User:Silverskunklds/Sandbox/homework20200602

Lynne Allison Davidson
Growing Up - I was born at Ft. Monroe, Vitginia, USA, my father being in the Army. Within a month he had been called to Korea and the rest of us moved to the family home town in New England. After he returned we followed him on his assignments to Taiwan (1956-1959), Illinois (1959-61), Washington, DC (1961), Hong Kong (1961-64), Philadelphia ('65-66) and then back to New England while he was assigned to North Africa. I graduated in 1969 and moved away from the home town, as many teens want to do, attending The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Much to my dismay, my father retired that year and moved to Alexandria, VA, barely 15 miles from my dormitory! I was the only girl in the dorm who didn't have to pay a toll to call home. I finally moved back home and graduated in '72.

Genealogy - My mother was a Mayflower descendent (John Howland, not surprisingly) on her mother's side (Aldrich), and 2nd generation Italian on her father's (Gallotta); my father was of English and German descent (Appleby, Robbins.) My mother's mother was an avid genealogist (I have boxes of her notes to process.) I remember driving to courthouses all over New England and watching her thumb through card catalogs card by card. (I still think index cards are the best back up for computer files.)

Education - I have a BA in Chinese Studies (I wonder why), and graduate credits in business management, public affairs, human genetics, and computer science (too many interesting subjects while working for a university which offered free tuition to employees).

Interests - I love languages and words (my favorite book in high school was the original (non-alphabetical) Roget's Thesaurus). I took Latin and Russian in high school, studied classical Greek in my free time, and spent three years studying Chinese in college (try to figure out how to structure a Chinese dictionary without an alphabet). Unfortunately, my weak point is memory and my strong point logic, so I barely remember any words. I do remember the grammer, but that's not particularly useful by itself.

Family - In 1974 I married a man from the pentacostal church we belonged to. He had been married as a young soldier in Germany, and had two young children who joined us permanently that summer. His family name - Sins - was of French origin; great in France, but not the best name for American school children to grow up with. We decided to take his middle name, David, and combined it with Sins. So when people say "Oh, we might be related - my xxx's name is Davidson," my usual answer is: "probably not." We joined the Church in 1977, and were sealed in the Washington temple in 1979. The next year, we added a son to our family - Andre Lucien (named for his grandfather), and 15 months later identical twins - John and Ephraim. Thank heavens for two teenagers while we chased after three toddlers! When the boys were 5 and 6, I moved to Richmond since I had made it onto the waiting list for medical school there. I never made it off. Initially a disappointment, but I was able to work for the school and wound up as a programmer. This has turned out to be a great blessing, since the twins were diagnosed on the autism spectrum the next year. A medical student or doctor couldn't easily leave a patient when the boys' school called with a crisis, but computers are increadibly 'patient' when their programmer suddenly rushes off. And programming has proven just as gratifying as I'd hoped medicine would be.

Work - I've been a programmer and data analyst since the early 1990's. I've worked in medical research, corrections, and a brief stint in banking. I'm excited to be continuing my love affair with coding and exploring new languages with this unique on-line community.

Callings - After joining the church I first served as a Primary teacher, then secretary for Primary and Relief Society. When Andy turned 8 in 1988, I was called to serve in scouting. Last year - Andy's 39 now and serving as a bishop in St. Louis - I was finally released. My current calling? Ward emergency preparedness specialist. I guess that makes sense.

Contact - silverskunk@gmail.com