Every once in awhile, someone I don’t know invites me to a party, and those are the best kind. They broaden my knowledge of the community, bring some new faces to Neighbors and shake things up a bit.
So I was delighted when Joe Erickson invited me to the retirement party for his wife, Mary Ann. She was stepping down as chairwoman of the Exercise Science Department at Fort Lewis College after teaching there for 17 years. Before earning her doctorate from the University of New Mexico, Erickson taught for 17 years at the high school level, giving her a robust 34 years on the job of teaching people to live healthy lives and teach us to live healthy lives.
Held at the Lost Dog Bar & Lounge, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables so the decadent cupcakes for sweets didn’t make one feel too guilty, the party attracted colleagues from FLC, including President Dene Kay Thomas and Provost Barbara Harris, friends from the community, family from across the country and students whose lives she touched along the way.
Jim Cross, a fellow exercise science professor at FLC, gave the Scottish toast, more or less with the right accent, that includes, “May the best day you’ve ever had be the worst day you’ll ever have ...” (Sorry, Jim.)
Sandra Terrazas drove all the way from El Paso, Texas, for the celebration. A student of Erickson’s in 1980, she followed Erickson into the fitness sector by owning spas and a gym there. The two have run half-marathons together and don’t let more than a few months go by before they find a way to get together again.
Tasha Miera was Erickson’s student at De Vargas Junior High School in Santa Fe in 1993. And Ashleigh Tarkington, now the co-owner of the Billy Goat Tavern in Gem Village, was first a student of Erickson’s in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico, then followed her to FLC when Erickson began her body of work here. (Good pun for an exercise scientist, right?) Tarkington said that was despite – or perhaps in hindsight, because of – the fact that Erickson was one of the toughest professors she ever had.
I had a long conversation with Terrazas, who remembers Erickson coming by her home on Saturday mornings (after Terrazas had enjoyed El Paso High-style shenanigans the night before) to make her go for a run. By the time she finished telling the stories, Terrazas had made me want to get to know both Ericksons better.
I lost count at about 70, but I’d guess that more than 100 people stopped by. Because Erickson requested no gifts, guests honored her contributions to her students by donating $1,050 to the Exercise Science Scholarship at the FLC Foundation.
Erickson and her husband, who retired five years ago after teaching for 30 years at the high school level in New Mexico, have decided one thing for sure – they’re not moving away from Durango. But other than that, they’re going to do what they want to do when they want to do it, which I believe, in Webster’s, is the definition of retirement.
Many happy adventures in your new chapter!
abutler@durangoherald.com
