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Today's Featured Biography

 
Carolyn Freepartner Stroud

After three years of study in Elementary Education at the University of Louisville, I began my teaching career a year before graduation...there was such a shortage of teachers. Two years later, I moved to Princeton, NJ where my husband was finishing his degree in history. We were soon moving to Durham, NC where he completed his PhD at Duke and I earned a MEd in Special Education. I had the honor of developing one of the first departments in the area of Learning Disabilities in NC and publishing a book about my approach and techniques.

As happens with so many young students, when we moved it was in different directions. My work took me to Raleigh to teach in the public schools where I married again, built our dream house and became pregnant with my daughter. Six months later, we were transferred to Wilmington, NC as Mr. Stroud was made Director of CAMA and I became a mother, teacher of Learning Disabled kids, etc, My son was born two years later and I added head driver of kids to after school activities. Susan was a dancer, creative artist, fighter for women's rights and gifted student. Trey, on the other hand, was gifted, but in violin, soccer, boy scouts, youth leader and lover of humanity. Susan went to the University of NC to be a doctor and ended up with a Master's in Social Worker. Trey found his place in life at college and leading youth with his guitar and his free spirit to love our Lord.

Mr. Stroud was a talented protector of marine life on the eastern coast, but had little patience otherwise. When both children were in college, I moved into a condo and put all my extra time into my teaching, leadership roles in the school system and a Christian support group called Via de Cristo. My church became my family as I joined the choir, taught SS, was active in feeding the homeless and spent a great deal of time helping my aging parents who had moved to NC. One horrible night as I crawled into bed, I received a call that my son was found unconscious at home and that my pastor was on his way to take me to the hospital. When we arrived I was surprised to see neighbors, church members and friends waiting for me there. It was then explained to me that my son had inhaled a substance called Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and his heart had stopped. We donated his organs as we thought he would want, to help over 100 other people. I joined a group called "compassionate friends" and continued teaching. After school, I would spend hours staring into space trying to understand why and how this unbearable thing had happened. On weekends I would sleep the time away or work until I dropped in my yard.

Five years later, I began to feel relief from the pain. In the meantime, my father died, my mother died and I was struck down with cancer. All the folks I mentioned above, lifted me up in those years and carried me through life. They let me cry in the middle of church in the choir or at movies or when I heard a certain song or when someone mentioned his name. My greatest relief came from the beach where I would walk and pray by the hour. My daughter married a wonderful man that I prayer out of Heaven for her and they now are the parents of my precious 4 year old granddaughter, Piper.

The last four years have included many, many hours on the road between Wilmington and Atlanta so I would not miss one minute of her life. This summer, Piper and I hung out together, looking for worms, bugs and pretty rocks in the yard. We grew a tomato garden and made a Fairy yard. We played all kinds of ball, practiced ballet and did endless art projects.

In addition to my children, I enjoy traveling (besides NC to GA) and have seen almost all of our states, Mexico, the Caribbean and am planning my 5th trip to Europe. I love working in the yard, reading, music and the Lord. One of my most wonderful gifts, has been to reunite with my Southern High School classmates. Hopefully, I will have the chance to get to know more about my school family in the years to come.

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