Linda Elgart writes:
Things went according to the art plan for a while: BFA at Tyler, MFA at Southern Illinois University. But you never where life will lead. I met John at SIU, and got into bicycle racing. I didn't get a college teaching job. John didn't finish his dissertation in philosophy due to waning interest. Instead, we became caretakers on an estate in Bryn Mawr. While there, I did art, we raced bikes, and we did a lot of volunteer work in the cycling world. When our benefactor went into a retirement home, we moved to California and started working in a bike shop. A few years later, we started our sales rep business, which we are doing to this day. We specialize in custom cycling clothing, and represent two companies, Voler and DeFeet.
I thought I'd live like a starving artist forever, and was happy with that, but somehow we were able to turn our hobby into a profession, we work together, and have turned out to be middle class. But I'm still the same art girl I was in high school.
We've owned our Craftsman Bungalow in Sacramento for over 17 years, and we turned out to be the kind of people who do a lot of remodeling and restoration. We never stopped bike racing, and have both picked up quite a few national championships over the years, in various cycling disciplines. We've been studying Spanish for quite some time, and love to travel to Spanish speaking countries. We're in a book club and a wine tasting group, and like to sit around in coffee cafes, have dinner parties, and go second hand shopping.
John has two adult sons who've been part of my family for 34 years. They both live in Portland, Or, and we love to visit. My mom is still living in the Philadelphia area, as well as my brother Dan and his family. My brother Doug has lived in Salt Lake City for over 20 years.
Believe it or not, we'll be at the 40th reunion. It was time to visit Mom and meet her new boyfriend!