The Inward Sigh

Wendy Anne Ball Ailor was born into a Marine family. As with most military brats, she moved around a lot in her childhood: Washington, D.C., Germany, California, North Carolina, Virginia, and other places. Wendy attended the College of William and Mary, where she received a BA in Political Science. She married John Carlton Ailor on February 14, 1982, in the Wren Chapel in Williamsburg, Virginia. Wendy and John had three children: Christina, Jake, and Laura Grace.

Wendy was an Archivist and Records Manager, first with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and then the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. She spent eighteen years with Wyeth and Pfizer Pharmaceutical, and she was Director of Clinical Inspection Readiness and Quality for Teva Pharmaceuticals in Frazier, Pennsylvania, when she died on Good Friday, 2015.

Though a successful professional, Wendy's wholehearted devotion was to God and family. She practiced her faith through a very simple life motto: Wherever you go, whatever you do, just make things a little better. Wendy's husband teasingly called her "Good Citizen Wendy," because she was by nature thoughtful of, and frequently addressed, the needs of others.

We hope that by reading this collection of poems Wendy wrote in her youth you gain a glimpse into the spirit that would become Citizen Wendy.