Carved Lavender and Green Jadeite Lidded Vase with Flowers and Birds
Jade ("yu" in Chinese) refers to a fine, lustrous stone, produced over eons by the natural force of rivers running through and over mountains. It exists in a variety of warm, rich colors, and is usually skillfully carved by masters to enhance its luster and increase its beauty and value. For more than 6000 years it has been considered among the most valuable of all precious stones, and is revered as sacred throughout Chinese society. It is also prized by other diverse cultures, including but not limited to Mesoamerican (Maya, Inca, Aztec), Korean, Burmese (Khmer), Brazilian, Canadian, Japanese, Indian and Scandinavian. It is extraordinarily tough and generally impervious to breakage, disintegration or decay.
The ancient Chinese believed jade embodied the qualities of nobility, perfection, constancy and immortality, and represented a symbolic link between man and the spiritual world ... the essence of heaven and earth, and a tangible manifestation of the Chinese belief in eternal life after death.
Thus it seems that jade is a perfect symbol of our enduring link with former classmates and others no longer of this world who touched us or affected our lives in our youth ... an appropriate touchstone as we remember and honor their lives here on the blog. And so I give you jade ....
Julia Ann Stamps Cole - Engaged, Senior play. Julia married Wayne Cole. She was a homemaker and had two children. She was 42 when she died of a heart attack. (Information obtained from Julia's mother, Katherine Stamps.)
Billy Sarrels - DE student. Billy lived in Amarillo, where he worked for Baldwin Trucking Company. He was married with two sons, and now has two grandsons. He died of a heart attack at age 44. (Information obtained from Billy's mother, Mrs. Dalton Sarrels.) Billy and I attended the same Sunday School and church for years. I last saw him in Denver, Colorado in the late 1960s when he recognized me on the street and we had a brief "catch-up" conversation. (For other "Close Encounters of the Bobcat Kind ...", see post dated September 13, 2007.)
Tommy Catherall - Sense of humor, good bookkeeper. Died January 9, 2006. Tommy lived in Wichita Falls for many years. I am awaiting more information from Raenell and will update when it is received.
Paula Leach Schubarth - Only solitaire in CHS, gymnastics team. September 1, 1945 - May 2002, age 57. Paula had three children and numerous grandchildren. She was raising her granddaughter Riley at the time of her death. I last saw Paula the weekend before she died, and many times over the months following diagnosis of the cancer which took her life. (For other memories of Paula see the blog post and comments under Joyeaux Anniversaire, Cher Paula, September 2, 2007 and Judy Smith Johnson's comment under The Spirit of the Season, December 6, 2007.)
Frances Martin Wadley - Broken leg, DE. September 2, 1944 - April 6, 2007, age 62. Frances (sometimes "Franny") worked at the old Childress Hospital during high school, and later at Childress Regional Medical Center for 23 years. She was living in Amarillo and working at Baptist St. Anthony's Hospital until her final illness. She had one son, one daughter and four grandchildren. (Information obtained from Johnson Funeral Home website.) I remember Frances at our Junior-Senior Banquet (Senior year) in her beautiful dress, cast and wheelchair.
Johnny McConnell - Golf team and blue ford. December 31, 1944 - October 1, 2007, age 63, of cancer. Johnny lived in Spring, Texas and worked in the Houston area for many years. He was married to Jackie (whom he met at Texas Tech) for 40 years, and had two sons and two grandsons. Johnny was actually the first boy outside my family who ever kissed me, chastely on the cheek, as a result of playing "Spin the Bottle" at a wiener roast for the gang held at his house when we were in fifth grade. (See the blog post and comments under John(ny) R. McConnell, October 2, 2007.)
Although they did not graduate with us, we also want to remember former classmates who were in our class for a while, of whose deaths we have been informed.
Dewayne Barber - Worked for the railroad and was a federal Inspector when he died May 11, 2000 in Weatherford, Texas. (Information obtained from Roland Bruce, CHS Class of 1962.)
Evelyn Trent Griffin - Married to "Dub" Griffin, five children. Evelyn worked for a time at Childress Hospital. (Information from JoAnn Neel Lathram. I have attempted to contact those members of Evelyn's family who still reside in Childress, thus far without success.) I remember starting first grade with Evelyn at the Kirkland School, where Lorena Hollomon taught us that year. (Many of us also remember the wonderful Mrs. Hollomon when she taught third grade at Childress Elementary School.) Later, Evelyn's mother Thelma sponsored our Camp Fire Girls troop one year, for which I am sure she deserved a medal, if not sainthood.
