Letter from Hilda to EJ

Hilda, you write a nice letter!

Hello Ella Joy,

I will try this again. Typed a nice long e-mail earlier but got interrupted so many times it timed out on me before I could submit it. I'll try to be more brief this time. I live about 35 miles from Tallahassee, FL in the small town of Whigham, GA. We moved here in'84 and I guess this is where I will remain. I lost my husband of 43 years to colon cancer in Sept. of 2005, then I retired from working with the State of Florida in '07. Have been on the road a lot since then; went on a cruise with some friends last May and will be going again in April. Then I am going to Portland, Oregon and spend the summer with my sister and her family. Looking forward to both trips; also being away from the southern heat and humidity for the summer. Have also made three trips to Kentwood to visit my dad and brother Jim and his family. Dad is 88 and has health problems but recently has been diagnosed with alzheimers. I try to get over there often to spend time with him. Jim, the middle brother, and his wife Lavern live approximately two miles from him so that is good. My oldest brother Bill, known as Marion in school, and his wife Sue live in Bay St Louis. They too suffered damage from Katrina but not as badly as it sounds like you did. I am so sorry that you lost your home and possessions, hopefully no one in your family was hurt. Unfortunately we lost Dave to cancer in November, 2005, just two months after Lionell, my husband died. It was extremely hard to lose both of them so close together. Dave and his family just lived 10 miles from us and the four of us did a lot of things together. Nancy, as I said, lives in Beaverton, Oregon which is a suburb of Portland. I'm really looking forward to spending time with her this summer. I have two children, son Mike, and daughter Kim. Mike has two step children which I consider my grandchildren and Kim has two children. Mike's are a girl (15) and boy (6) and Kim also has a daughter (21) >and son (17). I have a great grand-son who will be two in March, and a great grand-daughter due in April. Charlie, Kim's son graduates from high school this year and plans to go to college. Kim has also gone back to school and is taking Criminal Justice. My daughter-in-law is in school to become a high school teacher. Mike is a supervisor at Timken Bearing Plant in Cairo, GA, about 10 miles from where we live. Kim works in an office for Carolina Carport Co., they build and install the metal carports you might see around as well as other buildings. She is very fluent in Spanish and this helps her a lot. Most of the guys that do the building and installing are of Spanish or Mexican descent. That's about it in a nutshell for now. I am so glad to be in touch with you and if I had known you were in Hammond I would have looked you up when I was in Kentwood. Send me your phone number and I will give you a call the next time I come over. Maybe we can get together and really get caught up. My home number is 229-762-4810; cell is 229-977-5854. Again, great hearing from you. Hilda Carter Swaim