TIMES THEY ARE A'CHANGIN'

So much is happening on our planet right now, it is hard to choose a topic. Close to home, we are barraged with news of the Primary elections taking place. No matter what political party you support or which candidate, you have to admit this is a unique historical event in our country. We have running for the highest office in our land three people from the most discriminated against groups in the United States. An African-American, a woman, and a senior citizen (yes, they are discriminated against, in case you haven’t tried to gain employment lately). My apologies to the distinguished Senator from Arizona, but the last I heard, the decade of one’s seventies is definitely considered “senior”. There was a time not too many years ago that someone in his 50s would also be considered “senior”. And you know what? One of them will be our next President.

Ah, yes, the times they are a’changin’! They say that age 50 is now the new 40. I guess that makes us 60-somethings really 50-somethings, right?

My stepfather used to tease me a lot when I would make a statement starting with “they say”. “Wait a minute, Marilyn”, he’d say. “Back up there. Who are these people you call ‘they’?” Of course, I rarely ever could quote my source, but I soon learned to back up such statements with a name when I approached him with some supposedly valid fact or statistic. (I now have to admit that the “they” I quoted in the above paragraph was the Oprah Winfrey Show!) Once he jokingly asked me (after one of my job changes) what I was going to be when I grew up. I quickly replied I wanted to be one of “they” that everyone quotes! (Seems at that time “actuaries” who compiled statistics held the highest paid positions in the country.)

Glenn Smith took cousin Pat Smith Mullins to lunch at Chili's in Brownwood this week. Pat and her husband James are planning a trip to the west coast around the end of April to spend time with two of their daughters.

Nancy Thompson Baker's husband Jake had a pacemaker successfully implanted this past week. Nancy said the doctor told them that no, Jake would not be able to communicate with aliens with his new device. Darn! When Nancy was telling me this, she had some interesting stories about the times folks from around here, Jake included, have witnessed what they believe to have been UFOs! She said that Mike and Virginia Harral Egan also witnessed one. Hey! Those would be great stories to share with us.

If any of you read this in time, you might be interested in participating in the tonight's “black out”. I’m going to light one of my great-grandmother’s kerosene lamps and use a lot of candles during this time. I copied this from the Google Web Page, which is already black to show their support.

“On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.”

Next month we will again celebrate Earth Day. Mark it on your calendar -- April 22nd. I'm still trying to add beauty to the world by pulling weeds in my back yard! I have a way to go. However, the grape hyacinths are still blooming and the honeybees are responding with gratitude. I have been carefully following the reports of the vanishing bees, so seeing them in "my back yard" was a special delight. If you look closely in the following photo you can see two of them.

I will post the photos from Peg's (Branham) vacation in the next blog entry. I wanted to get this one in a little before the 1st of April. I didn't want it to be an April Fool's entry... but then, maybe it is?

Remember good stuff really does happen!

Marilyn

EASTER SUNDAY

Easter came early this year -- only a few days after the first day of spring. Along with the early blooming daffodils and hyacinths and new buds on the trees, it brought a lot of memories to mind. Of frilly dresses, Mary Janes, and pretty little hats and gloves. Of short pants and knees socks, suits and ties and grownup shoes. The jerky home movies of everyone in their Easter finery, and the silent squeals of joy as the children raced each other to find the most Easter eggs. And lots of memories and photographs of Easter baskets, big smiles, and tears of sadness when little ones were made to wait to eat that chocolate bunny until after Sunday services. Of course, the inevitable photos of the happy little chocolate-covered faces when they were finally given the okay to indulge in all those goodies.

