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When in Rome
Irishwolfe2: Hey, this may seem extremely random, but is this Katie Widman from Horsham?
Katieann67: Yea, who is this?
And just like that two people can be connected who haven’t spoke or seen each other in 15 years. That is the story of an old friend named Katie Widman and myself and this is the beauty of the internet and programs like the Facebook and AOL instant messager.
Katie Widman and I were childhood friends because we lived in the same neighborhood. We had the same group of friends, played at the same houses, and sometimes even dressed the same way; but after I began Catholic elementary school and rest of the neighborhood kids went to Simmons Elementary, the local public school, we unfortunately lost touch.
Katie Widman left Horsham 9 years ago after a whirlwind of tragedy and confusion to start a new life in Charleston, South Carolina. When Katie was only 9 years old, her mother developed an aggressive form of a breast cancer; and despite the efforts of Chemotherapy and Radiation treatment, she passed away after 10 months of fighting. 7 months later, her brother followed with complications to his cystic fibrosis.
With nothing but bittersweet memories, the Widman family; Katie, her sister Carolyn, and their father Jack, left Horsham behind for a life of sun and palm trees in Charleston, South Carolina. It was tough for Katie and her sister to leave their friends from home and school but after a few months in Charleston they came to love their new home.
Katie graduated from Palmsberry High School and eagerly headed for the College of Charleston to study psychology; however after a semester in school she decided she wanted to transfer somewhere farther from home yet somewhat familiar—Villanova. Villanova was “O.K” but it still wasn’t what she was looking for in a university. But true to the saying, “third time’s the charm,” Katie transferred to her final destination, University of Maryland. Here she takes classes, works part-time as a bartender at Blush in Washington D.C., and is a member of the Alpha Phi national sorority. As her final year as a Terp, Katie made the most of her Italian classes and is currently studying abroad in Rome for four months. She said to me “I just got here 1 week ago, and I am already sad that I will eventually have to leave.” Katie is planning to visit Greece and Crete next week and to also become a world traveler by the end of her study abroad. She told she misses her family and friends, especially her father but she playfully added to the end of our conversation, “I’ll be back in a few months, so until then, ‘When in Rome….’” To which I responded, “Do as the Romans do.”
- Colleen Wolfe
posted by Ron Bishop @ 3:18 PM
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A Single Mom Has Big Plans
The social networking website Myspace is one of the Internet’s most popular destinations. Its users are able to set up a personal profile meet new people, reach out to old friends, post multi-media items, and blog among other things. Using Myspace’s search tool, I too was able to catch up with an old friend.
I reached out to an old friend Keyla Wynn, who is a 22-year-old resident of Moreno Valley, California. She is currently employed as a manager at Radio Shack and is the proud parent of a baby girl.
After graduating from Moreno Valley High School in 2003, Keyla took some psychology classes at the Moreno Valley branch of Riverside Community College. However, Ms. Wynn only took classes there for one semester. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” Keyla said. “I knew I didn’t really want to do psychology, but I needed some time to think.”
After leaving school in January 2004, she began to work while trying to figure out what she wanted to do in life. While things remained steady for most of 2004, in the fall of 2005 her life changed forever. On October 3rd, 2005 she gave birth to a baby girl Kaelana Tanisha Johnson.
Now a mother of a young girl, Keyla is more determined than ever to make sure her baby has all of the things she never had growing up. Unlike her parents, “I gotta be there for my baby,” she said. “There were some things that I never got from my parents when I was a kid growing up that I want Kaelana to have. Most importantly, I know that I gotta support my daughter.”
With a new focus, Keyla is planning on re-enrolling at Riverside Community College in the fall, changing her major to Business Administration. She plans on transferring to a 4-year college in the Inland Empire area, like the University of California-San Bernardino, after doing two years at RCC.
She is no longer dating her baby’s father, Adrian Johnson, but they are still friends. She wants to get married and have more kids some day; however she has no interest or time to date anyone at the moment. Our conversation was the first one we’d had since early 2004.
- James Mason
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