Michael was a shift supervisor at Quantico Marine Corps Base s central heating plant. He stopped working in October 1997 and retired last March. Regina works in Richmond as a team leader for Bell Atlantic s small-business customers. She s on leave to take care of Michael. The Williamses neighborhood is filled with spacious homes on large wooded lots.
Neighbors wave as they pass one another in their cars.
On weekends, they compare notes on growing grass and killing weeds. Regina put white wicker furniture on their home s wraparound porch. She decorated the kitchen with an apple wallpaper border and covered the mantel with family photos. Michael spent 1995, the first year in their new home, working in the yard. He planted rose bushes and nurtured red geraniums.