I never gave in to buying one of these cute little bunnies for any of the kids, however, I was dismayed one year when a friend of my mother's sent my youngest home from an Easter visit with Grandma toting a baby chicken -- more like an adolescent chicken. Not the cute little fuzzy ones. This one was beginning to get his "real" feathers. (You can see I am not a farm girl!) A single parent at the time, and living in an apartment, I had no place to keep a pet chicken! For several days the chicken took up residence in our only bathtub. This meant a lot of extra work for me at bathtime, as you can imagine. On my way to work one morning, lo and behold, I saw a house on the corner of the street with several small chickens of varying ages in the fenced-in backyard! Some were even dyed different colors. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to get home. I convinced a tearful Matthew that his pet chicken would be so much happier with a yard to play in, and with more little chicks as companions. When that didn't work, I promised we would look for a more suitable pet. This "suitable pet" turned out to be Goldie, the hamster. But that is another story for another time!

I brazenly knocked on the door of the corner house, chick in hand. The poor man looked at my chicken with dismay. It seemed everyone was dropping off their unwanted Easter pets at his house, and he couldn't say "no" to desperate mothers!

This Easter was quiet compared to earlier times. I shared some of the memories by email with my grownup little egg-hunters. Talked to some of my family members. And thought about the meaning of this season. New life is springing up all around us. The Cross on the Hill here in Ballinger reminds me of the opportunity we have each spring to rise above our limitations, and overcome any obstacles we have created in our lives that prevent us from knowing peace, happiness, and fulfillment.

I've heard from many of you with wishes for a Happy Easter. My thanks to you. May your Easter have been blessed with love and good memories as mine was.

After my last blog entry, I received a little news from fellow classmates. This first one is from Paul Mota, who lives with his wife in San Angelo:

"Since you asked, I am providing some information about me and my family. In the immediate weeks, I am looking forward to my daughter visiting us while they have Spring break in the Houston area. She will be bringing our 2 grandchildren Ana Marie (age 3) and Daniel (age 9).

My wife and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary on the 6th of March. The most important thing about our lives is that we have been very blessed. Not really in monetary value but in other more important areas.

We were blessed with our only daughter, who was born in Tokyo, Japan. She tries to do a little of everything in life such as running the Houston Marathon, Broadway plays, and you name it, she has tried it. I brainwashed her early in life to be a New York Yankees fan. We try to go to Arlington as often as we can to see the Yankees play.

I am in pretty good health if I could only stop eating all these snacks and stuff at night. I am trying (aren't we all?) to lose some pounds but not seeing much success lately. Otherwise, thanks to God, I am in pretty good health.

During about the last 10 Years or so I got the Las Vegas bug, and we are going there about once or twice a year. We have reservations for June coming up soon. I find it hard to believe that anyone could NOT have a lot of fun there. There is so much to see and do there.

As I stated in another letter, I spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and also 20 years as a Department of Defense civilian at the base here. I retired about 5 years ago and am enjoying it more than my wife is enjoying having me home all the time.

That is about it for now. Have a great Easter to everyone from the class of 57." Paul

The following is from Barbara (Sharpes) Brooks:

"The big news for me is a brand new knee! It's been eighteen days now and I think I will live. I had no idea what I was getting into. If the other one goes I may just have to live with it!" Barb

EDITOR: Peggy (Branham) Krumlinde sent some more beautiful photos from her vacation in Mexico last month. I will post one or two of them on the next blog.

Someone asked me recently, "What are you doing to bring beauty to the world?" Whoa! That one still has me thinking. I started by pulling weeds in my back yard. Does that count? Think about it. What are you doing to bring beauty to the world? Write me and share that with your classmates!

Until next time, keep on making the "good stuff" happen!

Marilyn

The Egans and More..

Two recent events marked the life of our former classmate, Virginia Harral Egan. As you can see from the article above, one was a joyous occasion she celebrated with her husband Mike on Valentine’s Day. What a wonderful day to get married! Congratulations on 50 years of married bliss, Virginia and Mike. 

Sadly, I was informed this past week that Virginia lost her brother. I’m sorry I don’t have his name available. Nancy Baker informed me of this and she is out of town at this time. When I said to Nancy that I didn’t know Virginia had a brother, she reminded me of an event we shared in the summer of 1955. 

