Catching up with Mary and her family

Editor's note: At Brien's St. Patrick's Day Parade party last month, Mary shared several pieces of news - and agreed to write them up for The Birch Street Web. Here is her account.

So much has changed, so I’ll just dive right in and start with myself. I decided to sell the townhouse I was living in, that I inherited from my mother, and I bought a house on Sacandaga Lake - 15 minutes from my son’s house, so, closer to the grandkids. I’m directly across the street from the lake and have lakefront rights.

I moved in last spring (2022) and spent a lot of time kayaking and then snowshoeing this past winter. It’s a cozy 3-bedroom, 1½ bath ranch with den and full basement on half an acre, perfect for me and my dog, Luna.

I rescued this little hound last March and she has been amazing so far - loves kayaking and going snowshoeing with me. (I had to put the Big Guy / the great dane down.) Roger and I have parted ways so it was perfect timing buying the house. I have incredible neighbors and the Sacandaga Brewery is less than 3 miles away (nice bike ride LOL).

I am switching positions at my job within my organization, the Boys and Girls Club of the Capital Area, which operates Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs at public schools in the area. I am currently the UPK Director for the Cohoes City School District. I oversee 8 classrooms and have 21 employees. But I will be transitioning to the role of Director of Operations and will be overseeing all 24 of our UPK classrooms in 3 different school districts (Albany, Watervliet, and Cohoes), with a staff of 56. I also will be overseeing the directors that run after-school programming and aquatics -- so, exciting times, venturing a bit outside of the Early Childhood world.

I am also starting a consulting company: WOO Consulting (Wise Old Owl), offering life coaching, spiritual life coaching and holistic healing. During the pandemic I became certified in all three areas. I have been running a free 6-week pilot program with 6 clients to get feedback on their experiences and overall impression of the coaching and goal-setting. So far, the follow up conversations have been incredible and so helpful. I am meeting with a business consultant to file a DBA and set up web-site and social-media platforms -- so more to come on that once I am up and officially running.

Now, updates on my children:

Brienna is still living in Saratoga with her boyfriend, Tommy, and is currently attending art school. She is concentrating on graphic design and seems to be loving it. (Photo: Brienna and Tommy with Barkley, a Christmas gift from Mary.)

Brienna's son, Cash, is turning 12 in August and is in middle school -- crazy how time goes by. He lives in Lexington, Ky., with his dad and stepmother, and has a baby brother who is now 6 months old. Brienna still sees Cash often throughout the year and every day on FaceTime -- thank goodness for social media.

Brennan and Shauna Rae and their kiddos, Brooklyn (11) and Brennan (8), are doing amazing. My son and his wife have both completed their Masters degrees. Brennan is currently a physical education teacher for Fulton/Montgomery Elementary School and Shauna-Rae is teaching special-education high school math in Broadalbin, as well as pursuing her administration degree. The kids are busy playing basketball, soccer, baseball and softball.

The family is thinking about relocating to Tampa, Fla., after the school year ends; their house just went on the market to see if this might be feasible. They might not be 15 minutes around the corner from me for long! But I reassured them that I will just book more frequent-flyer miles -- and the kiddos can still enjoy snow on their winter break, as they can spend it with me in NY!

Shannon and Mary

Shannon is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. She has been married for 3 years -- and she and her husband, Frederick, are expecting their first baby, a girl, in mid-July. 

The couple met when both were stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. (Their wedding was simple, with no reception; a friend of theirs married them. Young military, haha!) They later transferred to Eglin AFB in the Florida Panhandle, and bought a house in Crestwood, Fla. Frederick, who was a staff sergeant and medic in the Air Force, just separated from the service and is pursuing his degree in medicine through the GI Bill. Shannon works as a pharmaceutical technician at Eglin.

Shannon and Frederick

Brienna and Mary at the Terrapin Brewery in Athens Georgia - a pit stop on the way to see Shannon in Florida 

Giving thanks with family

We hope all our extended family enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Please share your pictures and stories!

This is the crowd at Doug and Lisa's home in Maryland, where they were joined on Friday by their daughter Liz; Doug's parents, Hugh and Dolores; Doug's sister Julie and her husband, Dan; Lisa's sister, Sue, and her husband, Dave; Lisa and Sue's brother, David, with his wife, Christine, daughter, Lawson, and son, Ben; and Christine's brother-in-law Sean with children Emma and Owen.

