Harriet was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps in 1962. She said her children were horrified. They thought she should rock in front of the fire and knit. But that wasn't quite Harriet's style. She was a nurse from Alaska, widowed, and wanting to do something more with her life.
That's how she came to be in the very first Peace Group group to go to Honduras.
When I met her on the first day of our training at St. Louis University, I had just graduated from college 4 days before. But Harriet, though older than my parents, was my peer and very soon became a fast friend. She and I and two others were in the top Spanish group. They told us they couldn't teach us anything more from books, and that we should just hang out together and speak Spanish while the others were in the more basic classes.
So Harriet and I, along with Nancy and Ruby, played chess in Spanish. We took walks in Spanish. We sang Spanish songs, accompanied by Nancy's guitar, and we told each other our life stories in Spanish.
Harriet, in her quiet way, was a tremendous inspiration to the rest of us. Our three months of training In St. Louis were grueling, with endless academic classes, strenuous physical activities, and shots for every disease known to man - or so it seemed! The horrendous humidity drained our strength. Harriet's quiet wit, her determination, her love, helped to keep us going. Sometimes at the end of an exhausting day, when we sprawled with heads down on our desks, Harriet would tell us funny stories or recite poems. Sometimes she sang to us. Always, she was a wonderful example for all of us. She was decades older than most of us. If she could do it, we could do it too!
Harriet and I remained best of friends by mail after we came back home, and I was able to visit her one time. She was still working, as a private nurse in La Jolla, CA.
When she finally left this world, it was due to what she called a "pesky little tumor". Her daughter Sue called me. Harriet had left a note for her in her purse, with my name and number on it. She asked Sue to call me and have me tell all our Peace Corps friends.
Sue and I cried on the phone together for some time...
Nos vemos Harriet. ¡Que te vaya bien!
That's how she came to be in the very first Peace Group group to go to Honduras.
When I met her on the first day of our training at St. Louis University, I had just graduated from college 4 days before. But Harriet, though older than my parents, was my peer and very soon became a fast friend. She and I and two others were in the top Spanish group. They told us they couldn't teach us anything more from books, and that we should just hang out together and speak Spanish while the others were in the more basic classes.
So Harriet and I, along with Nancy and Ruby, played chess in Spanish. We took walks in Spanish. We sang Spanish songs, accompanied by Nancy's guitar, and we told each other our life stories in Spanish.
Harriet, in her quiet way, was a tremendous inspiration to the rest of us. Our three months of training In St. Louis were grueling, with endless academic classes, strenuous physical activities, and shots for every disease known to man - or so it seemed! The horrendous humidity drained our strength. Harriet's quiet wit, her determination, her love, helped to keep us going. Sometimes at the end of an exhausting day, when we sprawled with heads down on our desks, Harriet would tell us funny stories or recite poems. Sometimes she sang to us. Always, she was a wonderful example for all of us. She was decades older than most of us. If she could do it, we could do it too!
Harriet and I remained best of friends by mail after we came back home, and I was able to visit her one time. She was still working, as a private nurse in La Jolla, CA.
When she finally left this world, it was due to what she called a "pesky little tumor". Her daughter Sue called me. Harriet had left a note for her in her purse, with my name and number on it. She asked Sue to call me and have me tell all our Peace Corps friends.
Sue and I cried on the phone together for some time...
Nos vemos Harriet. ¡Que te vaya bien!
Harriet was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps in 1962. She said her children were horrified. They thought she should rock in front of the fire and knit. But that wasn't quite Harriet's style. She was a nurse from Alaska, widowed, and wanting to do something more with her life.
That's how she came to be in the very first Peace Group group to go to Honduras.
When I met her on the first day of our training at St. Louis University, I had just graduated from college 4 days before. But Harriet, though older than my parents, was my peer and very soon became a fast friend. She and I and two others were in the top Spanish group. They told us they couldn't teach us anything more from books, and that we should just hang out together and speak Spanish while the others were in the more basic classes.
So Harriet and I, along with Nancy and Ruby, played chess in Spanish. We took walks in Spanish. We sang Spanish songs, accompanied by Nancy's guitar, and we told each other our life stories in Spanish.
Harriet, in her quiet way, was a tremendous inspiration to the rest of us. Our three months of training In St. Louis were grueling, with endless academic classes, strenuous physical activities, and shots for every disease known to man - or so it seemed! The horrendous humidity drained our strength. Harriet's quiet wit, her determination, her love, helped to keep us going. Sometimes at the end of an exhausting day, when we sprawled with heads down on our desks, Harriet would tell us funny stories or recite poems. Sometimes she sang to us. Always, she was a wonderful example for all of us. She was decades older than most of us. If she could do it, we could do it too!
Harriet and I remained best of friends by mail after we came back home, and I was able to visit her one time. She was still working, as a private nurse in La Jolla, CA.
When she finally left this world, it was due to what she called a "pesky little tumor". Her daughter Sue called me. Harriet had left a note for her in her purse, with my name and number on it. She asked Sue to call me and have me tell all our Peace Corps friends.
Sue and I cried on the phone together for some time...
Nos vemos Harriet. ¡Que te vaya bien!
That's how she came to be in the very first Peace Group group to go to Honduras.
When I met her on the first day of our training at St. Louis University, I had just graduated from college 4 days before. But Harriet, though older than my parents, was my peer and very soon became a fast friend. She and I and two others were in the top Spanish group. They told us they couldn't teach us anything more from books, and that we should just hang out together and speak Spanish while the others were in the more basic classes.
So Harriet and I, along with Nancy and Ruby, played chess in Spanish. We took walks in Spanish. We sang Spanish songs, accompanied by Nancy's guitar, and we told each other our life stories in Spanish.
Harriet, in her quiet way, was a tremendous inspiration to the rest of us. Our three months of training In St. Louis were grueling, with endless academic classes, strenuous physical activities, and shots for every disease known to man - or so it seemed! The horrendous humidity drained our strength. Harriet's quiet wit, her determination, her love, helped to keep us going. Sometimes at the end of an exhausting day, when we sprawled with heads down on our desks, Harriet would tell us funny stories or recite poems. Sometimes she sang to us. Always, she was a wonderful example for all of us. She was decades older than most of us. If she could do it, we could do it too!
Harriet and I remained best of friends by mail after we came back home, and I was able to visit her one time. She was still working, as a private nurse in La Jolla, CA.
When she finally left this world, it was due to what she called a "pesky little tumor". Her daughter Sue called me. Harriet had left a note for her in her purse, with my name and number on it. She asked Sue to call me and have me tell all our Peace Corps friends.
Sue and I cried on the phone together for some time...
Nos vemos Harriet. ¡Que te vaya bien!
