Graduated from U. of Cincinnati 1963, BSN (Nursing). Married Rich Royalty Dec. 1962. Had a "commuter marriage," before that was common, my last semester at UC. Rich was in Seminary in Delaware, OH. We saw each other during school breaks and on weekends.

Worked for Cincinnati Health Dept. as an RN that summer, moved to the Seminary for Rich's last year of school. In Columbus I was a nurse consultant for the Franklin Co. Retarded Children's program, during the time that retardation was being brought "out of the closet," people were just learning how to help these children, and we were learning how to help the parents.

When Kennedy was assasinated, I was sitting in a pre-school for retarded children. I will never forget the hush which fell over that room when the children and teachers were told what had happened.

Charles was born 3 weeks after Rich finished Seminary. Busy month: 1st child, 1st house, 1st church as a pastor's wife.

Tim was born 1964. We moved again when he was 3 wks old. I was a stay-at-home mom til the boys were in school.

Many moves, many churches, many great friends, amazing experiences, joys, and trials in Rich's 40 years of ministry.

When we did "Papa Was a Preacher" as our senior class play, I remember saying, "I will never marry a preacher." Never say "never."

For 7 years our church was in Belpre, and it was nice being close to "home," being able to care for my mother during her cancer treatment and demetia. Enjoyed renewing old Marietta friendships.

Worked in Long Term Care for 26 yrs and earned a national certification in Gerontology. Did a great deal of teaching and staff development during those years.

Had fun working in Family Practice for a few years in a small town. The doctor was from that small town and knew everyone. Of course, they all knew HIM also! Confidentiality was a big issue in that job!

The past 11 years, I have been doing Hospice Care. Although I "retired" at 62, I still worked part time for Hospice here in the mountains of KY for 8 more years.
One of the biggest challenges of that job was finding my way around the 6 counties Hospice served. Living in the mountains in WV as a child, I was not driving! And we stuck to the main roads. Not so here! I have experienced a new culture. Directions might be, "turn thar by the black barn whar the brown cows is a-standin, the farm where Miz Lucy used to live." They did not mention that the barn is now red or that Miz Lucy died 20 yrs. ago! 12/31/2010, I retired! Still work a day now and then.

Rich retired in 2002 and we moved to Berea,KY, where we own our first home, having always lived in houses provided by the churches he served. Our neighbors are great (two of them have ties to the tiny village of Glen Ferris, WV, where I was born) and Berea is a neat small town. The college here has no tuition, with students from all over the world qualifying with high grades and low income. Every student must work to pay board and room.

My "spare time" has been spent singing, gardening, sewing, knitting, painting (am taking a watercolor class now, after doing oil painting previously).

For 10 yrs I volunteered with the United Methodist Church in ministry to persons living with or touched by HIV/AIDS. What an incredible experience of learning and loving in a new "sub-culture."

Another exciting cultural experience was 5 trips to a border town in Mexico with a VIM Medical Mission. Amazing experience! Beautiful children! The first time I went, we treated 500 people in 2 days.

Of course being a Grandmother of 8 beautiful children (we increased by 2 boys in 2010) is one of the highlights of my life. What a joy! Unfortunately 5 of them are in Tempe, AZ, where I can't get my hands on them very often, so I have to spoil the 3 in Cincinnati to make up for that. (Virginia Noe would have loved that compound sentence. This composition would not have met with her approval. What a great teacher!) We spend 6 Spring (or late winter) weeks in AZ and soak up as much grandparenting as possible.

We stay active down here in the foothills. Rich still runs 5 miles and I do aerobics, weight training, and some swimming. Weights have pretty much taken up the time I used to use for lap swims. Gotta keep these old bones sturdy! Besides, you never know when you might have to run from a bear! :>)

We LOVE company, and Berea is a great place to visit, between the Bluegrass and the Foothills. Outstanding craftsfolks, scenery, and horses are among the "things to see." Y-all come! I'll cook biscuits and cornbread.

Choir, Madrigal Singers, Thespians and parties were among my favorite "activities." I remember a French Fry party at Gary Roberts' when we fried everything but our shoes! (Maybe we even tried that)

There are great memories of decorating floats and "intermission parties" during dances. How often did we actually go back to the dance after a party?

That "long" walk from the school on the hill to downtown to catch the bus home each day was sometimes pretty cold and wet. But I have many happy memories of those walks.