Willits High School Class of 1967

Saturday, February 7, 2009

We are all very saddened to hear of the passing of Jeff Smith, Class of '66, on Monday, February 2nd.... "Jeff was a devoted and loving husband and father. He had a wonderful sense of humor while being warm and lighthearted to all. Jeff was a great storyteller, helping others laugh even in the darkest time. Jeff loved children and dogs, and they loved him. He was universally loved and respected, with many in the community leaning on him for support and guidance"....Please see the complete obituary at http://www.willitsnews.com/obituaries/ci_11645625

Thanks to Ken Brown, in Willits, for forwarding this link to us.

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1st Annual WHS Alumni Family Roundup and Picnic

Thoughts and Thank You's from Homecoming 2009......

Hey Tom,

Just wanted to thank you and all the rest who put on a fun, filled Birthday Party. We had a wonderful time. It was so much fun seeing each and everyone at the party.
I know it's been two weeks just finally getting around to the thank you!!!!
Hope to see you next year.

Tink

Class of '67 Superstars,

I have been trying to think of something worthy to say about the wonderful homecoming weekend you created for all of us but a simple and very heartfelt thanks will have to do.

This has been a tough year for everyone but you guys managed to create pure joy and a sufficient quotient of silliness to make all the troubles go away. Cheering a winning Willits team, a float to be proud of, wonderful food, conversations to be treasured, a good cause supported, pictures that made us look younger, and lots of laughter.

Who knew the class of '67 had such talent (although we did need to recruit an honorary member in Denise to make it all work).
Thank you!!!!

Beverly

_____________________________

Class of 67 get together team

This is a very belated note. I want to express my apologies to group for not appearing at the Sunday breakfast. Family seemed more pressing at the time and we did have a wonderful meal together, however, I was full of remorse for not saying goodbye to everyone.

The reunion was fabulous. I can't even put words to it, it was just a great feeling being back in Willits and seeing so many happy faces. Some have said that perhaps once a year is too frequent for a reunion - I say nuts to that. This is really a different thing than a reunion it is more like friends getting together. I am sure everyone will not be able to make it every year, but that will be OK, because we will see those people the next year. I think this is (maybe only in my mind) like a snowball and it will gain momentum with time.

Thanks especially to Denise and her very cooperative children and children in laws. Debbie and Richard Huddle for their continued hospitality. Tom for keeping us all in line. Fred for giving 60 year olds their own blog! and Ken who runs the whole Skype program. And to all of the above locals who have the huge responsibility of living in Willits and paving the way for us wanna be locals. From the bottom of my heart thanks.

All my love,

Tamme

____________________________

Bev and Tamme,

Thanks for packaging my thoughts ( and the thoughts of all those able to attend the weekend, I am sure) in such nice words. It seems nice people use nice words.

I luvya, God love you, and may God save the Class! Thanks so much for beautifully summing up what I could not convey in a thousand pages.
'67-On, Classmatettes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!T

Homecoming Attendee List.....

Here is a growing list of those who are planning to attend Homecoming as of Thursday, October 15!!!!......If you know of others, please let me know so I can add them to the list.

Mark and Kelly Smith
Beverly (Burton) and Ken James
Tamme (Tucker) and Marshall Thompson
Susie (Silva) and Sammy Johnson
Richard Skinner
Charlotte (Marlett) Parker
Denise and Butch Lewis
Tom Tufts
Bruce Formslag
Loma (Buletti) Wharton
Eddie Marlett
Ken and Nancy Runyan
Michelle (Rousseu) Book
Richard and Debbie Huddle
Don Jester
Felix and Vivien Seto
Marilyn (Mickle) Lindstrom
Marilyn (Gibson) Jones
Karen (Banthral) Thrillkill
Mitchell Hood
"Tink" Retha Seymour
Joyce (Hetzer) Cader
Larry and Pat Buzzard
Doug and Diane Forrester
Dennis and Gail McClelland
Bob and Doris Seymour
David Page
Jim and Linda Reed
Ellen (DeRego) Brown
Dee and Margaret Dryden
Janet Prescott

The Darwin Awards

Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.
Here is the glorious winner:

1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company, expecting negligence, sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away. [*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family....unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend . In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.

Paisely Fields....Forever....

