Have you seen my...?

Here comes the blog equivalent of opening the wallet. “Have you seen my pictures of the kids?” You should be surprised you’ve been spared this ritual for thirty-four installments, but now there’s a proximate cause for the first (yes, I’m going to get to all three). Courtney, second of two daughters and the middle child, plans to join us at Petit Le Mans next weekend, so for those who read this and will see us there, here’s a bio.

Courtney Aimee is married to David Short. Both are Captains in the United States Army, Air Defense Artillery, Patriot Missiles. Dave is in Okinawa, commanding a Patriot battery. Courtney is in the second year of a Master’s program (concurrently with a PhD, ex dissertation) in history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Courtney, born in 1977, was interested in history, writing, dance, and theater from an early age. She published poetry, appeared on high school and community theater stages, and also in the professional theater in Minneapolis-St. Paul – Actor’s Theater and the nationally-known Guthrie Theater. She was cast in Rachel River, an American Playhouse production released to a theatrical run in 1989. Courtney graduated from Eagan High School in Eagan Minnesota, having long since decided - in middle school - she’d go to Columbia University, which she did, earning a degree in history while commuting by subway for ROTC (they were paying the bills) at Fordham University (Columbia is happy to host tyrants and terrorists, but not so much ROTC students). At Columbia, she played intercollegiate rugby in the Ivy League.

Assignment to Korea was marked by personal tragedy, which she wrote about in Columbia College Today. After Korea she was assigned to Ft. Bliss, Texas, where she completed branch schooling, then taught at the Air Defense School, earned a Masters in Management from Webster University, commanded a Patriot battery, wrote articles for El Paso Magazine, and got married. She was selected for advanced civil schooling preparatory to an appointment to the United States Military Academy (West Point) faculty (beginning fall 2008), and started at UNC fall, 2006.