Silver Girls
The Silver Jubilee of Maryknoll College Class of 1968 was the first class reunion that Milette and I attended together. It also would be the last. She and other departed classmates will be with us only but always in spirit as we celebrate future class reunions. This page is dedicated to a memory of an extraordinary year that culminated in a stretch of three days in August 1993 – Friday the 27th through Sunday the 29th – at the Maryknoll Motherhouse in Ossining, New York. That weekend and for a long time afterwards, our hearts full with the support and welcome of the Maryknoll Sisters, we burnished the blue and gold with a touch of glorious silver.
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Our time to shine – A 1970s hit song by Simon & Garfunkel celebrates a “silver girl” whose time had come to sail in the sun toward the fulfillment of her dreams. Setting a lyrical theme for this celebratory page, the joy of the silver milestone shines through in the smiles of classmates, undimmed through these 22 years.
The schedule for Saturday, August 28, called for "8:00 a.m. Group Pictures (front steps of main bldg. and at the grotto)." The photo above was one of two official class pictures commemorating the silver jubilee at the Maryknoll Motherhouse.
Front row: Agnes Cuatico, Maria del Rosario Mondello, Evelyne Rosal McFeaters, Susie Ramos Montermoso, Milette Estrada (d. 2014), Gely de Leon Khanna, Lorna Cayco Cruz. Second row: Alice Altiveros, Josette del Rosario Adams, Laura Navarro Black, Anita Figueras Stricoff, Ludy Villanueva Furlong, Patsy Davis Price (MCHS’64), Alice Edano. Third row: Marissa Munda Tay, Precy Florentino, Nani Sta. Romana Franco, Tere Valenton Concepcion, Maity Araneta Holigores (MCHS’64), Med Villanueva, Rorit Marco Mendoza, Joy Santiago Uytioco. Top row: Edith Alcantara, Tubbie Rose Fernandez (d. 2006), Tati Luciano Pennington (MCHS’64), Eloisa Gonzalez Poblador (MCHS’64), Amelia Sinco Guzman (MCHS’64), Cora Kilayco Kinoshita, Lynette Villanueva.
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A wholehearted embrace – Milette had a key role in organizing the reunion and was an active participant in the weekend’s program. Below at left is a miniaturized copy of her letter of March 13, 1993, which gives a flavor of her work. In it, she identifies and explains registration costs, provides logistics, and encourages classmates to “get our checks and forms" ... (to) make that dream of coming together again ... a reality.”
CLICK ON THE MINIATURE LETTER BELOW TO VIEW IT IN FULL:
A historical detail: 22 years plus 10 days after Milette wrote this letter, classmates in California would be gathering in her parish to bid her farewell with a memorial Mass. The scope of Milette’s contribution to the jubilee weekend of 1993 came up earlier this year when Lorna Cayco Cruz was making arrangements for Milette's memorial Mass, held March 23, 2015. Conferring with the parish priest in charge at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa, and another priest who was Milette's confessor, Lorna was asked to provide insights about her late classmate. Lorna recalled that the most complete picture she could offer was Milette’s wholehearted embrace of the reunion. In addition to supporting the venue for the gathering, Milette brought her guitar from Southern California to the Motherhouse, provided music and led prayers for scheduled meditation and worship services. Indeed, Milette’s name appears twice in the program: on Saturday the 27th, she is listed for “Prayer service” at 6:30 p.m. in Forum (the assigned room) and on Sunday the 28th at 9:30 a.m. for “Mass with the community” in the Main Chapel.
Welcome! – On the afternoon before the official start of reunion events, we are a busy trio: from left, Josette del Rosario Adams, Lorna and I color a welcome sign in Forum I. At the time, Milette was busy preparing for her assigned tasks as described above.
In addition to her responsibilities detailed above, Milette served as co-editor of the silver jubilee newsletter Breakthrough Revisited. Published in four editions from December 1992 to December 1993, the newsletter took its name from BREAKTHROUGH, the yearbook of Class 1968. Milette was an enthusiastic editor and contributor, providing pen and ink sketches that she signed. Her article in the first edition (and one of her sketches as space allows) will be featured in a future page of this memorial.
