Christine Hamlett-Williams does not love her job as a Terrace Dining Room cashier because of the free food.
Known by AU students as "Ms. Christine," she rolls her eyes when asked about TDR's cuisine. After growing up in North Carolina, Ms. Christine said she would like to see the dining hall serve more of what she described as the "stuff that'll kill me," such as fried chicken, fried fish, ribs and potato salad.
Ms. Christine has been at AU since 1981 and has worked in both the University Club and the Market Place before landing in her favorite location - TDR. She swipes students into the dining hall from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and comes to work looking forward to her interactions with the students, she said.
"I love my students," Ms. Christine said. "Some days I don't feel like coming to work, but I think about once I come to work and I start talking to the students ... I look at them and they laugh, and we laugh, and I pick their day up. It makes me feel better."
This sense of compassion that she tries to show others developed after going through several emotionally difficult years, Ms. Christine said. Her husband, Robert Williams, died suddenly of a heart attack in June of 2002.
"He was a wonderful man," she said. "His life was cut too short."
The death of her husband caused Ms. Christine to experience severe health problems that put her on the verge of a nervous breakdown, she said.
"I went through a grieving period that weren't so good," she said.
Williams played bass guitar in several different bands and was in Newport News, Va. performing at a family reunion the evening that he died, Ms. Christine said. She received a call from him before he went on stage, and the next call was someone saying her husband had passed out, she said. A later call from the hospital broke the news that Williams had expired.
"When they said 'expired' I'm trying to understand, because I knew, but I didn't want to receive it," Ms. Christine said.
Ms. Christine had been married to Williams for four years at the time of his death, but they had been together for over 15 years. He was her second husband, and for the sake of her three children, she wanted to be sure before remarrying.
Ms. Christine describes the relationship she had with her first husband, David Hamlett, as young love. They got married when they were both twenty years old, and then divorced seven years later in 1976. The divorce was a difficult, three-year process, Ms. Christine said, but she laughs when she talks about the relationship now.
"I think those early years helped me learn how to be who I am now," she said.
Through everything, Ms. Christine has remained close with her children, who have all stayed close to her home in Temple Hills, Md., near Anacostia. Her 32-year-old daughter, Alice, is working at a day care center while taking classes at the University of Maryland, and her youngest son, 35-year-old David, is an artist, Ms. Christine said.
Ms. Christine's oldest son, Gary, is 40 years old and has been on dialysis for the past 15 years. He was born with a deformed kidney, which gradually worsened as he grew up, she said.
"It's been like a rollercoaster," Ms. Christine said of his time spent in and out of the hospital.
Ms. Christine said she finds comfort in prayer and in spending weekends watching movies with her two granddaughters, 6-year-old Brittany and 15-year-old Crystal.
She said that she also enjoys making flower arrangements to cheer up friends who are not feeling well.
Marien Richardson, a sophomore in the School of Communication, said she appreciates seeing Christine's upbeat attitude on a daily basis.
"She's really nice," she said. "She remembers me every time I come down, and she will ask you how your day is and everything."
Wanda Tillman, a TDR utility worker, said that while she does not know Ms. Christine well, she enjoys working with her.
"She's good to work with," Tillman said. "I mean, you know, I never had no problems with her or anything."
Kristin Garrity, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said Ms. Christine says "hi" to her whenever she swipes into TDR.
"I would describe her as always smiling and always very nice, very cheerful," Garrity said. "She's a very nice lady."
You can reach this staff writer at mkendall@theeagleonline.com.
