Both Bill and Thelma came to Aruba in 1948. He was an accountant and she was a surgical nurse at the hospital. They were married in 1950 and had three children, all born on Aruba. Mike is the oldest, born in November 1954. Jim was born in 1956, and Bill was born in 1961.

Mike attended school through the third grade and Jim attended school through the second grade in Aruba. Bill was too young to attend school during the period we were there.

We lived in many different bungalows over the years, but the last one was next door to the Proterra's on the cliff overlooking the beach. On a recent trip back, the house is still there and in very good condition.

The family left Aruba in 1963 to move to Caracas, where Bill worked for Creole. In 1965, they moved to Madrid, Spain where Bill helped to expand the Esso Chemical business there. The family moved to Southampton, England in 1970 where Bill continued to work for the Chemical business. In 1975, Bill and Thelma moved back to the U.S. and settled in New Jersey. Bill continued to work in New York for Exxon until his retirement in 1983. Bill and Thelma continued to live in New Jersey and spent summers in Rhode Island until his death in 1999.

Thelma continues to live in New Jersey, near her son Bill and his wife Virginia. Mike lives in Massachusetts with his wife Maggie, and Jim lives in Florida with his wife Stephanie. The next generation includes Bill's son Chris and Mike's four "kids" (all now over the age of 22), Amy, David, Matthew and Marianne.

Mike and Bill have been back to Aruba on several occasions over the past five years with their families and enjoyed showing the younger crowd around. Things have changed a lot, but the basics remain very much the same.