What? No record player?

As fall of 1971 approached, we were filled with nervous anticipation. Such butterflies! We must have been advised by the college to write our roommates an introductory letter. Julie Berens kept mine and surprised me by returning it this summer. She wrote: “Thought you’d enjoy this blast from the past!” Reading it made me chuckle. I would have been incredulous had you told me then that I’d still be in touch with Julie (and Jan) and so many of you all these decades later!

Sept 7, 1971

Dear Julie-

Thanks for your note (the paper’s great!) It is reassuring to hear from you and Janet [Roberts]—it makes me feel more comfortable. I know only one other girl who’ll be there. In a way, that’s fun and exciting. Sometimes, though, the anxiety nearly does me in!

I’m from a family of four too—my sister Terry will be a sophomore at Princeton, my brother Dave, a soph at the high school, and John will be in 7th grade. Then there’s old Pluto, our senile 13-yr-old golden retriever, who deserves recognition because he’s been part of the family longer than John.

Concord is a medium-sized town, about 14,000. I have no place to compare it to since I’ve always lived here. I’ll be glad to get to Williamstown, though—the humidity here has been unbelievable.

I think I’ll leave the rest for you to find out. I think the best way to describe me is that I’m an outdoor person. I just love anything that takes place outside (there are exceptions—obviously!) I won’t go into that further.

Guess that’s about it. I’m afraid I haven’t got a record player yet either—maybe we will have to whistle! We’ll see—somehow we can round up a music maker of some kind.

Don’t jump to any conclusions about me from this—it’s got to be the most carelessly scribbled off thing I’ve ever written. [something messily scrawled out] (I’ve got to pull myself together!)

See you soon—

                  take care till then,

                                    Nancy [smiley face]