5 Fun Facts About Me

HOMETOWN

1. After the Field of Dreams movie became popular, people started visiting the field in Iowa. The owners of the out-

field had planted corn, but seeing an opportunity, they plowed it under. The owners of the house and the owners of 

the out-field put up competing souvenir shops and fought like the Hatfields and McCoys. My father told me we were 

related to them…both on his side.

VISIT to MOROCCO

2. When I was sixteen, I accompanied my parents on a bus trip to Morocco. The only other kid on the tour, named 

Cindy, was twelve. On our free day, my parents, Cindy and I took a taxi from our American hotel to the local bazaar.

It was bizarrely empty. After shopping, my dad handed me a match book with the name of the hotel on it and told me to get a cab with my friend back to the hotel. I thought it was odd, especially since our rooms had been searched at the hotel the night before, but I was raised not to defy my parents, and Mom wasn’t helping me out. The first cab driver had no idea what I was talking about, but the next one, in broken English, assured me he could get us there.

We hopped in. Mom and Dad piled in the cab behind us.

It was a beautiful drive. On the right was the Strait of Gibralter and on the left, a high cliff. Suddenly, there was a 

round of gunfire, and then another, and then another. My friend and I fought over the floor of the cab as the cabbie 

tried to tell us that the King was executing the members of a failed coup attempt at his birthday party earlier in the 

year.

ROME, ITALY

3. On another bus trip through Europe, I ended up with my cousin in Rome, Italy who had graduated from high school while I was looking forward to entering it in the fall. That four years represented a huge gulf between us the size of the Grand Canyon. Again, we were with our parents.

We were disappointed that our hotel was on the outskirts of Rome, but one of our excursions was an evening at the Italian opera in open-air seating in the city. We had seats with our parents at the end of the last row of the first section, leaving a few empty seats next to me.

Two Italian men followed us into the outdoor auditorium and tried chatting with us. We were polite. Of course, my cousin thought I was desperate and I thought she was a little boy-crazy. They offered to show us Rome the next day and asked us repeatedly for the name of our hotel. I prayed she wouldn’t tell them. The ushers kicked them out before the performance began. At intermission, they showed up again with the same question. Finally, I blurted out the name of a hotel I had seen from the bus on the way to the opera. It had an enormous chandelier hanging in its lobby and it was called The Majestic. A strange look crossed my cousin's face but she caught on and affirmed our hotel was indeed The Grand Majestic, a four-star hotel. I wonder if the Italians showed up the next day looking for us.

MY TIGHT-KNIT FAMILY

4. My mother had a brother and he married an only child. I am an only child. So, on Mom’s side, I have two first 

cousins and they only have one cousin—me. My aunt has one niece—me. On the other side, my first cousin married 

his second cousin. That makes his wife, my second cousin. Go figure!

MAN OVERBOARD

5. My husband and I took a cruise to Mexico for an anniversary. It was our last day on the ship. All our suitcases were packed and sent to the hold awaiting customs in port. I got up around 7 a.m. and walked uphill to the bathroom.

Odd. The first mate then announced ‘Code Oscar’, and told the crew to man the lifeboat or did he say lifeboat? And 

what’s a ‘code Oscar?’ I told my husband to ‘just get dressed.’ Sadly, we had nothing warm to wear since our luggage was gone.

Luckily for us, Code Oscar means man overboard. Luckily for him, the kitchen crew had seen him fall and had thrown him a life preserver. The ship did a tight turn to go back to get him causing it to tilt. We watched the rescue from the safety of our room.