Clifton Stewart - Died November 21, 1966. Raenell has told me that she has seen a headstone for Clifton at Childress Cemetery, and it appears there is a military insignia on it, but there is no indication as to whether his death was service-related, and I did not find his name among those listed on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall.
Roy Wilks and Troy Wilks - The Wilks brothers were with us at least until Junior year at CHS. Roy died in Canada many years ago, and Troy in August 2000 in Fort Worth. Troy had two children. (Information from their father, Milton Wilks.)
There are educators we remember as well who no longer stand at the head of their longtime classrooms or walk the halls looking for mischief (sometimes I think our class generated more than its share). Unfortunately, I have less information about them than I do about classmates, and we certainly don't want to "bury" anyone who is still alive and kicking. Nevertheless, we do want to acknowledge Lorena Hollomon, Julia Pryor, Charlotte Sally and Ethyl Biggerstaff, all teachers at Childress Elementary School (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades, respectively); Garland Terrell, junior high school coach and Principal at CHS beginning the year we started as Freshmen; A.B. Shaw, math and algebra teacher, who saved me more than once in his algebra class; Nellie Agnes Kennedy, Senior English and speech, many of whose poetry assignments I remember to this day; Frances Long and Agnes Hughes, home economics teachers; Clarence Darter, social studies and my put-upon but ultimately effective driver's ed teacher (see blog posts "Well Durn ... I'm Thankful..., November 17, 2007 and "The Zen of Studebaker Maintenance and the Tao of Tuffy Maddox...", August 30, 2007); Z.J. Harmon, distributive education; Charlene Reeves and LeRoy Reeves, English, and history and physical education, respectively; Mary Jane Heath, mathematics; Mary Maude Denny, typing; and Martha Wallin, commercial studies and The Bobcat annual staff sponsor. And this year we found an obituary notice for one of our well-remembered junior high school teachers:
Brownie Mitchell Kimbrough, Ph.D. - 92, of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, died Friday, May 4, 2007. Dr. Kimbrough was born in Childress on February 25, 1915 to William Brown and Annie May Handley Mitchell. Married Wade Kimbrough June 6, 1942.
Nicki and I have tried diligently to obtain as much information as we can for this post, but the passage of time has left many gaps and we would be most appreciative if any of you can supply more information in the form of comments to the blog or e-mails to us. If we have missed anyone who should be remembered here, we sincerely apologize. We will update this post as necessary. And we would likewise appreciate comments and memories ... and stories ... about these classmates or educators from you.
Give light and the darkness will disappear of itself. - Erasmus
The lighting of a candle to commemorate the death of a loved one or a friend is cross-cultural. It is seen as a sacred ritual in diverse religions and is incorporated in secular traditions as well. It can ease the path for healing and may represent hope for the future. It is also a potent symbol of the human spirit. The ritual of lighting a candle and watching the flickering flame may be soothing and bring peaceful reverie and contemplation. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi (in his book Kuzari) explains that when a Jew sways back and forth in prayer (daven), the constant swaying motion is a reflection of the candle of his soul, which has been kindled and burns independently. In Eastern Orthodox church rituals, a candle symbolizes the individual soul which each person holds in his own hand. The extinguishing (or giving up) of the candle at the end of the service reminds that each person will have to surrender his soul to eternity at the end of his life.
In The Hundred Secret Senses, her bittersweet novel of the meaning of loyalty, sisterhood, fate, friendship, the supernatural and extraordinary love, Amy Tan wrote: "If people we love die, then they are lost only to our ordinary senses. If we remember, we can find them anytime with our hundred secret senses ... memory, seeing, hearing, feeling, all come together...." The book's protagonist, Olivia, learns "the world is not a place but the vastness of the soul. And the soul is nothing more than love, limitless, endless, all that moves us toward knowing what is true." The ability to use our secret senses to "connect" with those who have gone before us allows us to realize the infinite quality of time.
As 2007 ends and we begin what Nicki and I hope will be a bright and wonderful 2008, many of us will hear once again the haunting music and words of "Auld Lang Syne" (generally credited to Robert Burns, but having roots in older poems and folk songs):
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and auld lang syne?
