peer group and see what they thought of your experience/attractiveness/social position/ desirability/"position in the hierarchy"/how others regarded you and what they thought of your life overall? You might be surprised. You might not. Of course if something at the home front or outside of school was really bad you could, by association, perceive your high school experience to be bad. If this is true it is not fair to us, your classmates, to be part of your "horrible experience" when it was something outside of school to blame. Why don't you try to be half full instead of half empty, you might actually like it.
Moving on, here is my view of my school experience.
My early years at ICS were less than ideal. The normal stuff a student experiences in a Catholic Parochial school can be perceived as Traumatic. Add to that the problems that a ADHD kid like I was would have in a Era where the medical knowledge relating to that was almost nonexistent and the results were not ideal. But as the bumper sticker says: "stuff" happens, what can I or anyone do?
Being sent away for 2 1/2 years to a boarding school (I left partway through 6th grade and returned to ICS a year behind for 8th grade) was different. I learned a lot about life and related subjects but not too much in the academic realm.
My last year at ICS was mostly better but as I am sure was true for all of us dealing with the "normal abnormalities of adolescence" was no fun.
My Webutuck years had many moments both good and bad. Bad--It seemed that the different young women I had a crush on at various times did not return the feeling. but on the other hand I was not interested in the few (that I was aware of) who were interested in me so I suppose that is fair. of course realizing that now did not make it suck any less at the time. It would have helped if I knew then what I know now in terms of how a relationship is supposed to go. Less than Ideal--my failing efforts to become accepted by the various peer groups/cliques that were perceived to be "cool" Good--Drama Club and Shop classes. Really good--eating lunch with the gang in Bob Reimer's Classroom. Excellent--the teachers who were the Strongest Positive influence on me, Bob Reimer and George Fullerton. Best--the peer group and friends I did have then and now.
College
After getting out of Webutuck I started in the Engineering Program at DCC. after half a semester I realized that I wasn't really in the mood for 4 years of hard work in school and switched to Nursing. Mostly because it was only 2 years of hard work in school and a RN usually does not have any trouble finding a job. I eventually graduated in 1981 with a AAS in nursing. I even managed to pass the State Boards on the first try!!!!
Workplace
First getting out of DCC in 1981 I worked at Wassaic Dev. Ctr. until the end of Dec. 1981. I then Moved to New Orleans, LA and Started working Med-Surg At St. Charles Gen. Hosp. In the summer of 83 I migrated from the floor to the ER where I have been lurking ever since. I also have spent some time working as a House Supervisor but that was in addition to Working in the ER. Oh, I also have done Telephone Triage part time--- it was a OK job but sitting at a desk for 12 hours turned out to be not too good for my back. In Sept. 2003 I moved from NOLA to Orlando FL but kept working in NOLA. in the course of the next year I got to know Southwest Airlines real well going back and forth each week. I did that until the hospital I was working for (Doctors Hospital of Jefferson) was purchased and closed by the nasty competition across the street in Oct. 2004. When the severance pay ran out I started working at Florida Hospital, Orlando Campus. It is a 880 bed Hospital with a 43 bed ER. The ER is a busy place with a less than ideal ratio of regular vs Psych and Homeless Patients. When the new ER opens in 08 it will be one of the largest in the state with 74 beds and the hospital gains another 440 beds when it is all finished. One of the positives of working at FHO is there is all services available in house almost all the time. One of the negatives of working at FHO is there is all services available in house almost all the time. That means the other 6 Florida hospitals in the Orlando area hospitals like to send us their problems and for some reason those problems like to stop in the ER which means more work for us ER types.
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