Time to Give Thanks...

 

Good news! I inquired about RODNEY FLANAGAN'S health and his wife Carolyn was kind enough to send me the following:

"Rodney was released from Shannon Encompass Rehab July 30, 24 days after the stroke. Seven of those days were spent in Shannon Hospital.  The remaining time was spent in rehab, which was crucial in his recovery. He spent time in Occupational, Speech and Physical therapy almost every day.  He is working to regain his strength by walking and doing exercises at home, which he does not enjoy.  He looks good and there are no obvious physical effects. There is some short term memory loss, and he gets tired easier.  He laughs and says that being 82 years old is part of the problem.  We are so thankful that he is doing so well and give God all the glory. Thank you all for the calls, cards and prayers.  The class of '57 is a special bunch of people."

Love to you all,

Rodney and Carolyn

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Back in May, NANCY BAKER'S grandson Rei suffered a serious brain injury in a skateboard accident. His sister Kara

set up a GoFundMe page for him and updated his condition from time to time. Last week NANCY told me that he was home with his mother Lynn in Winters, and accompanied them on their garage sale shopping! He is still on the path to a full recovery. His sister Kara wrote the following on his GoFundMe page:

"Rei has made a truly miraculous recovery. He was released from the hospital on July 16th. He was hospitalized for 7 weeks. 5 of those weeks he was kept deeply sedated, on a ventilator, and on a feeding tube in ICU. During that time the Doctors and Nurses could not tell us that he would ever be okay. Then once Rei's brain could handle coming back from sedation he literally started making a full recovery in 2 weeks and got to go home! Every other day my mom told me about a big milestone Rei overcame. I kept driving to the hospital to see for myself. God has been so good to us! Thank you all again for your support! We know many of you wanted to come see him but you didn't because you understood how important it was for him to have a completely calm and unstimulating environment for his brain to heal. We thank you for your understanding and for supporting us from afar! We love you and God bless all of you for your kindness!"

This truly was a miraculous recovery. 

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Back in June I wrote about my and BOB BURTON'S grandson Branch Tanner Archer and the 70-day bicycle ride he was participating in to raise money for cancer research, I Love to Ride My Bike. Last Friday the riders completed their 6,000 mile trip, arriving back in Austin. Guess who was there to greet him? As his parents were waiting in Alaska for him to join them, Papaw, aka BOB BURTON was there with a big grin and a hug! Uncle Matthew took the photos. We are all "busting our buttons" with pride for this young man.

BOB BURTON, Tanner, Aunt Amy, Cousin Kelly

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"Ask and ye shall receive." I recently asked DENNY HILL what he has been up to in recent months. I was tickled to get a quick, funny response from him. During the pandemic, he has been experiencing some of the things that we all can relate to. Stay tuned. I will share these with you in my next post!

In the meantime, if you can keep us all updated on classmates who need our attention and/or prayers, please drop me an email. I am finally able to do a little writing, and of course, I love to hear from you all!

Peace and love -- and may you all experience "good stuff"!

Marilyn

"I LOVE TO RIDE MY BIKE"

                

I never owned a bicycle as a child and I don't even recall riding one as an adult. Here in Austin you see bike riders everywhere all of the time. It wasn't surprising to me when my daughter's son Tanner started intense training for an upcoming ride, sometimes riding his bicycle 40 miles a day.

Tanner has a knack for participating in worthy causes. Last year he and a good friend held a "standathon" wherein they both stood for 24-hours while reading from pertinent books on climate change and being viewed online to raise money for "Extinction Rebellion ATX", an international nonviolent movement seeking real solutions to climate change. I wrote about their success at this endeavor on my personal blog. Standing for Change

This past weekend, Tanner and 21 other like-minded bike riders left on a 4,000 mile ride in the lower 48 states to raise money for cancer research. They are members of an organization called "Texas 4000". Started in 2004, "Texas 4000’s mission is to cultivate student leaders and engage communities in the fight against cancer." Information about the riders, their route, and why each has chosen to raise money for cancer is located on their website Texas 4000. There is also a good map of the stops they will make along the way. He is on the Sierra route.

Branch Tanner Archer is the grandson of mine and BOB BURTON. If you happened to see 22 bicycle riders touring through Ballinger last Monday, that was his group. Tanner had visited me when I lived in Ballinger for a few years before our 50th Class Reunion. He sent the following photo to let me know they went through there!

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JUNE HASH CURRY sent me the following photo of her newest great-grandchild. I am jealous that she and NANCY THOMPSON BAKER both are gifted with great-grandchildren! Although I am blessed with seven grandchildren, five of them are still attending college. This has to be the cutest photo of a toddler I've seen!

