Cynthia Marshall:
CLASS OF 1968
Eastham Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Eastham, MA
Nauset Regional High SchoolClass of 1974
North eastham, MA
Cynthia's Story
The short story:
Grew up on Cape Cod; you know salty air, white sandy beaches, quaint little villages here and there, the Kennedy's. I was horse crazy, listened to Country Western music and read Louie L'Amour and was basically a misfit among my peers. You could say "I was country, before country was cool" ;o) While working for Bob's Sunoco in N Eastham, I fell in love with a 1970 454/400hp Chevelle that frequented the station, I married the driver and had two baby boys Tim and Eric. In 1977 with my then husband, two step daughters and two baby boys moved 3000 miles west to Oregon during the height of Blazermania. We landed in Salem, rain rain rain and more rain, producing webbed fingers and moss on the north side of your face. I worked in the health care industry and was involved in politics. Through the politics, I met a gal who ranched in Eastern Oregon. One 4th of July we visited her ranch and Geeezzzzzzzzzz the sun was out all four days we were there, (did I mention that it rained in Salem?) I moved to the ranch two weeks later with my young sons and I have lived in Eastern Oregon ever since. I love the sunshine and high desert, the smell of dew on the sage brush, and wish-whoosh of the sprinkler heads irrigating the fields, the squall of an eagle soaring over-head, cattle quietly bellering as they are trailed to a different field, the smell of fresh cut alfalfa curing in the windrows. mmmmmmmmmmmm
In 1986 my folks visited from Cape Cod, and after seeing how happy I was on the ranch and the life style the kids and I were now living, they never ever again asked when I was moving back home to the Cape. We, my boys and I were adopted by the Willis family who were ranching in the Vale, OR - Payette, ID area. They were multi generation ranchers and I credit them for my ranch education. I swore I'd never leave the area and wanted to raise my boys in one school system. In 1986 I married rancher Steve Coleman and we moved to Harney County, Burns, Oregon via a short stint in Ironside, OR.
Once in Burns I sunk my roots down and made the community our home and it was there in the isolation of the high desert, 140 miles from the nearest shopping mall or McDonalds and with out a "girlfriend" support system, that I found Jesus and made Him my Lord and Savior...Expand for more
. It didn't mean that everything was swell and rosy, but it sure made the rocky times that were inevitable, smoother and more tolerable to endure. What a wonderful community Harney County is, I am so thankful to have been able to raise my kids there. Tim graduated in 1994 from Crane Union High School, it is one of the last boarding schools in the U.S. serving a radius of 100 miles by 120 miles. There were 19 kids in his Senior class. Eric graduated from Burns in 1995 with a more conventional graduating class of 90.
Harney County covers 10,000 sq miles of mostly high desert and with some timbered mountains; it boasts two grocery stores, three traffic lights, one furniture store, and one everything store (Ranch & Home), the people population averages 7000, cattle population averages 300,000. While married, we had 1200 acres, ran 100 mother cows, 20 some horses, 200 acres of irrigated alfalfa. After the divorce in 1998, I had 320 acres, with 40 acres of irrigated alfalfa and a couple of horses. In additional to all of the ranch work, chores, horse training and showing, I always had a full time town job. Administrative Assist stuff, my last full time job was the one I enjoyed the most as a coordinator/grant writer for a natural resource non-profit.
I'm currently widowed and living in Bend, OR., two hours west of Burns and only two hours east of my son Eric and his family who live in Salem, (where it rain rain rains and more rains) OR. Living in Bend affords me the opportunity to see the grandkids often and bring them to Bend for "sunshine", snow and the rural life experience. We have a small acreage north of Bend and still have a couple horses. I do still have 40 acres in Harney County and hope one day to migrate back there. For now my main gig is renting my Bend place on Airbnb. Look for The Marshall Stage Stop if you ever venture to the Central Oregon area.
My parents Wally and Velma MacPherson from Eastham, MA have both passed away. My sister and her husband now own the family home, so thankfully - I can still go home. My oldest son Tim was killed in a car crash in 2001. You just never know what tomorrow holds, hug 'em and love 'em every chance you get, and live with no regrets.
So there you have it, my readers digest version of the last 45 years.
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