Rupa Mathur
We enjoy our International Club meetings because it gives us a venue to share our culture and cultivate friendships. We have continued holding our meetings since my last update.
Our April meeting was held at Eileen Whitaker’s home on April 19, 2018. Our hostess had prepared BBQ sliders and the members brought an appetizer or dessert to share and their own drink. I could not attend the meeting but I was told that everyone had a wonderful time.
Our May meeting was held at my house on 9429 Grandview Drive, on Thursday, May 17. We had several delicious appetizers, desserts and drinks. We had our party on the patio and were able to socialize and mingle easily as well as enjoy the outdoor view of the golf course. There were approximately twenty people at the event. We had several new members attend and were very happy to get to know them.
I had some sad news to share with the members. Our long-time member Farida Yousry Saleh from Egypt passed away on May 14, 2018. She immigrated to the United States in 1968. She worked for the City of Dallas, Texas A&M and University of North Texas. She retired from the University in 2005 and in December of that year she was designated Professor Emeritus by the UNT Board of Regents for her distinguished service.
Marie-Christine Koop, our club’s president, had known Farida for many years as she and Farida were colleagues at UNT and had lost touch until they met again at Robson Ranch. I also got to know Farida before she moved to Robson Ranch. At that time, she was teaching at University of North Texas. I had invited her to our club gatherings a few times. She was a very gentle and kind person. She will be dearly missed.
Our June meeting was held at James Gallacher’s home. He is one of our new members. He had seventeen members attend the meeting. I was not able to join the event, but I was told by Dennis Ogren that they enjoyed the meeting.