"Auld" means "old" and "auld lang syne" translates literally from Scots as "old long since" ... or idiomatically as "long long ago", or "days gone by". Our answer to the questions posed in the song is an emphatic "No" ... we should not forget who we once were, where we came from, and those who touched our lives so long ago, even as we move inexorably from past through present into future. So, we hope you will take a bit of time to reflect, and to light a literal or figurative candle for remembrance and "connection" ... and that you all will have a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.
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16 comments:
At my 8th grade graduation dance at the country club....where Floyd Dakil was the lead performer.... I remember Floyd doing the jitterbug with several of the mothers....and sanging’ and play’n.... Man he really was talented.....
The other major event I remember from that occasion was dancing to "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: with Paula Leach....she in her tight white dress....whhhooooeeee!!!! I was only physically capable of dancing with her one time.....then had to go pour cold water all over myself in the men's locker room!!!
All I can say.......two tours in Vietnam....., and I had no problem remembering who I was fighting for anyway.....
Just got past my next Mack truck run over....(as Clara calls it...) took 10 days to recover but am much better now....
... in an e-mail (to Jennifer) dated July 18, 1999 ....
Hi! What a surprise receiving email from someone in Childress.... The only name from your class I am readily familiar with is Pat Davenport and that is because she was the heartthrob of Hugh Frith. Are you aware that he died from cancer when he was only in his mid-thirties?
Thanks for reminding me about the "Blue Room". I really enjoyed the evenings I spent there. ....
In case you would like to know what and where, and would like to share it, here is a brief history of my life after Childress High.
I went to The University of Texas and graduated as an Electrical Engineer. My first job was with Collins Radio, where I was assigned to install a communications system for the Air Force on Macatan Island in the Philippines. Macatan is only a rifle shot from Cebu [where John lived at the time our our e-mail exchanges until his death in October 2002].
My next assignment was with the Marine Corps in Danang, South Vietnam. When my contract came to an end, I quit Collins and started my own contracting company working with the U.S. military. In those days the military was throwing money away. I grabbed my share, invested it into a hotel in Saigon, turned that over to management and went to Hong Kong in 1971 to have a yacht built. The yacht was made in Taiwan where I lived the last year it was being built.
"Baroness" was delivered in 1972. I sailed around Southeast Asia for a couple of years before crossing the Indian Ocean on my way to the Mediterranean. In 1975 the Communists took over my hotel in Saigon and I wrecked my yacht and lost it on an island off the coast of Egypt. I started a business there [and] it took nine years before I was once again financially independent. During that time I learned to ride Arabian horses in the desert and developed an interest in show jumping. In 1985 I turned that business over to management and moved to San Diego to pursue the sport of show jumping. By 1989 I had reached the top level of amateur show jumping.
In March of 1989 I had an accident while competing and was paralyzed from the chest down. Three years later I decided to move to Cebu, Philippines because I liked the lifestyle better there. I started two businesses. The first was a Mexican food restaurant that was nothing but a headache so I closed it in 1996 and started a small finance company, which is doing good. Now I am exploring ways to find other investors as the economy is booming here and there is a huge demand for money.
A few months ago I started forming a charity foundation to finance certain projects for the poor. Meanwhile I spend my time watching TV and assisting in the management of the company. I think up things for other people to do!!!
Before my show jumping accident I looked up Babs Bartlett and visited her in Aspen while I was there on a ski trip. Another of our classmates, Smitty [Linda Smith], lived only a few miles away and she and her husband Tony Hunter (who graduated a year ahead of me) came to visit also.
You now know more about me than a lot of my friends ever will because they never ask.
You probably got much more than you bargained for, to use an old Texas cliche. In any event, if you or any of your friends ever want to visit this part of the world, there is a guest room with your name on it.
I am happy to post John Danner's story after he graduated from CHS, and I know John would be pleased for me to tell you. There are more things in his e-mails which I will try to share when an appropriate occasion arises.
Mike, thank you so much for the wonderful story about Paula.... I know she was the "It" girl in a lot of feverish male fantasies ... and she loved it!
I do want to tell one story about our redoubtable typing teacher, Mary Maude Denny. (Retypng John's e-mail brought it to mind.)
