Michael (Mike) Benestante

Happy Birthday, Debbie! Hope your day goes well. ????

Steve Harwell, This is a landmark one for you my friend! Here’s hoping that you have an outstanding day and your best year yet. Happy Birthday, Steve!

Happy Birthday, Steve! Hope your day goes well. Maybe we can hook up before October of '21.

I met Claudia while at Waltrip where we shared a couple of classes. Though we exchanged pleasantries, I didn’t get to know the real Claudia until our senior year. It was at Saint Ambrose catechism classes that we got acquainted.

There were only a handful of students in our class so the opportunity to interact was inevitable. Saturday afternoon theology class wasn’t the coolest activity for seventeen-year old’s but somehow in her own way Claudia stuck out with her opinions and smile. Her brashness in challenging the clergyman on antiquated religious matters I recall vividly. She was different than a shy kid who often looked at the clock for the hour to be over.

We didn’t meet again until  three years later where at the Galleria we had a chance encounter. I was working at the Houston Oaks hotel as a bellboy while attending Saint Thomas majoring in nothing. Ms. Korczynski was also an undergraduate student, but her future was solidly laid out. She was going to nursing school and was committed to that endeavor. At some point she mentioned that she was looking for a job at one of the boutiques. Having a good relationship with a restaurant manager at the hotel, I suggested to try there. A couple of weeks later she came by the service desk in the uniform of a Coffee Garden waitress! It was from that point forward that I got to know the real Claudia.

We dated for two or three months. My memory of her personality included outspokedness and humor with a tad of sarcasm thrown in. In particularly I recall her gift for conversation and her ability to out talk me (no simple feat). Opiniated and assertive, she was unlike any girl who I had known with my limited social life. I was a little intimidated as well.

One evening sticks out in my memory that involved another classmate, my best friend Mike Kalousek. Michael asked Claudia why she was so certain about nursing school. Her answer was typical “Claudia”, “Well, I already bought the shoes”. We were both stumped as to whether she was putting us on or indeed she owned a pair of nursing shoes. Years later I finally figured out that it was a bit of both her humor and intelligence. She used those shoes as a motivation factor to attain her degree. At the end of the summer we went our separate ways, largely due to the fact that Claudia was much more intelligent than me and  the maturation process had escaped me to that point.

Earlier this year we connected through Facebook and continued our friendship. Her wit and humor were still obvious, and she was well informed on entertainment and the environment. In early August I contacted Claudia to invite her to the Oak Forest Original’s reunion. She declined and mentioned that she had a procedure scheduled soon thereafter and didn’t want to push it. We caught up on our families, and I learned her husband had died much to young.

Later that month she expressed in detail her struggles with various afflictions. I tried to empathize the best that I could but much of her explanation was over my head and technical since she was drawing knowledge from 30 some odd years as an emergency room nurse. Later while at MD Anderson for the operation she sent a correspondence which left me in awe of her courage. Later still Claudia sent a final correspondence which demonstrated both contentment and peace. Despite the cancer and another debilitating disease- she was brave.

Claudia was one of a kind. Although she experienced early departure, she lived a full life. Through her family, our classmate will have an enduring legacy with children and grandchildren. Sorry for being so wordy, but Claudia left a positive impact on me that I won’t forget. To express humor throughout one’s life and to possess faith during our final challenge is something we can only admire and hope to imitate. I feel fortunate to have known her and to have benefitted from her attributes.

Mike

Posted on: Jun 30, 2019 at 10:48 AM

Posted on: Jul 31, 2018 at 1:05 PM

Happy Birthday, Craig! Hope it was a memorable one.

Posted on: Jul 22, 2018 at 6:12 PM

Welcome aboard to the coolest reunion website! Hope you can make the big 50th reunion.

Happy Birthday, Wanda! Have a memorable celebration.

Posted on: Jun 09, 2018 at 6:26 AM

Welcome aboard the Waltrip website, Steve! Look forward to seeing you soon...:)