Hi Classmates,

We all probably had at least one garment, (pants, shirt, dress, blouse, socks, etc) that we wore in the late 60's with the paisely pattern. Heck, some of us may still have some of these lingering in the dark corners of our closets.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it... "Paisley was particularly popular during the Summer of Love, heavily identified with psychedelic style and the interest in Indian spirituality and culture brought about by the pilgrimage of The Beatles there in 1968. John Lennon had a Rolls Royce painted with the design in 1967."

It seems only fitting to dress up the blog with this design as we approach another significant reunion this fall.
99 days and counting!!!!

Beverly Burton James will be in Willits on the 4th...any other out-of-towners going to make it?

The town of Willits, California is home to a week-long 4th of July celebration known as Willits Frontier Days—host to California’s oldest continuous rodeo.

So plan on throwing your rope around our “4-star” events from the barbecue to the parade, from the gymkhana to the rodeo, from the horseshow to the Cutest Little Cowboy & Cowgirl contest, and much, much more.

It will be an Independence Day celebration you’ll be talkin’ about for a mighty long time. We look forward to seeing you there.

Check out details at http://www.willitsfrontierdays.com/

Contribution from Tommy T......

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England.

In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico,

which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico.

But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York.

The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise
and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss.

Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as

Sinko de Mayo

WHAT!!!! You expected something educational from the Class Blog!

Father's Day 2009

Father's Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting, and to honor and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, special dinners to fathers, and family oriented activities.
The first observance of Father's Day is believed to have been held on July 5, 1908 in a church located in Fairmont, West Virginia by Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia at the Central United Methodist Church of Fairmont. Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd of Washington thought independently of the holiday one Sunday in 1909 while listening to a Mother's Day sermon at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church at Spokane and she arranged a tribute for her father on June 19, 1910. She was the first to solicit the idea of having an official Father's Day observance to honor all fathers.
It took many years to make the holiday official. In spite of support from the YWCA, the YMCA and churches, it ran the risk of disappearing from the calendar. Where Mother's Day was met with enthusiasm, Father's Day was met with laughter. The holiday was gathering attention slowly, but for the wrong reasons. It was the target of much satire, parody and derision, including jokes from the local newspaper Spokesman-Review. Many people saw it as just the first step in filling the calendar with mindless promotions like "Grandparents Day", "Professional Secretaries Day", etc., all the way down to "National Clean Your Desk Day." A bill was introduced in 1913, US President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea in 1924 and a national committee was formed in the 1930s by trade groups in order to legitimize the holiday. It was made a federal holiday when President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation in 1966.
In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries, most often on November 19.

Memorial Day 2009

The First Official Memorial Day May 30, 1868

In 1868, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic issued what was called General Order Number 11, designating May 30 as a memorial day. He declared it to be "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land."The first national celebration of Memorial Day (originally Decoration Day) took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery. The national observance of Memorial Day still takes place there today, with the placing of a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the decoration of each grave with a small American flag. The holiday has changed a bit since it first began, which some argue was even earlier than Logan's dedication.Southern women decorated the graves of soldiers even before the end of the Civil War. After the war, a women's memorial association in Columbus, Mississippi, put flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers in 1866, an act of generosity that inspired the poem by Francis Miles Finch, "The Blue and the Grey," published in the Atlantic Monthly. In 1971, federal law changed the observance of the holiday to the last Monday in May and extended it to honor all those who died in American wars. People pay tribute not only with flowers but also with speeches and parades. Reconstruction (1866-1877)

After 35 years of marriage, a husband and wife came for counseling.

When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a
passionate, painful tirade, listing every problem they ever had
in the years they had been married.

On and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness,
loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry
list of unmet needs she had endured.

Finally, after allowing this for a sufficient length of time, the
therapist got up, walked around the desk and after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately as her
husband watched with a raised eyebrow. The woman shut up
and quietly sat down as though in a daze.

The therapist turned to the husband and said, “this is what
your wife needs at least 3 times a week. Can you do this?”

The husband thought for a moment and replied, “well I can
drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I fish.”

The Dead Horse

Young Chuck in Montana bought a horse from a farmer for $100.

The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day.The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news... the horse died."
Chuck replied, "Well, then just give me my money back."
The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."
Chuck said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."
The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?"
Chuck said, "I'm going to raffle him off."
The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"
Chuck said, "Sure I can, Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, "What happened with that dead horse?"
Chuck said, "I raffled him off.

I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $998."
The farmer said, "Didn't anyone complain?"
Chuck said, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."
Chuck grew up and now works for the government.

