There’s not a ripple on the surface of their blonde attractiveness. Nor does anything untoward show on their faces. But looks can be deceiving. Kristina and Kellie Hall, 21-year-old twins, both know pain all their waking hours.

They know the confinement of isolation and dependency that could easily be their lot in life. But these courageous graduates of Heart of Georgia Tech have found the key to unlock the door to independence and self-support.

While a lot of good people have helped them, the most important factor is their own stubborn desire to make their own way, despite having the little-understood disease of fibromyalgia, which painfully weakens the muscles and soft tissues around joints, and a host of other ailments.

Opportunities seized through information technology skills make it possible for Kristie and Kellie to hold good, full-time jobs as employees of TAMSCO, a Warner Robins company contracting with the United States Air Force.

They already are old pros at the intricacies of microcomputer work and experts in word-processing and desktop publishing—and use these skills at TAMSCO to update and revise manuals governing the use of different kinds of equipment inside Air Force planes at Robins Air Force Base. They cannot stand for more than 15 minutes without weakness, and their time sitting is limited to a few hours without stretching.

The twins were diagnosed with fibromyalgia when they were in high school. Just getting to class in Dublin was a major victory, they say. “Some days we would have to sit in the car and take a rest from the pain and fatigue,” Kellie says.

At Heart of Georgia Tech, Kellie and Kristie entered the Tools for Success® competition sponsored by the Miller Brewing Co. (See Tech Talk article) They were among 17 students at the school to win a computer or other tools or equipment to help them in their chosen careers. They went on to place sixth out of 70 teams in a national desktop publishing competition, as well.

But it hasn’t been easy.

“I pray every morning to have enough strength to make it another day,” says Kellie. The sisters are developing a fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome support group in the Cochran area. “Being able to take care of ourselves—that’s the most satisfying thing,” says Kristie.