The 60's Chicks in Person Part 1

These 16 women in the picture above are the marvelous, beautiful, friends I call the 60"s Chicks.

We met each other in 1966 when we became freshman nursing students at then Seattle Pacific College. Now University. We were anxious, we were eager, we were idealistic, we were afraid, we were excited but we were mostly young. We struggled through all the things that all young college girls struggle with. It was the 1960's so our world was really changing. The role of women was up for grabs. And the notion was rampant the God was Dead! The Hippie movement was alive and well . The military draft had just assigned lottery numbers to all our male friends. The war in Viet Nam was raging. We all had friends there who we wrote to regularly. We all lost friends there. We worried that the guys we dated had a low draft number-- maybe they would go too.

Beyond that we had things to learn. We learned to make beds so a quarter would bounce on it. We learned to give shots starting with giving them to each other. We learned that nursing students do NOT skip class, do NOT fall asleep in class and do NOT EVER get a "C". We NEVER could stay out late because we started in the hospital at 6AM. In our college days the guys were not allowed on our dorm floors. The girls had "in hours". 8:30 pm during the week our Freshman year. Midnight on weekends!! The guys who lived in the other side of the dorm loved to pull the fire alarms at 3 AM. We girls were requires to file out of the dorm ( I lived on the 5th floor) until the Housemother called an all clear. The guys? I just remember them lining their windows watching us all tromp through the night in our pajamas and curlers in our hair..

It was really during these long hours in dorm that I began to really know these girls.

Joyce Lager , the first girl I met when I went to preregister for classes. She lived in the Bellevue area and I lived in Boulevard Park so we could commute easily to early registration. She was sweet and kind. She didn't show that she was nervous. I thought she was very smart. ( and she was). She lived in Hill Hall too 2 floors below me, I think.

She became my friend who I would go to for reaasurance and encouragement. The one who could always make me feel ok even if I'd done something really stupid. She was the one who didn't always like the boys I dated and would tactfully say so!! Joyce is at the bottom right of the picture in a green shirt, right next to me.

Joyce is now Joyce Anderson, still works as a nurse, is married to a PHD, The mother of 4 children, 3 girls ,1 boy all college graduates. Her oldest daughter is finishing a residency in OBGYN. She has 2 grandsons . A Connor, too.

The bond of women who knew you "when" before life happened and who love you still after much of life has happened. The connection that is still there even though the communication wasn't always. Friendship is the most amazing thing.

When I sat down tonight I had intended to write about the cruise and the wonderful time we had together in one post, but then the memories came. It will be several more posts before I'm done, I believe.

I do , however remember turning 20 with these girls. Now next week I will turn 60( all but one other already have so I am almost the youngest) How quickly we went from Freshmen nursing students to "The 60's Chicks"

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain"

Thank God for my 60's Chicks