When I was in Mrs. Denney's typing class (junior year), I had grown my fingernails out VERRRRY long (after having bitten them most of my life) and Mrs. Denney just HATED those fingernails. She kept telling me over and over that I should cut them, that NO ONE could type efficiently with nails like that ... but oddly enough, Linda Kay and I always had the fastest and most accurate typing scores in class (quite respectable, even on those old Royal manuals). I think it frustrated Mrs. Denny to no end.
In the winter of 1968, in Colorado, I slipped on the ice and put my right hand through a glass window, severing the artery and the nerve and doing muscle damage as well. To this day, I have somewhat limited use of that hand. However, when I started trying to type with my "disability" a couple of years later, I found I could do just fine using only the index finger on my right hand. In fact, the last time I was tested at one of the law firms where I worked (to help give a high mark for a "mean" to the firm's typing requirements), I tested at 100 wpm with no errors. REALLY. I am FAST. I like to bill myself as the fastest six-fingered typist in the West. And I've wondered what Mrs. Denney would think of that??? Still, I chalk up a lot of my success to her dreaded, but effective, five minute timing drills.
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I just want to say I love my parents [Yahn and Jennifer] so much and that I am so thankful for the choices they allowed to make on my own. I hope to be blessed with my father's knowledge and insight and am grateful for the wit and encouragement from my mother. I am also thankful for and remember so well my Nana and Papa [W.C. and Louie Harp], Uncle Scotty [Johnston] and Gramma Billie [Harp Shirley]. And I thank Paula and Raenell for being the wonderful people I have known.
We so CAN move forward from school and youth to meet whatever life may bring us. I can't wait to see what this new year has in store.
We promise we did not bribe Shannon to say any of this ... and she is not doing it to secure her inheritance, as we are busily spending that enjoying life.... Nevertheless, we are blushing ... and so very touched....
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Jennifer,
Congratulations on sharing such a wonderful and fitting tribute to our friends and teachers who have died over the years. I have long adhered to Amy Tan's philosophy that people who have died are lost to us only if we don't take the time to remember them. However, now I shall always remember the concept of the "hundred secret senses" which adds a whole new dimension into my remembering. I have never read that book, but I have always found Tan to be a person of high interest. I was absolutely fascinated recently when I saw the Rock Bottom Remainders, described as a garage literary band of which she is a member, on one of the morning tv shows and heard her singing along with novelist Stephen King and columnist Dave Barry and other literary figures. Since reading your quote from her, I have found many other really relevant quotes from her. Thank you for the gift of Amy Tan, too! But I digress!
Since you have mentioned the names of our classmates and teachers in the post, it is amazing how many memories I have had of them. You were right on when you used jade as the precious stone for this post! If we manage to keep the blog going long enough, (and we will), you (and Darryl Morris)are going to make me a much better educated person about many things--precious stones, candles, religious tradions, and more. I can't wait!
Aw, shucks, Nicki ... you're making me blush again ... but thank'ee kindly ma'am for your lovely thoughts.
I've had a couple of people e-mail me today to say that I had forgotten to mention this or that teacher from Wilson Elementary. In my defense, I must say that I never went to Wilson, so have no memory or frame of reference for the teachers there ... and Nicki didn't move to Childress until just before sophomore year. So, we are hoping that some of you who DID go to Wilson ... like Mike and Sheila and Clara and others (Jim? Joe Don?) ... may write (as Mike and Sheila have) about their memorable teachers at that school. We would love to see any stories or tributes to those who are remembered by others, whether at Wilson or elsewhere.
And thanks to Nicki for posting our New Year's picture (and his thoughts) of Noah. 2008 HAS to be a better year for him ... although I hate to tempt the gods ... "Bad rice! Bad rice!" (See ... or read ... "The Good Earth" by Pearl Buck, with Paul Muni and Luise Rainer in the movie.)
)O(
…ahhhhhhhhh……Ms Nickerson……..my heart still pounds!!!!. As well as the real culprit as to who placed Dad’s putter into my bag…( you know who you are and I know you are squirming now…)… And when I write the water massacre story……I will place the rightful blame…… again…on Don Seal…for that terrible event of when two innocent 13 years olds were almost drowned by the beautiful…yet cruelly vengeful Clara Ann Robinson. (notice how I am cleverly able to always place all blame onto others……)
Sheila…..you were correct…..the choir teacher was Ms Crews……who the following year was my 4th grade teacher…and truly an inspiration for me……even tho she fired me from my singing career…….i loved that woman!!!!!!................(as opposed to that devil woman Adams…)
Now dadgum it……..git Yahn to take that talent……learn to draw a colt 45…a winchester……a cowboy hat……a horse……an indian ….and longhorn cows……….and start counting the money…!!!!!!!!!
