The cheerful blond woman and the genial gray-haired man swap earthquake memories the way San Fernando Valley residents have for generations, with a mix of sadness and gallows humor and gratitude for having survived.
But when Cynthia Smith and Jim Hazard tell their seismic stories this year, the two nurses deliver an extra dose of poignancy.
Hazard, 63, and Smith, 59, are the only remaining employees at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center who were on duty 40 years ago this morning, when the deadly Sylmar Earthquake flattened the hospital. Hazard plans to retire in September. Smith will be the last link to history.
"I was going to send you an anniversary card this week!" Smith told Hazard with a grin Monday as she walked into his office on the leafy Olive View grounds above the 210 Freeway.
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