After high school I attended what was then Daytona Beach Junior College along with some of our classmates. I graduated from Florida State with a B.A. in psychology, a minor in theater, and enough hours but not all the required courses for a second minor in home economics.
I married Daniel Hodgson who died in 1992. We had one child, Christopher, who is profoundly mentally retarded. Christopher lived at home until he was nineteen and he presently lives in a state hospital for the mentally retarded. I bring him home for visits about eight times a year.
I became an activist for the mentally retarded and when a local college started a paralegal program, I became one of the first two graduates. Services that can help them remain a chronic battle. Nothing can be taken for granted as whatever he receives can always be taken away.
Over the years, I worked off and on in a variety of jobs. My longest term of employment and my last employment was with the state department of family and children's services. I worked in several programs there including food stamps, welfare (now called tanf), and all the Medicaid programs. Every time I thought I had seen it all, there was always something around the corner just waiting for me. I saw some of the best and some of the worst of mankind when I worked there. After retiring from what a friend of mine calls the monkey farm I am still trying to become human again.
My mother died when I was twenty-one and my father lived with me for a number of years. I took care of him full time when he got dementia. It is a terrible thing to watch. He died last November at 93.
As a member of the Bonaventure Historical Society I volunteer in the visitor center at the cemetery. I also give tours there from time to time. Bonaventure was mentioned in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and people come from all over the world to visit the cemetery. Danny is buried there and it is also my future home whenever the time comes.
In the twilight of my years my arms have become to short to hold the newspaper, I've gained a lot of weight, have cut my hair, and horror of horrors have turned into my mother.
Still around and getting older!
Rosaline Faircloth Hodgson
8712 Rivers End Dr.
Savannah, Ga 31406
912-921-1409