Classmates, you are going to enjoy Kyle’s story, just as we've enjoyed all the others. There is a simplicity to it, a down-to-earth feel that you cannot teach. It just has to come out of you. It’s a special virtue. We even have a 'bonus' section at the end that you'll love, a letter she wrote after she sent her story. She mentions Ruth Newman at one point, then mentions her daughter-in-law Courtney who is like the daughter she never had. Somehow, when I read that, I thought of Ruth in the Bible who had an amazing mother-in-law. I don't know, just hit me as very special.
As you read, you’ll soon see that Kyle’s real name now is not so much Kyle, anymore. It is 'Tutti.' I had to write her to make sure I had the name right, whether it is pronounced “Tut-ti” or “Tooti." She gave us the answer to that question in this note:
It is pronounced Tooti. In fact, some of the girls in high school would call me that or
Toots. It’s short for the song “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard which was released in
1956.
I suppose it is always good to have options. So, this weekend, when you see Kyle, feel free to call her either Tutti—that's ‘Tooti” – or Tutti Fruiti. Or, if you need to keep it succinct, just go with Toots. She’ll answer to any of the above, I’m sure, with love. 😊
Here's
CONNECTIONS
By
Kyle Hendricks Levin
In late-summer of 1974, I left LaGrange to attend Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was hard leaving everything and everyone I had ever known in life. I was terribly homesick when I first arrived but quickly came to love my years at Queens and made some lifetime friends during that time.
One of my dearest friends, Carey, and I met at a freshman social. She overheard me saying I was from LaGrange, Georgia, and she turned to me and asked if I knew Ruth Newman. Talk about it being a small world. It turned out she had met Ruth when we were in junior high on a cruise, and they kept in touch for a while. Carey and I were thick as thieves after that day.
In 1977, I met my future husband Jon, and we’ve been together since. We came from totally different backgrounds and cultures, but we knew we were meant to be soulmates. We married in 1982, had our oldest son Zachary in 1986 and our youngest son Matthew in 1989. Our little family was complete, and we settled in Charlotte to spend our lives.
When I finished college, I worked in the restaurant industry for a while. I’m sure it probably wasn’t what my parents had sent me to college for, but it was a valuable experience. I learned a lot about people in my time waiting on tables and managing a restaurant. That path led me to working at a food-distributor in the accounting department, and that job led me to an accounting career with a food-broker, first as a credit analyst then a controller.
In 2012, a larger food-broke in Florida bought our company. Since I had no interest to move there to climb the corporate ladder, I took a position as CFO for a multi-cultural health and beauty products distributor. In 2021 I retired from the industry to enjoy my next path in life.
It’s difficult summing up your life, but I feel it’s been a wonderful life. Like all of us, there have been peaks and valleys along the way, but I have to say that the peaks have far outweighed the valleys.
Jon and I have lost parents and friends through the years, but we have also gained a wonderful daughter-in-law, Courtney, along with two amazing grandchildren, Harlan and Neal. There is no greater feeling than a 3-year-old coming to hug you and saying, “I love you Tutti.”
Jon and I are now spending our time traveling and visiting family and friends. I’m looking forward to see what is left on our path of life.
Through all these fifty years since high school, I have still felt a connection to LaGrange. Even though I never lived there again after I went off to college, it still feels like home to me. Even to this day when someone asks me where I’m from I say, “Charlotte, North Carolina but I’m originally from LaGrange, Georgia.” I always look forward to coming back to spend time there.
Now that my parents are no longer living, I don’t get there as often anymore. But the memories are still just as sweet when I think back on my years there. We are all connected in some way; some of us date back to before kindergarten, others from junior high, and others from high school. In my mind, we all look the same as we did walking the halls of LSHS. I feel so lucky that these connections have stood the test of time.
I guess as they say: “I’m Granger-born and Granger-bred and when I die I’ll be Granger dead.”
_____
Bonus material!
P.S. from sb: I am glad to be able to share a letter Kyle wrote to me after we had seen her story. I think it tells us as much about our very nice classmate as the essay – a beautiful personal touch. Here it is, dated April 15, 2024:
Thank you, Steve, for your kind words. My family is the most important thing to me and I feel very blessed with mine. Even when I was working, my family was my main focus. I took to heart the saying, “No one ever wants written on their tombstone that they wish they had spent more time at the office.”
Who would have thought a Southern Baptist girl from LaGrange and a Jewish boy from Cincinnati would be a match made in heaven, but it has been. My sons Zach and Matt are my heart, and I couldn't ask for better ones. Courtney is the daughter I never had, and she is such a good person. After she and Zach had Harlan, it was like another level of love came to me. I never knew I could love a little girl so much.
Neal is 5 months old and such a happy baby. I can't wait to see what his personality is like as he grows. My grandmother-name ‘Tutti’ brings a smile to my face because that was the nickname my father gave me. He called all 6 girls by their nicknames; in fact, if he used your given name, there was a good chance you were in trouble, So when Harlan says it, I smile because of her and the memory of Daddy.
If you need me to expand on anything in the memoir, please let me know. Thanks for taking the time with this project. I think it's been a treat reading about our friend's lives. See you this weekend.
Kyle
***Loved this! Thanks, Kyle, from all of us of the Class of '74! God bless!
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