Juliette Dunn Petion
Having just checked the recent blogs, I see that Veronique (Marchal) has gotten hers up. Since she and I made a deal to write blogs before the reunion, I guess it’s my turn.
After high school, I went to Holy Cross and majored in French and Russian. That may seem like an utterly impractical choice, but the French part turned out to be more useful than I could have ever imagined. Subsequent to college, I spent a year teaching English in Brive, France, where I met a charming, young Frenchman named Laurent. We were married in 1994 and Veronique was my maid-of-honor. It was handy having her at the ceremony because she was able to translate the best man’s toast into English while censoring out (most of) the embarrassing parts.
In 1993, I changed my focus to Russian and enrolled in a MA/PhD program at Brown University. While in graduate school, I had the opportunity to study in Prague and in Moscow. I learned a great deal in these two beautiful, culturally and historically rich cities, though I should note that I acquired an appreciation for American toilet paper.
I graduated from Brown in the spring of 1999, and then began teaching Russian language and literature at Holy Cross as an adjunct. Our first son, Cedric, was born two years later. The 6 years I spent teaching at HC were very rewarding, but the commute between Providence and Worcester was tricky with a child in daycare. The birth of our second son, Justin, coincided with my departure from the college. It has been a real treat to stay home with the boys - now almost 7 and 2.5 - and not worry about illnesses, snowstorms, and the like. Of course, some days by late afternoon things start to breakdown. Tonight, as I was cooking dinner, I realized that my youngest was suspiciously quiet. Turns out he was scribbling on the family room rug with a blue crayon. Three hours later, I’m smiling about it, though I’m pretty sure the hard lemonade helped. On the topic of my children, I have to say that they adore Veronique. She’s as much fun now as she was 20 years ago.
I’ve stayed somewhat active professionally by organizing home stays for French students, doing French tutoring, and writing a bit. This year I have an article coming out on a writer who’s actually not too obscure - his name is Andrei Makine and he wrote a novel called Dreams of My Russian Summers, a popular choice for book clubs. I’ll probably return to teaching in the future, but for now I’m content with sporadic projects.
I have enjoyed hearing about everyone’s lives since DHS. So far, it looks like I’m the only one in the Providence, RI, area. If anyone else is around, please don’t hesitate to look me up. See you all next week!