Julie and Dan joined the Maryland gathering after spending Thanksgiving with Marie, Brian and Xander in Virginia. After the long drive down from New Jersey, they enjoyed a wonderful feast prepared by Marie and had a fine time talking and relaxing. Fifth-grader Xander showed how he's using a simplified computer-coding program to create his own games and Brian talked about his latest Electric Catnip art projects.

Because Christine and Andy weren't able to make the trip, Dan and Julie celebrated an early Thanksgiving with them and Shannon the previous weekend.

Kathy posted this photo of herself and Bea enjoying "Thanksgiving Part Two" at Kathy's house over the weekend.

And Mary sent this photo from Ohio, where she spent Thanksgiving with her daughter Shannon, currently stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Catching up on recent career moves

With the new year under way, here are some updates on recent job moves by some of our family members.

Most recently: Shannon entered the U.S. Air Force just after Christmas, reporting to boot camp in Texas. "So proud of my girl for making such a life changing decision," her mom, Mary, wrote on Facebook.

In November, Genevieve moved from the New York Public Library to the Museum of Modern Art as manager of foundation relations. Genevieve had worked on foundation and government grants at the library since 2012, when she and John moved back east from California. She spent several months in the foundations department at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art before that.

Rick had a bit of a busy 2016, highlighted by his wedding to Shanna. He also completed his Ph.D from Rutgers University and started working in promotional medical education and medical marketing at Sudler & Hennessey in Warren, N.J.

Back in May, Shanna's brother Kevin joined HeBS Digital, which provides technology services to the hotel industry. He's a DevOps Engineer, developing software and working on all facets of the company's systems. His office is near Penn Station. Kevin previously spent about three-and-a-half years at Internap Network Services, based in Lower Manhattan.

Who else has made a move recently? Let us know!

It's official: Shannon enlists in USAF

Shannon officially became a United States Air Force recruit on Friday.

"Can easily identify today as one of the best days of my life - officially sworn into the world's greatest Air Force," Shannon posted on Facebook.

In joining the Service, Shannon follows her brother, Brendan, who completed a tour in the United States Marines.

"I am beyond proud," her mom, Mary, posted.

Shannon expects to be leaving Saratoga Springs on Dec. 31 to report to duty.

Brennan is back Stateside with his family

After a nine-month deployment in Japan, Brennan returned to North Carolina a few weeks ago, his grandmother Pat reports.

Above, Brennan, his wife, Shauna-Rae, and their daughter Brooklyn - who will turn two in December - are out for dinner at a local restaurant. At left, Brennan helps Brooklyn with a puzzle on the kid's menu.

Brennan is based at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Base. He's on a leave right now, and he, Shauna-Rae and Brooklyn are up in the Saratoga Springs area visiting their relatives.

Meanwhile, Brennan's sister Shannon has started sophomore year at Catholic Central High School, having transferred from Saratoga Springs High School. Her new school is not far from where her mom, Mary, works as director of the Head Start center in Stillwater, N.Y.

Here, Shannon poses with her nephew Cash, son of her sister, Brienna, and Clay. Cash turned two on August 6.

Brennan on leave before next assignment

Pat writes from Saratoga: "Brennan is now home on a two week leave. He will be going to the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va.,for 6 months more schooling next Friday. It is great to have him home!"

Brennan spent the past six months at Marine Aviation Training Support Group 21 in Pensacola, Fla., training with Aviation Maintenance Squadron 2.

Brennan now training in Pensacola

Brennan is now stationed at Marine Aviation Training Support Group 21 in Pensacola, Fla., where he will be training with Aviation Maintenance Squadron 2. He is expected to be in Pensacola for an extended period, and his bride, Shauna-Rae, has begun scoping out apartments nearby.

Previous articles:
Brennan and Shauna-Rae are married
More photos from the wedding

MATSG-21 is located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, on the Gulf Coast in Florida's panhandle. NAS Pensacola is the primary training base for all Navy, Marine and Coast Guard aviators and, among other things, home of the Blue Angels and of the National Naval Aviation Museum.

Brennan is engaged! Proposed before entering USMC

Brennan has taken two big steps recently: He has enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps - and is engaged to be married.

Brennan on the basketball court earlier this year.
He graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in June.

His grandmother, Pat, writes: "Brennan was supposed to leave for boot camp on Halloween. They called him up a week earlier so he left on Sunday the 24th of October. Luckily we had a farewell Halloween - Thanksgiving - Birthday - Christmas - New Year's Party for him a week earlier.

"His last night home he proposed to his longtime (since 7th grade)
girlfriend Shauna Rae -- and she said YES!"

A wedding is being planned for late January.