He's the one who figured out how this "bail-out" is going to work.

How True It Is......

Another year has passed
And we're all a little older.
Last summer felt hotter
And winter seems much colder.

I rack my brain for happy thoughts,
To put down on my pad,
But lots of things, That come to mind
Just make me kind of sad.

There was a time not long ago
When life was quite a blast.
Now I fully understand
About 'Living in the Past'.

We used to go to friends homes,
Baseball games and lunches.
Now we go to therapy, to hospitals,
And after-funeral brunches.

We used to have hangovers,
From parties that were gay.
Now we suffer body aches
And sleep the night away.

We used to go out dining,
And couldn't get our fill.
Now we ask for doggie bags,
Come home and take a pill.

We used to travel often
To places near and far..
Now we get backaches
From riding in the car.

We used to go out shopping
For new clothing at the Mall
But, now we never bother...
All the sizes are too small.

That, my friend is how life is,
And now my tale is told.
So, enjoy each day and live it up...
Before you're too darn old!!

Thank you, Joyce, for sharing.

Questions and Answers from an AARP Forum....

Q: Where can men over the age of 60 find younger, sexy women who are interested in them?
A: Try a bookstore under fiction.

Q: What can a man do while his wife is going through menopause?
A: Keep busy. If you're handy with tools, you can finish the basement. When you are done you will have a place to live.

Q: Someone has told me that menopause is mentioned in the Bible. Is that true? Where can it be found?
A: Yes. Matthew 14:92: 'And Mary rode Joseph's ass all the way to Egypt .'

Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your 60+ year old husband?
A: Tell him you're pregnant.

Q: How can you avoid that terrible curse of the elderly wrinkles?
A: Take off your glasses.

Q: Seriously! What can I do for these crow's feet and all those wrinkles on my face?
A: Go braless. It will usually pull them out.

Q: Why should 60+ year old people use valet parking?
A: Valets don't forget where they park your car.

Q: Is it common for 60+ year olds to have problems with short term memory storage?
A: Storing memory is not a problem, retrieving it is a problem.

Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly?
A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.

Q: Where should 60+ year olds look for eye glasses?
A: On their foreheads.

Q: What is the most common remark made by 60+ year olds when they enter antique stores?
A: 'Gosh, I remember these.

SMILE, you've still got your sense of humor, right?

Just what we needed, today. Thanks, Denise!

WHS Class of 67 - Classmate List

Even though the 41st reunion has passed, If your name appears in green on this list, we are still looking for you! Please email Tom at satufts@pacbell.net or Fred at folenik@comcast.net.

This should be a complete list of our classmates as of 4/17/09.

We need everyone to continue searching for those classmates that are still missing.

When direct contact is made with a missing classmate, please obtain their email, phone number and address and send the information to Fred and Tom.

Legend:

Missing
Found
Not Attending
Planned to Attend
Attended

Ron Arms
Al Baeskens
Karen Banthrall-Thrilkill
Norma Bartalini
Cynthia Bean
Leland Bean
Doug Branscomb
Kenneth Brown
Curt Bryant
Michelle Buch
Loma Buletti-Wharton
Beverly Burton-James
David Busby
Suellen Butler-Longcrier
Larry Buzzard
Bert Cader
Lewis Candee
Sharon Carr Short
Kathy Chase Goss
Mike Clark
Ellen DeRego Brown
Dee Dryden
Chester Elliott
Mike Fagan
Nancy Field Buch
Glenn Ford
Bruce Formslag
Doug Forrester
Ted Geller
Marilyn Gibson-Jones
Bambi Gilstrap-Eubanks
Susan Grubb
David Harmon
Diane Harms-Griswold
Don Hemphill
Joyce Hetzer Cader
Marlene Hinzman
Mitchell Hood
John Hope
Richard Huddle
Lee Rae (Leza)-Jamison Smith
Jon Jay
Don Jester
Dave John
Kazumi Kabori Hibbs Walter
Gene Kinder
Lee Leishman
Rick (Butch) Lewis
Susan Yvonne Lind-Turner
Ostein Line
Earl Longcrier
Danny Madden
Earlene Mahan-Gorzell
Charlotte Marlett Parker
Eddie Marlett
Larry Martin
Judy Mayer
Dennis McClelland
Kathleen McDonald
Penny McGinnis-Erlewein
Jon McKee
Carolyn (Zara)-Mckee Raab
Randy McKinley
Marilyn Mickle
Bonnie Mitchell
Cathy Newton
Karen Northington
Fred Olenik
David Page
Lynn Porter
Eddie(Chuck) Post
Esther Post Walker
Janet Prescott-Sylvain
Paul Prescott
James (Jim) Reed
Elizabeth Reynolds
Ken Runyan
Leonard Sawyer
Janice Scarberry-Keeton
Ed Scott
Felix Seto
Reatha Seymour-Thran
Robert Seymour
Susie Silva Johnson
Richard Skinner
Pat Smalley
Mark Smith
Walter Smith
Sonja Snider Herrick
Richard Southwell
Vernell Soulliere-Falgout
Victoria Stockley Dodge
Kathy Sullivan-Strahle
Penny Terhune
Lawrence (Larry)-Thompson
Tammy Tucker-Thompson
Tom Tufts
Larry Twardowski
Virginia Van Pelt
Dorothy Walker-Hubbard
Aaron Wands
Mavis Winchester
Jim Yokum

