Excerpted from The Cliff Notes,
Cliff College's Alumni/ae Magazine, 15 September, 1995:
Class of 1973
A first-time missive from an old friend brings news of Melinda
Dorsey: "Well, I've put this off for nearly a quarter century but
couldn't anymore, now that Cliff is, once again, going to be an important
part of my life (and my biggest expense!). As this goes to print, my son,
Dylan Atkins will be matriculating as a member of the Class of 1999 at Cliff!
Boy, talk about memories!! The last time I was on campus was the day that
KAREN LEIGH got married and I eloped with TOM ATKINS a week after we graduated. Well, that was a
mistake. We moved to Manchester, New Hampshire where I worked as a bookeeper at a small electronics
firm so that Tom could concentrate on writing his poetry and commuting to Durham where he was getting his
doctorate. We probably would've split when he finished his degree, but
by then I was pregnant. By Dylan's 3rd birthday, I'd had enough of NOT
being the necessary muse my husband-the-poet needed (there was a perfect
muse, as most of us always knew, but SHE was smart enough never to get involved
with Tom). Anyway, the small electronics firm was relocating to Des Moines,
so Dylan and I relocated, too. So far as I can tell, it took Tom several
months to notice we were gone and several years to get around to signing
the no-fault (yeah, right-- my fault for marrying a man obsessed with someone
else) divorce decree. So, for the past fifteen years, I've been a single,
working mother whose time has been more than filled with my obligations
at work (where I am now the Chief Financial Officer of that electronics company)
and my commitments to mom-stuff. I'm pleased to report, that's been just
fine with me. Dylan's a fine young man with a bit of the poet in him, too
(you can't divorce the gene pool, can you?); though he vents his sensitivity
as an aspiring actor-director. I think he's the best thing since Laurence
Olivier, but I'm his mother; a critic here in Des Moines did compare Dylan's
performance as Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" favorably
to that of Gavin Macleod at the Des Moines Dinner Theatre last year, though!
Well, that's about it. I'm looking forward to suffering from some of that
empty nest syndrome I read is going around, and then, I suppose, I'll have
to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. One thing I do know--
I'll be visiting Cliff pretty regularly for the next four years and look
forward to seeing some (if not all) of the old gang again."
Back to Cliff Notes