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Nancy and Phil Davis                                     What do I remember most about the year I turned 20? I was serv-
                                                                ing in the U.S. Navy and stationed in San Diego, California.
I was barely 20 years old when I married my best         In early October, fires were burning all over Southern California. I
friend and the love of my life, Phil Davis, on June      remember the sky being a greyish orange for days and ashes, carried
19, 1959. Phil and I were very young, and parents        by the Santa Ana winds, falling from the sky even though we were
wondered if we should wait until I finished college.     miles and miles away from any flames. My fiancé and I were in the San
I was not a dedicated student at the time, so I quit     Diego Airport waiting for a flight to take us home to Pennsylvania for
college and got full-time clerical employment at the     our wedding. As we sat in the airport the TV news focused on “Love
Wichita Public Library. Phil continued on with his       among the Ruins.” The fire had destroyed the location where a young
education and a part-time job. Needless to say, we       couple was to have been married. The building may have crumbled
lived on a very tight budget. We didn’t even have a      to the ground but their desire to get married was strong and sturdy.
telephone for several months until our parents of-       There they were on TV, the bride in her gown, the groom in his Sun-
fered to pay the bill so they could call us. That first  day best, standing in the middle of the devastation and exchanging
year was fun, tough and a real learning experience.      their wedding vows for all the world to see. It was a heartwarming
Phil graduated the next June, received a fellowship      moment of love and hope for those impacted by the fires.
to work on his master’s degree in physics and we
were on our way!                                         Forty-six years later, some might consider our marriage to be “Love
NANCY DAVIS                                              among the Ruins,” but it is still as strong and sturdy as what we
                                                         witnessed in that young couple after the fires back in 1970.
                                                         TRUDY GLACKIN

                                                         In January of 1951, the day before I turned 20, my buddy and I were
                                                           on a bus going from Abilene to San Antonio to start basic training at
                                                         Lackland Air Force Base. We were told to take only the shirt, pants,
                                                         and shoes we wore, as we would be issued uniforms when we got there.
                                                         However when we arrived, they had run out of all uniforms. We were
                                                         issued a cot with one blanket and were then sent to spend the night in
                                                         a tent on the parade ground. A freezing cold front arrived early that
                                                         night and with only one blanket for cover, I wrapped in it and rubbed
                                                         sores on my elbows and knees from shivering all night long. Before
                                                         sunup the next morning, we were awakened by our flight leader and
                                                         told to “fall in.” We then proceeded to march in the freezing cold to
                                                         the mess hall for breakfast. About halfway there, my buddy, who was
                                                         marching directly behind me, remembered what day it was. And then
                                                         I heard him say it: “Happy birthday!”
                                                         M. L. DANIELS

At 20 years old I was busy with studies and college life       In addition to my valuable experience at the school, I had
     as a junior at Michigan State University. I was par-      a great time. My friends and I climbed Mayan ruins at
ticipating in a special teaching intern program and had        Tikal in the jungles of northern Guatemala. Now it sounds
begun to do some supervised instructing. Can you imagine       not-so-intelligent, but we were assured it was safe to camp
my excitement when I and about 20 of my fellow interns         near a local volcano that sputtered through the night and
were selected to do our formal term of student teaching        entertained us by spitting up small glowing rocks. We
in The American School in Guatemala City?                      swam on the beaches of black volcanic sand on the Pacific
                                                               Coast and drove up to the Guatemalan Highlands to see
The American School was and still is an independent,           beautiful Lake Atitlan surrounded by volcanoes and small
non-profit, culturally diverse, bi-lingual school serving      Mayan villages.
the Guatemalan community. Although I wanted to learn
the language, speaking Spanish was not a requirement           The experience of teaching there, learning about the cul-
as we would be members of the English teaching team. I         ture and enjoying the food and music was invaluable. Would
particularly enjoyed the “little ones,” so I focused on early  I give up what I know now at this age to be 20 again? No.
elementary instruction. I learned as much as I taught,         But I do appreciate how that wonderful time helped me
discovering that children everywhere are eager to learn        become who I am today.
and that a smile is translated the same in all languages.      PEGGY HOWARD

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