Deceased:
Brenda Enox-Lawson (2007)
Mickey Federico (1996)
Josie Francis (cir 1990)
John (Tut) Haugen (1979)
Ron McCaa (2006)
Tony Moore (1994)
Gary Pietrzak (1977)
Rex Trimm Jr (2004)

A LITTLE REUNION HUMOR.....

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN GUILTY OF LOOKING AT OTHERS YOUR OWN AGE AND THINKING, SURELY I CAN'T LOOK THAT OLD. WELL. YOU'LL LOVE THIS ONE.

MY NAME IS ALICE SMITH AND I WAS SITTING IN THE WAITING ROOM FOR MY FIRST APPOINTMENT WITH A NEW DENTIST. I NOTICED HIS DDS DIPLOMA, WHICH BORE HIS FULL NAME. SUDDENLY, I REMEMBERED A TALL, HANDSOME, DARK-HAIRED BOY WITH THE SAME NAME HAD BEEN IN MY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS SOME 30-ODD YEARS AGO. COULD HE BE THE SAME GUY THAT I HAD A SECRET CRUSH ON, WAY BACK THEN?

UPON SEEING HIM, HOWEVER, I QUICKLY DISCARDED ANY SUCH THOUGHT. THIS BALDING, GRAY-HAIRED MAN WITH THE DEEPLY LINED FACE WAS WAY TOO OLD TO HAVE BEEN MY CLASSMATE.

AFTER HE EXAMINED MY TEETH, I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD ATTENDED MORGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL.
"YES. YES, I DID. I'M A MUSTANG," HE GLEAMED WITH PRIDE.
"WHEN DID YOU GRADUATE?" I ASKED.
HE ANSWERED, "IN 1967. WHY DO YOU ASK?"
"YOU WERE IN MY CLASS!", I EXCLAIMED.

HE LOOKED AT ME CLOSELY. THEN, THAT UGLY, OLD, BALD, WRINKLED, FAT ASS, GRAY-HAIRED, DECREPIT SON-OF-A-BITCH ASKED

"WHAT DID YOU TEACH?"

8/18/08
We will now be posting info, daily, so please visit often to keep up-to-date on the latest reunion news and pics.....

Another brilliant idea from Earlene - Come to the broiler between 5:00pm and 7:00 for meet and greet, then dinner at 7:00pm.

Earlene,
I know the Broiler opens the doors at 5:00pm, so people that would be interested in getting there earlier can just go into the bar area and wait around until the 7:00pm dinnning room opens.
Your call, it would be nice to see everyone in prior to dinner. I will send this out to the general population and make 5:00pm an optional start time for the Saturday meet & greet at the Broiler, maintain the 7:00pm dinner.
Good idea.
K
If you want to attend the Broiler on Saturday night please RSVP to Ken Runyan by 8/25/08.

8-17-08 Each day comes at you fast...another update from T....

Hello '67 Classmates,

Hope this finds everyone well! We have some more good news regarding the Class. I have had conversations with Larry Twardowski and Curt Bryant. They both sound good and they both report they will be attending the reunion. Ain't that COOL! Curt and Larry are both in Willits. Larry might want to ride-share with someone. He is behind the asian restaurant by McDonalds. You might give him a whistle if you are going to be going that way. 707-459-0269.

