My first stop was with Joel & Bonnie in Maryland on my way to Virginia. I arrived about 10 AM and stayed for lunch. My next stop was in Bridgewater with the lady who had been my supervisor on my work/study job in the library at JMU. We have stayed in touch throughout the years and this was the second time I visited her on one of these summer trips.
My next stop was the highlight of the three days. In 1979 when I moved to Virginia, I was working at CLP with Doug Cyzick. He and his wife Reba frequently invited some of his coworkers to their house for an evening. I learned to know Reba and their seven children. Since then, Doug has left the family and is currently living in Tennessee. His children have grown up. His wife is remarried. He has quite a few grandchildren. But, I had not seen the family since 1985 when I moved back to Pennsylvania. A year ago I noticed the one daughter's name on facebook and began communicating with her. She told me that she and her siblings would like to see me sometime when I come to the area. The beginning of the summer I told her that I will be coming sometime this summer. It took me until the beginning of August to get that accomplished. Wednesday evening the Cyzick family got together for a potluck supper because I was in the area. I was glad Regina had posted pictures of everyone on facebook so that I could recognize them when I got there on Wednesday. Here is a picture of Reba and the Cyzick children as I remember them. Next is one of Reba and her seven children today. The last one is Reba and her husband Garry, the seven children and their spouses (not all of them could be there) and their children.
Back row Shannon, Amy and Jody,
Front row: Andy, Ethel, Reba holding Stephanie, and Regina
Thursday I went for breakfast with Sharon, a friend from my Rosedale days (1977-1979), who lives in Harrisonburg. Then I went to CLP and took a tour of the place guided by one of my friend Sarah's nieces. It was interesting to see all the changes that have been made since the mid 1980s. I also saw several people who were working there when I did and are still working there. From there I went to Rockingham Memorial Hospital to the Hahn Cancer Center and sat with Sarah while she finished chemo treatment #2. On our way home from the hospital we stopped at Costco and Walmart to get some of her prescriptions filled. One of those was for Emend, an anti-nausea medication, that Mary had also taken. We always wondered how much it cost because Mary's co-pay was $100 for three pills. Sarah does not have medical insurance so I found out how much it really is. Each pill costs just over $100. In the evening I went to visit Ralph and Evelyn Landes.
Friday morning I spent an hour with Hilda Harlow. She was as entertaining as always. She was talking about her dog that she had before she moved to the retirement community. She said, "Heather was everybody's friend. She was friends with all the burglars and everybody. I never had any burglars, but she would have been friends with them." She was also telling me that she has more money now than she did before she fired herself (retired). That's Hilda--unique and entertaining. On my way home, I stopped at the United Zion Campground near Manheim to help Mary Martin cook for the Youth Conference there. After supper, I came home and started unpacking.
Vacation is over, but I have a lot of pleasant memories from all the visiting I did with friends from 1977-1985. Today I am trying to catch up from being gone for three days, and Monday I will be going to school to begin the process of getting ready for the students to return in less than three weeks.
