When I began to re-enter the world of classics, after eight years of teaching English at Miss Porter's School, I came upon an advertisement for the Summer Institute and decided to attend. The summer session seemed tailor-made for me, as it offered a chance to reconnect with the field and to meet other Classicists. I did not dream at the time how much a part of my professional and personal life CANE would become.

The session was the second of an Institute that has just completed its 23rd year. I remember standing in line to register and meeting Joe Desmond and Susan Brown. Joe became an inspiration for my own teaching of Vergil and Susan a generous and loyal friend. I remember students from Matt Wiencke's fraternity carrying my bags to my room. I could pick up the books for my courses in the dorm itself; they were already paid for by Humanities Councils' grants. The CSI has, of course, had to give up such luxuries as student porters and free books, but the ethos of the Institute remains the same. I recall taking wonderful courses from Matt Wiencke and Edward Bradley and listening mesmerized to Gloria Duclos's lectures on Greek poetry. Gloria became a dear friend, and I miss her greatly. I will never forget how Matt brought European art into his talks –his lecture on Michelangelo's Last Judgment was breathtaking. Edward's lectures, with their breadth of knowledge and skill in communicating to an audience made up of teachers of various fields and of a diverse group of devotees of the Classics, ranging from Martha Dalton, who ran an auto body business to John Sullivan, a retired member of the foreign service, have remained paradigms for me of how to give just the right lecture. Gloria, Matt, and Edward, founders of the CSI, were its backbone. Together they created a mechanism for demonstrating the lasting importance of Classics to the Humanities and a place where the role of Classics in a changing world could be reaffirmed. CANE is fortunate to have had three such devoted members.

From my first CSI, I was hooked on CANE, attending annual meetings, giving papers, and serving the organization in a number of capacities. CANE has been for me and for many many others, far more than a place to reconnect with Classics. CANE's staunch support of the Classics has served me in many ways. Its collegiality between teachers and professors, the life-blood of the organization, will always flow in my veins.