I will answer some in the blogs later today……trying to catch up here……
And by the way Jenn…..you were…and still are absolutely gorgeous)… What I remember about you when we were growing up is…….you was lak’ this “growd up woman” in the midst of us kids……
I remember dancing with you in some stone house on the hwy east of town(8th grade?)……you were lots taller than me……and you was jista’ all put together already…
…..as usual……scairt da hell outta me…..
Blushing again.... Mike, if you seriously don't know that all the girls loved you, then let me be the first to let the cat out of the bag here on the blog. I must admit that a lot of us were dazzled by the glamor of "upperclassmen" ... but you were still true gold, and we knew it. And then you moved off to the big city ... Lubbock ... and found your true love, Ada ... who I adore, BTW, and am looking forward to seeing again in Vegas.
I remember very well dancing with you in that stone house ... I can even visualize it ... and on many other occasions as well. One of the coolest things about you was that YOU would actually DANCE with us ... without the necessity of roping, hog-tying and dragging onto the floor. And you were a GOOD dancer ... I refuse to hear any self-deprecating remarks about "frog-in-a-blender" or some such.
I remember your 8th grade birthday dance at the Country Club very well ... wasn't Floyd Dakil just toooo cooool for school? And I remember my 8th grade birthday party, down at the Community Center in Fair Park. It was one of my best birthdays ever, although we weren't fortunate enough to have Floyd play for us. Nevertheless, I think a good time was had by all ... or nearly all ... I recall one member of the class who shall remain nameless who kept spiking his Cokes with aspirin on the theory that it would make him drunk ... as I recall it only made him violently sick to his stomach in the bushes outside ... but I digress.
So many were there, all of my "buds" LK, Paula, Raenell, Jobey, Shirley, Linda Sally (excepting Lynn, who didn't start hanging with us until later), and Clara and Bettye and Diane and "the Pats" (Davenport and Harmon), Joe Don, Ron Kindle, Wayne, "Chicken" (as he was pretty much universally called then), Harold, Jack, Jim W., Don Seal, Jimmy C., you of course, and many others.
My "date" for the party was Franklin Martin (see "Close Encounters of the Bobcat Kind ..." September 13, 2007), on whom I had had a secret "crush" ever since he and his family lived next door to my grandparents on Avenue I. Franklin was already a Freshman at CHS then, so ipso facto he had the mystery and sophistication of an "older" guy attached to him. He was a little late arriving at the party that night (still too young for "car dates" then) ... but when he walked into the Community Center in his white dinner jacket, I was not the only girl in the room who swooned just a bit. (I've got some pictures here somewhere that I must find....)
I remember dancing to all the great records ... yes, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All in the Game", "Tequila", "Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop", anything Elvis, doing the Stroll and the "chalypso" (a combination of the cha-cha and calypso) and just generally working off the excitement of youth and high spirits on the dance floor. As the Four Seasons (see the Las Vegas Reunion blog) would sing a few years later, "O What a Night!"
Your stories and memories nearly always set off memories for others.... In case I haven't told you (recently anyway) we so look forward to those occasions when you can "visit" us here, and make us laugh, and kindle memories, and generate more comments and stories. So glad you are feeling better, and I hope there aren't many ... if any ... Mack trucks in the road ahead of you....
Man oh man….now you brought back another memeory….and you can publish this too
Of course!!!!!!......that was YOUR party at the community center!!!!!!!!!!.....wow!!!!!!.....I remember dancing with Pat Harmon’s mother……..amongst others……..
Floyd asked Paula to walk around the community center with him…..and she did……..remember …?......they were like 10 minute walks………I don’t know what anyone did cause I never got to go on one……all I know is……Floyd asked Paula about 2 minutes before I screwed up the courage to ask her……and it just about kilt me………dadgum it…..always a day late and a dollar short…..