Nancy, Irene (Piel), and I went with my mother and sister and two of their friends (plus one infant) to Marfa, Texas to watch the movie Giant being filmed. Mother had written ahead for permission to view the action from the movie set. When we arrived in Marfa, we were informed that the movie schedule had been changed. They had a giant wind machine brought in (imagine having to create wind in West Texas!), and were to film a dust storm and cattle stampede that day. For obvious reasons, the set was closed to the public. 

It was a long drive, and we were determined to get a look at all the movie stars in town, so began the search for motel rooms. Marfa was a very small town, and with all the movie folks there, rooms were at a premium. Mother finally located one room in a rundown motel. Not enough space for seven of us and a baby! Somehow, we got in touch with Virginia’s brother who lived there with his wife and adorable little son, Craig. They were so hospitable, and allowed Nancy, Irene, and me to sleep in their guest room. I do not remember Virginia’s brother that much, however, I was enchanted by her three-year-old nephew. So enchanted, I believe somewhere I still have a newspaper clipping of him at that age, standing at the kitchen sink with an apron on, helping his mother wash dishes. I even loved his name, and named my first son Craig!

Virginia’s brother just happened to live on the street where two of the stars of the movie had rented houses for the duration of the filming… Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson! We haunted the blocks they stayed on until we captured on film Rock Hudson walking to Elizabeth’s house. Later, we got up the nerve to knock on Elizabeth’s door. We had torn out photos from movie magazines to have her autograph for us. Duhhh! We forgot to bring a pen! However, this beautiful star generously posed for us in the doorway in her blue jeans, with a small Chihuahua dog in her arms. She still had on heavy movie makeup, which fascinated us. 

That night we all stood near the entrance of the only big hotel in town and watched as stars and technicians alike arrived to eat dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. The next day we were rewarded with watching our “idol” James Dean filming outdoor scenes with Elizabeth and Rock. What memories we all have of that exciting trip! 

I truly am sorry about the loss of your brother, Virginia. I know the little tale above is only a brief episode, but his generosity made for some happy teenage memories. 

~~~~~~~~~

I want to apologize for leaving the blog with no new entries for so long. My mother’s death affected me more than I initially realized. I made three trips in a few weeks’ time, and came down with a horrific cold after the last one to San Antonio. The result of all of this was that I spent about three weeks doing a lot of introspection while healing. Some of it was like a life review. Not all of it was pleasing. As my body healed, my thoughts worked through the pain of loss. Then I had wonderful news. I am going to be blessed with another grandchild by my son Matthew and his wife Amy. Death, then new life; the circle continues. 

Thanks to all of you who have patiently sent me uplifting or funny emails. I’m sorry if I didn’t respond to all of them. I will say one more time that I never respond – or even open, any email that looks remotely political in content. Nothing personal, I just don’t want to add any energy to anything so negative about any candidate. That’s not my kind of humor.

Did you all hear about NASA broadcasting into space the Beatles’ song “Across The Universe”? Wow! I hear there is a new DVD out titled the same. It’s a modern musical created entirely by Beatles’ songs – some 30 of them. I don’t know how many of you are fans, but I’ve heard it is a fantastic musical portrait of the past 40+ years of life on this planet. I’ll be looking for it.

Very little news since I have been so “cocooned” of late. June Curry has moved to Edmond, Oklahoma after selling her home in Tulsa. Remember the house fire she suffered? It didn’t stop her place from selling!

Nancy and Jake Baker, along with their daughter Melissa and hubby Bryan Jones are on a vacation trip to Las Vegas again. They go so frequently, they ought to own shares in some of the casinos there! I hope they win the big one this time!

Peggy Branham Krumlinde sent me the following photo she took on a recent vacation in Mexico. She will be in Ballinger for a family reunion in April. I’m looking forward to seeing her. We were neighbors in Albuquerque for a short time over 35 years ago! I haven’t seen her since.

Let me hear from all of you. What’s happening in your life? Share with us. In the meantime, remember

Good stuff happens!
Marilyn