Close sisters working closely together

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  AEDC team members and sisters Faye Ford and Narlane Hampton have worked in the same building together for 30 years and their offices are currently side by side.
Their relationship is similar to twin siblings because they are often together and speak several times throughout the day, including after work.

"Faye and I are always there for each other, no matter what the circumstance is," said Hampton, an administrative professional in the ATA Property Disposal Office. "Although there are several years between us, she is my best friend forever. We talk on a daily basis, whether at home or work. We still give each other birthday gifts, Christmas gifts and we share coordinating our family gatherings together.

"We have always managed to have breaks and lunch together. Working together has not changed our relationship, we can get home and we still call each other at night before we go to bed.  If I am not at work or Faye is not, then we manage to talk to each other before the day is over."

Ford, a buyer in the ATA Purchasing Department, recalled occasions where Hampton was a great support for her during her daughter's rehabilitation.

"When my daughter Janis was injured in a car accident on Feb. 2, 2014, she [Hampton] was always there when I didn't even know that she was coming," Ford said. "When Janis was sent to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga., every other weekend she and her husband were there and she called every single day - more than once or twice a day - to check on her and me."

Hampton's care and love for Faye and four other siblings was evident in stories they both told.

When their oldest sister passed away in 1984, Hampton said, "That left me as the oldest of five siblings. When we were growing up, my other siblings and I always let Faye have her way on just about everything because she was the baby. No kids in our neighborhood would pick on Faye; they knew that my sister, brothers or myself would
be there to take up for her."

Ford said, "Being the next oldest [sibling], she [Narlane] has taken on the role of being there for all of us in any way that she can."

Ford began working at AEDC in 1981 in the Receiving Department and Hampton began in the Demand Processing Department in 1986.

As Hampton prepares for retirement, Ford admits that there are things she will miss such as listening for her to come in the office every morning and having breaks and eating lunch together.

"Regardless, we will still continue to spend time together after she retires because if it is God's will, we will be going to football games at Auburn University to see our nephew," Ford said.

-AEDC-