Marcy Saims:  

One month after graduating from college, I moved to Arizona to work for IBM. The plan was to gain some corporate experience, update my resume, get a good tan, and return to Michigan two years later. However, I fell in love with the desert, the mountains, the weather...and an engineer. It's now 2024, I'm STILL in Arizona, loving it...and that engineer. My career with IBM included lots of travel, two relocations to California, and a special assignment in New York. (That last statement makes it sound like I was involved in some sort of undercover covert operation doesn’t it? I wasn’t — haha!) Andy and I married in September 1985 -- happiest day of my life. I became a BoyMom in 1991 and an ultra-BoyMom in 1993 with the unexpected arrival of identical twins. Those three little boys are now grown men and CPAs by day, musicians at night. Ryan (guitarist) and Mike (drummer) live in Phoenix. Kevin (guitar and keyboard) lives in New York City. They make me so proud to be their Mom. Love those “boys!” No midlife crisis going on here: It's been a fun, active life...and still is. Our family has grown with the addition of two daughters-in-law. When I miss the Great Lake State, we drive to San Diego. (A six hour drive from our driveway to the beaches of the Pacific Ocean. Seven hours, if we stop in Yuma for lunch. LOL!) The ocean is so reminiscent of my summers on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. ("Not thinking ‘bout tomorrow, singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long...la-la-la!") There's a line (okay, two lines) out of the Stephen King movie, STAND BY ME that says, "I never had any friends later on, like the ones I had when I was 12 years old. Jesus, does anyone?" It's true. I have accumulated lots of friends over my lifetime (and they would not be happy to see I used the word "accumulated" to describe our friendships -- haha!), but Kathy Fleming, Mary Anne Taylor, Mary O'Connor, and Judy Kaines top the list. I met them when I was 12 years old and was the "new girl" in 7th grade at St. Scholastica Elementary School. Visits to Arizona and trips to Michigan always include this ...Expand for more