Happy Birthday, Alice

The first time I saw Alice was in December, 1973 when I went to work on maintenance at the local Texas Instruments plant in Johnson City. I quit a good job as construction electrician in Rome, Ga. to be a part of a new plant which was involved in producing electronic and electromechanical devices. Working close to home was the big draw for me. I met Alice’s husband Fred about a month before she and I were formally introduced. Come to find out that both Fred and Alice were from Morehead,  Kentucky which is only a few hours drive from Johnson City. However, they transferred to J.C. from another T.I. plant in Austin, Tx.; they were homesick for the hills too, I suppose. Alice and Fred soon bought a house in J.C. and began raising their little girl, Vanessa, in a new environment.

Unhappily, Fred died in 1980 and I thought Alice would move back to Morehead where most of her close kin lived but she decided J.C. was her future and the city and community are fortunate she stayed.
I have known Alice for forty years and she has been a blessing in mine and my family’s lives. Happy Birthday, Alice. I hope we are friends for forty more of them.