Floyd may not have performed at your gathering……but I remember Floyd Dakil being at that party…………..years later I took a very large group of international clients to the Four Seasons??.... Four Continents?? in Dallas……I had a group of like 15 (my tab was $7 or $8 thousand dollars)
Anyhoo……Floyd is performing there full time…….…..and he was great….I mean really really really great!!! .....he was famous for he could play and sing absolutely any song you could name…………..and he asked for “requests” for songs ya might want to hear………he did not know I was in the audience…..
I sent a note up thru the waitress that said…..”do you remember the night, in the 8th grade….. you got to walk around the community center with Paula Leach…..you Devil?”…….he was singing a song when the waitress handed him the note…….he read it…….turned around and stopped the music……with fanfare!!!!!!!……and said……Now, just who the hell is here from Childress!!!!!!??.....
Wowee….did my group have a great time that night……..he drug me up to the stage and we told Childress stories…….for a long time…….I am sure the audience was enthralled…. anyway…..he proceeded by singing nothing but songs from our heyday in Childress…
I can assure you…..his show is worth seeing…
Now Jennifer…….I know I am not in Yahn’s category………but I draw cartoons within our industry…….. every year I draw a crayfish boil t shirt for Schlumberger…….the punch line to the cartoon is, “I have this recurring nightmare where we are all boiled alive and eaten by giants!!!!”……Zelda Nikerson encouraged me to draw……….I would not make a wart on Yahn’s butt……
And as always ……if you choose to accept this assignment and place it into the blog……I will disavow any and all knowledge of these events……………plus remember…….I never exaggerate stories…………
Hey, Mike! Guess who I just got off the phone with... Ta Da!! Drumroll ....
Floyd Dakil!!!! Yes, himself!!! After our exchange today, and earlier comments about him on the blog, I decided to google him ... found a phone number, called, and it was him on the line. We had a great conversation ... he remembers so many of us, as we remember him. He recalls very well performing at your birthday party, and walking Paula around the Community Center at mine ... and I had to laugh (he sounded like you) when he told me he had crushes on lots of us girls including Paula, Pat D., Linda Kay, Linda Sally, me (blush) and others. I mentioned your comment about how tall I was (am), and he said that he definitely remembered that!
He owns FDI (Floyd Dakil Interests), a firm involved in investments, real estate and other ventures. He still plays an occasional gig in the Dallas area, but nothing on a regular basis.
He also remembers very well the time you brought your clients to his club and you came up onstage with him. However ... HE says you played the drums while you were up there. [You and I have talked since I began this entry, and you denied the drums ... although you did say it MIGHT have been a tambourine....]
Small World Story: Floyd graduated from Highland Park High School in Dallas ... and I asked him if he knew Kirk Wade and Carol Sue (Susie) Willingham from HPHS ... and he DID! We chatted for a bit about Susie being my roommate at Texas Tech, and introducing me to Kirk Wade, who I dated for a while.
(Historical Footnote: Susie took me to Dallas to meet her friends, including Kirk, over the Thanksgiving weekend in 1963 ... right after the JFK assassination. Kirk ... now a corporate lawyer in D.C. ... is the nephew of former Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade, the WADE in "Roe v. Wade". Yahn and I last saw Kirk over lunch in D.C. when we were there a few years ago.)
But back to Floyd. He has given me his information and I am passing it along to Nicki as he is very interested in attending the Las Vegas Reunion. AND ... when I mentioned to him that I am coming to Dallas in March before flying on to Paris with Raenell, LK and Jobey, he said he wants to get together for lunch or dinner with all of us. (When I told Mike this over the phone, he said he would come up, too.) Amazing ... serendipity!
I told Floyd I would send him the blog links so he can see the pictures, and what has been said about him, and catch up on all of us he knew in Childress. So, perhaps he may decide to visit us here himself. Another piece of past falls into place....
Addenda to preceding comment(s):
Mike, the cartoons you sent me, now on the blog, are GREAT! Thanks so much....
Shee-Ra, forgot to mention that Floyd also remembered you very well and asked me to say "Hi" to you ... and everyone.... I know you're busy right now but wanted to pass this along....
Mike and Floyd, I took after my 6'4" Daddy, rather than my 5'3" mother....
And LK, Floyd was amazed to discover that y'all only live a few miles apart....
Go Bobcats!
This is great! And the reunion! What a good idea!
