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Cindy Graves
Cindy Graves was raised by her children in Utah, after having narrowly missed several unsuccessful attempts by her loving parents and older siblings in Connecticut. There is some debate over whether the last rearange attempt was, indeed, successful, or whether it was yet another failed attempt. When asked why she is the way she is, Cindy smiles sweetly and says, in her most childlike voice, "My children raised me this way. . . ". We can only assume that the final attempt was successful. As a single mother of four, Cindy studied Applied Mathematics and received her Bachelor of Science degree from Weber State University in 1994. She then went on to complete a 25 year career as an SDET Programmer and Analyst. She is currently retired from the technical world, writing poetry and children's stories, while her grandchildren have taken over the task of raising her.
Interesting Facts
1) I was born in a doctor’s office in a mining town that no longer exists. Uravan originally named for the Uranium, Vanadium, and Selenium was mined there is now nothing but a hole in the ground, surrounded by rolls of bob wire fencing with signs saying “DANGER” everywhere. Even the dirt was transported out because it was so highly toxic and radioactive.
2) My father was dubbed the “Father of Process Mineralogy” in newspaper articles. This perhaps makes me the sibling of a branch of science.
I played the piano as a child. My mother told me local newspapers called me a “concert pianist” at the age of 13. I was 3rd violinist in NE United States, 1st French Horn in the state of Connecticut, I played the trombone in a marching band in Disney World , and I got a scholarship on the cello.
3) I said my first word at 3 weeks old, taught myself to read at age 4, and got a degree in Applied Mathematics, with honors, while single, working 20 hours a week, and raising 4 children ages 3 to 12.
4) While I was growing up I raised 15 baby racoons, teaching them how to climb down trees, when they got stuck at the top, catching fish for them to practice re-catching in buckets, and teaching them how to forage for edible berries.. Later, with the help of my own children, together we raised a baby robin and a baby sparrow, which had fallen out of their nests. The birds eventually grew up, but stayed close to our home, flying round and landing on any heads or shoulders that presented themselves, to the dismay of our neighbors.
5) As a child I thought it was my responsibility to make sure the streams flowed, so, naturally, I could either be found running barefoot in in the 10 miles of woods behind our house in Connecticut, long hair flying, dragging fallen logs and debris out of the stream, or else I would be curled up in little “nests” of irish moss, reading books, and being “on call” in case the stream needed it’s “protector”. One of my favorite books was Green Mansions, by William Henry Hudson. The character, “Rima”, was my childhood role model.
6) At age 13 I rescued an entire generation of frogs. One night, as I ran barefoot through the woods, I came upon an armada of bulldozers parked next to a pond. I ran home, returning with buckets and bags, and spent the rest of the evening and half the night scooping up as many tadpoles as I could find, and transporting them back to my home, where I filled up as many containers as I could fill with pond water. I even filled up the inside of our row boat with water for the tadpoles. Sure enough, the next day the pond was completely razed, filled in and scooped out again, to create an artificial pond of cement and fountains for a new golf course. For weeks I cared for the tadpoles, in my backyard, until they grew into frogs. When the artificial construct was complete, I returned the frogs, to the pond, seeding it with life once again. I did notice that it was a lot easier to scoop up tadpoles than frogs.
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