Getting to know: Volunteering keeps widow's schedule full

Mickey Zachry a volunteer at the Portales Senior Center has been busy helping the people she has come to know as her family.

Zachry came to Portales when she moved with her husband from Denton, Texas, in 1969.

“My husband was teaching in Denton,” Zachry said. “He got a job up here with Eastern New Mexico University and we came up here. When I moved into Portales I cried all the way through town.”

Zachry said it was a culture shock moving from Denton to Portales because she was used to having all kind of things around her. She misses Texas barbecue.

She recently got back into volunteering at the center before Thanksgiving after her husband died last April. Senior Center Director Dawn Kryder has been keeping Zachry and other seniors on their toes in planning and preparation for the Winter Wonderland coming up Dec. 18.

Zachry helped with the decorations because the budget for decorations was kind of small.

What do you do?

Anything anybody wants me to do. We do quilting and I love to quilt. I help put up the Christmas decorations at the center. I help out with the potluck.

What got you to start volunteering at the center?

Actually, I lost my husband back in April and I sat around the house just feeling sorry for myself for quite a while. Then, I decided this is for the birds. It is time to get out. So I came out to the center and have been here since.

Have you done any volunteer work before?

I did years ago, but not in the last nine years. I was care giver for my husband and I stayed home with him.

What do you enjoy most about volunteering here?

The friendships. They accepted me whole heartedly. I enjoy coming out and talking about things to help each other out. There are quite a few women out here who are in the same boat I am in being single. Today we had a good potluck. I enjoy quilting and talking with the other seniors in the quilting room.