Also, spoke with Butch and Denise Lewis this morning. They will be attending. It looks like Denise may be joining the effort to put together nostalgia and history items for the Class. Ain't that COOL! She will be joining Ellen, Loma, and Kenny on that one. Denise said she has Butch's 1st Grade report card. She noted the Teacher's comment indicates Butch does not play well with others. I am sure we all recognize that is a point of history and not a news item.

If you are able to make the Early Bird dinner Saturday night at the Broiler, be sure to let Kenny know so he can give the Broiler a seating count - no host bar at 6:30, table seating at 7:00 PM. Well, Sisters and Brothers of '67, just two weeks to go - See Ya at the Hop!!!!!! T

TO EVERYONE ON THE FENCE

To All:

This is great news! TO EVERYONE ON THE FENCE, Vernell is going to extreme travel plans to attend, just to see us. Most of us don't have to go to that extreme, but realize it is important for her to be able to visit us all, and just as important for us to be able to visit her after all these years. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. So, if you're on the fence - get over it (the fence), and make your way to Willits on 8/31. I think it will be great for her to be able to make her visit complete and see everyone of us Willitsites of 67', and even greater for us to see her and each other. k

THE TWENTY MOST WANTED

Hello 80% of our class, Fred has put together a list of the last 20 Classmates to be found. As enthusiasm and participation has grown and grown, we have the possibility of enjoying quite a superb reunion experience. The Class has already found some 80% of itself. Wouldn't it be great to know we have contacted everyone in the Class. I think if we all spend just a little time reviewing the list and digging, we can put together the remaining Classmates into something really very special. Please, take a moment to review our list and see if you can provide the Class with one more Classmate or even a clue to a Classmate. Please email Tom at satufts@pacbell.net or Fred at folenik@comcast.net.

Cynthia Bean
Doug Branscomb
Lewis Candee
Mike Clark
Chester Elliott
Brenda Enox(Deceased)
Josie Francis(Deceased)
Bambi Gilstrap Eubanks (Found)
David Harmon (Found)
Kazumi Kabori-Hibbs
Marlene Hinzman
Jon Jay
Danny Madden
Kathleen McDonald
Zara McKee Raab(Found)
Karen Northington(Found)
James (Jim) Reed(Found)
Elizabeth Reynolds
Leonard Sawyer
Kathy Sullivan(Found)
Penny Terhune
Susan Lind Turner
Virginia Van Pelt
Aaron Wands
Mavis Winchester

CRABBY OLD WOMAN - submitted by Bruce Formslag

When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee Scotland , it was believed that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Ireland The old lady's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

What do you see, nurses
What do you see?
What are you thinking
When you're looking at me?
A crabby old woman
Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,
With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her food
And makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice,
'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice
The things that you do,
and forever is losing
A stocking or shoe?

Who, resisting or not,
Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding,
The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,
You're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am
As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,
As I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of ten
With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters
Who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen
With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now
A lover she'll meet.
A bride soon at twenty,
My heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows
That I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now,
I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide
And a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty,
My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other
With ties that should last.

At forty, my young sons
Have grown and are gone,
But my man's beside me
To see I don't mourn
At fifty once more,
Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children,
My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me,
My husband is dead,
I look at the future,
I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing
Young of their own,
And I think of the years
And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman
And nature is cruel;
Tis jest to make old age
Look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles,
Grace and vigor depart,
There is now a stone
Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass
A young girl still dwells,
And now and again,
My battered heart swells.
I remember the joys,
I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living Life over again.

I think of the years
All too few, gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact
That nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people,
Open and see,
Not a crabby old woman;
Look closer....see, ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush
aside without looking at the young soul within.....we will all, one day,
be there, too!

KEEPER

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents.... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close!
Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Submitted by Ken Runyan

Sent by Earlene

Earlene's best guess...Back Row: Tammy Tucker, _____, _____, Susan Grubb, Cathy Newton, Mavis Winchester, Charlotte Marlette, Sarah Groom, LeeRae Jamison, ______ Middle Row: George Stewart, Danny Madden, Jim Yoakum, Robert Seymour,_____, _____, _____, Tom Tufts, Tim Geohagen, Lee_____?, Lynn Porter, _____, _____, _____, Eugene Kinder, _____, Doug Forrester, __________ Front Row: Earlene Mahan, Cynthia Bean, __________, Sandy Heeter, __________,___________, Margaret Daniels, Michelle Federico, Susie Silva.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

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