This is Miss Emery Jayne Birdwoman Curry. She was born into the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe in Oklahoma. JUNE's grandson Braden and his wife Kennedy Curry officially adopted her on June 8th. Birdwoman is the name she was born with and they want her to remember it as well as her culture. JUNE told me: "My grandson and his young wife have been taking foster children since last year, and she was the fifth one to come into their home when she was five months of age. The other four foster children have since gone to other homes or returned to their parents, but they simply couldn’t think of letting her go and began adoption proceedings. The Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe finally accepted their petitions, signed off on the adoption, and yesterday she legally became ours to keep. And I think our whole family would have been to bury if we had lost this precious baby since she had already become a much loved member of our clan." I can certainly see why. And I commend this sweet couple for their work with foster children!

The happy new family!

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That's it for this time. Are there any "newbies" or happenings in your life or those you love? Send me the good stuff. I love to hear from you. 

Peace and Love,

Marilyn

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Update: I was informed that the bridge in this post is NOT the railroad bridge that you guys used to ride on in your cars. NANCY informed me it is what we called the Clickety Clack Bridge, as it made that noise when a car drove over it. The railroad doesn't go through there. It's also one that we all signed or left our initials on! Forgive me. It's been a long, long time since I lived in Ballinger and shared its lore! Marilyn

In May, JUNE HASH CURRY told us about her granddaughter Morgan's summer trip to study broadcast communications in London, including a field trip to CNN. (Where In The World..) 

Braden and Morgan Curry

Morgan had a wonderful time in Europe as did Scott and Staci and Braden, her parents and brother, who joined her there her last week. She especially enjoyed her time at CNN, although it was a frantic time as they were there on the day of the terrorist attacks outside Parliament. 

Staci and Scott Curry

JUNE said that Staci was overcome by the beauty of the Eiffel tower in Paris. I think that is understandable.

It's a shame that so many people will put off touring in Europe due to the threat of terrorist attacks. There are some brave souls, though, like JUNE's family and my son-in-law Branch, who took my grandson Tanner to London in July for his high school graduation gift. They had a great time seeing all the sites, and experiencing the English weather!

By the way, Tanner is also BOB BURTON's grandson.

Branch and Tanner Archer in London

On another note, I noticed this article on the internet back in June. The bridge and railroad tracks looked very familiar to me. Looks like it might be gone for good now.

(Photo: Facebook: Jenny Edington Moore)

(Photo: Contributed photo by Todd Cleary)

"Firefighters from the Ballinger Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire called in about 9:20 a.m. Sunday. (June 18, 2017) When the firefighters arrived on scene, they realized it was the old 12-Mile Bridge, an historic wooden and steel structure that crossed the Colorado River alongside a modern bridge at County Road 129." (San Angelo Standard-Times)

I know you all remember this bridge. Didn't some of you actually drive your cars on the tracks and "ride the rails"?

This afternoon I got a call from PEGGY VIRDEN SHARP in regards to the reunion in October. We had a great visit, catching up. I asked about her grandson Tyce Green, who had such a wonderful voice when I heard him sing one Christmas at a small church in Bethel. He is very busy in his singing and acting career. His debut album is out entitled HERO. PEGGY said that he lives and works in NYC, but will open for Air Supply at a concert in Los Angeles in September. She and hubby Bobby have flown to watch him appear in plays in NYC and San Francisco. The following song is from the play Hamilton:

DOTTIE BISHOP ROGERS always has fun stuff to tell:

"I always look forward to the blogs, but it also saddens me. So many of us ('57s) are in ill health and so many losses. I almost hate to report about my busy and blessed life. I have finally let golf go except for once a month scrambles. Instead of golf I have converted my garage into a woodshop (I think I have told you this, but....) and I am making barnwood frames for my Indian art and for many of my artist friends. I do a lot of wine bottle decorations (gee, wonder where I get those bottles??) and neat barnwood signs. 

Recently Larry (Dottie's love interest) and I updated his kitchen and it looked so good, he talked me into doing the same. We did a total remodel. We took down old cabinets, redid cabinet doors, did new countertops and lighting, and I replaced all of my appliances. For two old guys, we did good. Even though my entire house was covered in dust and debris, it is almost complete. Backsplash will be finished this week after my microwave is installed along with the dishwasher. 

Healthwise I am doing well. Takes me a little more time to get up if I get down, but I can live with that. I had planned to come to the reunion, but I may have to change plans. Larry's youngest son and his wife are planning to be here that weekend from Bremerton, WA. I have to refinish a large buffet he has in his dining room and decorate a bedroom for them.

See, I told you, it is kinda boring, but I feel so blessed, even if my memory goes haywire some days. Please give my condolences to those who have lost loved ones, and my prayers for those who are ill or in the hospital. 

As always, dear friend, I cherish the info you send us."

Love to all, Dottie

Dottie was my very first friend when I moved to Ballinger in April of 1953. We touch base off and on - I even have a birth announcement she sent when her first child was born. It's always a joy to hear from her. See? Dottie, there is nothing sad in this post!

Peace and Love,

Marilyn