“Milette reflected often that many friendships blossomed or deepened in the early 1990s as we prepared for our momentous 1968 silver jubilee at the Maryknoll Motherhouse in Ossining, New York. She was right – for it was there that we spent meaningful time together, both as a class and individually. The bonding that occurred between us – and certainly with other classmates – grew over the years into an enduring appreciation of our Maryknoll sisterhood.” – From Evelyne McFeaters' tribute Peace and Good Voyage, Milette (March 23, 2015, in “Our Friendship” tab).
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Reunion redux – Although Milette and I drew closer during the silver jubilee festivities in Ossining, it was Josette del Rosario Adams who visited my home during that season of celebration. Barely five weeks after the reunion, from October 2-4, 1993, Marvin and I welcomed Josette to our home. In my photo album, 15 pages immediately following the jubilee pictures are all about Josette’s visit: inside the house, strolling in the woods surrounding our house, shopping, visits to church and museum, and – my goodness! – two pages of me in fencing gear because, according to the handwritten caption, “Josette wanted to see movements of fencing, so Evelyne does a few.” (Oh, what I’d do for friends!)
A strong link in the chain – There were times it seemed that Milette (above, right) strengthened the links between friends who already were friends. (Detail from class group photograph at grotto.)
Silver Girls again – Above, in first photo at left: I and Josette (right) point to our images in the silver jubilee commemorative book Lead Onward. Our biographical sketches happened to be laid out on facing pages. In photo at right, clad in our souvenir t-shirts, we each hold a copy of the commemorative book. We are standing in front of a bookcase in my home library, on the top shelf of which are arranged memorabilia of Class 1968 and the silver jubilee. The display was especially prepared for Josette's visit.
Our "silver stuff" – The photographs below show the jubilee mementos in two groups. In the first group at left: left to right, Lead Onward; a flower-printed accordion pouch (also seen in the bookcase shelf at right) that contained all the jubilee mementos; a silver Towle picture frame holding the reunion class photograph (the lead photo at the top of this page), and the blank journal "A Woman's Notebook" for personal reflections. The second group at right shows (in addition to items identified in the first group) a copy of Breakthrough, the Class 1968 yearbook; a silver pen; and a pink button on which is imprinted in green lettering “Class of 1968 Jubilee Reunion – Celebrate our 25 Years! Maryknoll, N.Y. August 1993.” The souvenirs were thoughtfully selected and organized by Lorna.
An accidental souvenir – The pink decorative fan atop the bookcase at right comes with a story. During the reunion, a group of classmates stopped in Tarrytown (I forget why). It was a very hot day. We were standing on the sidewalk across a novelty shop. I asked Marvin to buy a fan, or anything I could use to cool off. He came back with this ornamental fan – in scale, almost twice the size of the silver book cover. A unique abaniko indeed, and a conversation piece for Josette's amusement during her visit.
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Six years would pass before Milette's visit to my home in 1999. Looking back at the time that bridged the 1993 reunion and our 1998 Golden Voyages pilgrimage, I know now that Milette was drawing me to the idea of traveling with her for a life-changing spiritual adventure.
But on this summer day in 2015, like a scent of lilacs on a passing breeze, a vivid recollection is suddenly before me. Milette and I are once again in Ossining, 1993. The Saturday evening schedule before supper reads, "Socials/entertainment (Lounge I)." As classmates drift in, Milette sits on a stool plucking at her guitar strings, her thoughts seemingly elsewhere. I am nearby. Then she says to me, "Lynne, let's sing something."
We choose the Paul McCartney song "In My Life." We sing of places we remember, etched in our hearts with people who were there. We sing of memories held with deep affection, and of friends who made them with us. We sing, like a promise, that we will “often think about” these places, these people, because they were in our life.
©1993 Ossining, New York photograph of classmate trio, ©1993 Virginia photographs of Josette Adams visit, ©1993 and 2015 Virginia photographs of Maryknoll memorabilia; by Evelyne R. McFeaters
Milette Estrada letter, silver Jubilee class group photograph and detail of Evelyne and Milette from class group at the Motherhouse grotto are from Evelyne’s personal collection