ABSTRACT
Midlife is often considered a risky time, not to be celebrated as one’s best years. But I believe this period has been much maligned. You’ve figured out what you want to do; you have your health and strength, a home and some friends. Best of all, it seems to me a very productive time. It was for us. We had a home we loved, good friends, good students, and work that we could hardly wait to do. Our two children were handsome, smart, and charming. Furthermore, they went away to prep school. The Ithaca High School was not too good, so the fall following our return from Oxford, Jerry went off to Deerfield Academy, near our old home in Northampton. We knew of it (only good things) from friends at Smith who had sent their sons there. Deerfield was very generous to us financially, too. Jean was still at home for a while, and then she went off to Northfield School for Girls, also in Massachusetts. The Northfield girls had to do a little housework, as well as study, and that was just fine. Both schools were a great success. And what were the parents doing, meanwhile? We were working.