Dakil
Hello Floyd Dakil! I remember you like it was yesterday! I am so glad that you have joined up with this crazy bunch of holligans...me included. I hope you have lots of stories to share with us and that you will join us in LV so we can celebrate life to the fullest! what better place that LV to do that? HUH!
In memory and honor of my teachers at Wilson Elementary I offer this note.
Mr. Powell was our principal. I remember him as being VERY tall, well dressed and kind, even when I was sent to the office for being bad. Can't imagine that I was ever bad, but I do remember being in his office and being shown his paddle. Scared the life out of me.
Miss Shaw was my first grade teacher. I was 6 years old and I knew she was old, but probably not as old as I thought. She taught me to draw a tree and she told me that I drew a beautiful tree. I saved that drawing forever and even took it with me to UT.
I remember getting into major trouble while lining up for lunch. I wanted to be first in line, and someone beat me by only seconds, so, I grabbed the first chair I could find and shoved it into the first place, destroying all of Miss Shaw's gorgeous bouquet of gladiolas. She scolded me severely and made me go to the end of the line. I do not remember eating lunch that day, I was so hurt that she scolded me.
Mrs. Bryant was my second grade teacher. Every time I see a blue jay I think of her. One spring day I was caught staring out the window at a blue jay. She scolded me for daydreaming. When I finally managed to speak, I told her about the blue jay in the elm tree outside our window. She let the whole class stop what they were doing so they could go to the window and get a close look at that blue jay. She made me feel like a hero.
Third grade was Mrs. Crews. She was a kind and gentle person and I just loved everything about her. I especially remember her reading stories to us until her voice was weak. Then she would have one of the better students finish reading the story to the class. I believe it was in her class that Johnny Wright, Reed and I had pencil fights.
Fourth grade was Mrs. Clynch. She is special to me because her husband and my dad worked together at the Highway Department and my parents warned me that if I ever misbehaved in her class, that would be the end of me. I was just heartbroken that I didn't get Mrs. Nickerson for my 4th grade teacher so I was probably not the best student for Mrs. Clynch. I thought that she hated me as much as I tried to dislike her. One day, years after we graduated, I was in Temple at the Scott and White Hospital checking on my mother-in-law, who was very ill, and I ran into Mrs. Clynch. She grabbed me and hugged me like I was her long lost daughter. We shared some stories of times gone by. She is the one who told me of Hugh Gayle Frith's death from Hodgkins Lymphoma. She was a very good teacher and helped me to realize that a person doesn't have to be nice to be able to teach...it helps, but isn't an absolute requirement.
Fifth grade was Mrs. Austin. I will always remember her because she gave me my first failing grade. That was the year that I earned and deserved a D in reading. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Up until that point, I was Miss Recess! She put me on restriction and made me stay in from recess until I met my reading requirements of 21 books. Of course, in my reading, I met a lot of new friends and learned to LOVE reading. "Little Tejas" is my most remembered book.
Mrs. Powell was my 6th grade teacher. I remember discovering that Joe Don was very smart ... smarter that I was and so was Dickie Partridge(sp). She taught me to love diagramming sentences and that I wasn't allowed to work fractions in my head. Wish I hadn't listened to her on that last one about fractions. I also remember a little boy in our class, Stanley Wood. On Valentine's Day, he was the only one in our class that didn't get a card except for the one from Mrs. Powell. I remember looking around the room, seeing how much all of the rest of us had and Stanley had only the one card. I felt really bad ... so, begrudgingly, I gave him one of mine. My mom had told me the night before that I had to give him one so I was afraid of hell, fire, and damnation for not obeying her. Now, a lifetime later, I wish I could just go back and relive that one day.
Sheila,
I love your tribute to your elementary school teachers. I think elementary teachers are so very important and they truly shape a child's view of school forever. I have tried and tried to remember my elementary teachers. I am sure if I pull out my old report cards that would help. I can't recall the names for all of them, but I do vividly remember that I loved all of my teachers until I got to the fourth grade and the un-named lady was my first not so nice teacher. I was really shocked about this discovery and I never like that grade. Oh yes, I do remember that in the second grade, I had to stand out in the hall for standing up while the teacher was out of the room. We were playing jacks and I can't remember why I got up but it had something to do with a little boy who had made me mad about something. I was mortified to have to stand out in the hall!
I read your story to Jim and he was very fond memories of his days at Wilson Elementary except when he was in trouble. I can't imagine that!!
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