Bio: The Hill Family

This weekend Jule met my friend Natoya Hill and her daughter Ciera.  This blog posting is for Jule's memories...

Natoya and I met in 2006 when we were both beginning our Masters degree at the University of Arkansas.  When classes began, Natoya, Rajani and I were the only three females in the program.  Rajani and I sat together on one side of the room, but Natoya seemed to want to be by herself.  After a few classes, somehow I figured out that Natoya worked at Alltel with me.  We started talking, and Rajani and I realized that she was just shy.  :)  After that, we all became great friends.  Having those two gals in my classes made the program fun.  It didn't seem like hard work at all.

Natoya and I attended a conference at M.I.T. together.
Here she was walking down the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Natoya and I became closer friends when I got to know her daughter, Ciera.  Ciera has a good sense of humor and was able to take my constant joking with her.  She now calls me "Auntie Christi."  I very much enjoy my time with Natoya and Ciera.  They're more of those "good people" I am so blessed to have in my life.

In 2009 Verizon (the largest cellular phone company in America) made a bid to purchase Alltel (the fourth largest cellular company) and the shareholders accepted the bid.  We knew that most of us would lose our jobs since my friends and I worked in the corporate operations of Alltel.  The transition took many years, but by 2011 90% or more of the workers of Alltel had lost their jobs.  I decided to stay since I had already 13 years tenure with the company, but Natoya decided to take the opportunity to do something new.  She moved to Dallas in 2012 with Ciera, and I was so sad!