My Heart Still Bleeds Black and Gold!

Tonight was the first football game of the season for Elba High School, and they played Opp. James loved going to the Elba home games and I felt we should go tonight just for him. It wasn't the same of course.


The weather was nice with a cool breeze blowing across the football stadium. We didn't buy reserved seats this year, thinking we probably wouldn't go to many games. Those metal/cement seats in the general admission section are really hard (and so cold in the winter).


It was fun scanning the crowd to see if there was anybody there "our age" and we saw a few. They were grandparents I am sure.


I had fun remembering how it was 56 years ago when Opp was beat by Elba and we had a year of being undefeated. The games were played in the old stadium by the Pea River - now called Foggy Bottom. The stadium is still being use for special events and the recreation dept. uses it for football and soccer.


The 1989 Elba High School Championship football team, coaches, managers and cheerleaders were recognized at the Elba-Opp game tonight at 6:45 p.m. Everyone welcomed the ’89 Champions in celebration of their 20th Anniversary.

Before the game, among those players being recognized was Ron McKinnon who was an outstanding player for Elba. He played for Univ. of North Ala and later spent 10 years playing for the Arizona Cardinals and one year for New Orleans Saints. He has retired and lives in Bessemer, AL.


The Elba band looked great in their black and gold uniforms. Missing this year are majorettes. I guess nobody wanted to twirl the baton this year. The band selected music by John Williams tonight and it was great.


I remember playing a clarinet in the band and our music consisted of marches. Nobody played show tunes, etc. We didn't need a big truck to transport our instuments. We went to the games via big yellow school buses and took our instruments with us on the buses.


While we enjoyed the football fever and got all caught up in cheering for the home team, we sat there with heavy hearts because we were both missing James. He loved Elba football. So much that a few years ago he was honored at their spring game and presented a jersey and cap and sat in a special section. It was at this game that he met "Miss America" who was at the school that day talking to the students about not taking drugs, etc. and she was also honored at the game. The picture of James and Miss America still hangs on the wall in our den near his TV and recliner. He was so proud of that picture.


We won't have to go to all the local Friday night ball games this year but we will definitely go back for Homecoming. I have a great niece cheering (Bethany Wilson) and a cousin (Chace Sauls) playing on the Elba Varsity team this year. We have to support them.

Oh, Say Can You See??

Last Friday I had my eyelids "lifted" by Dr. Bryant, a plastic surgeon so that I can see better. This came about when I went to Dr. Purvis, my eye Dr., to ask if he would check to see if I had cataracts since I was having problems with vision, especially late in the day or when reading.


During blepharoplasty, the surgeon cuts inside the creases of your eyelids to trim sagging skin and muscle and remove excess fat. After the excess tissue is removed, your surgeon joins the skin with tiny stitches.


I go to Dr. Purvis for an eye exam every year since he checks my "freckles" on the back of my eye balls (little pre-cancers). Last spring he didn't mention cataracts but he checked again and said no cataracts, but that my problem was droopy eyelids that cut out light and that I needed to have them tacked. He sent me to Eye South in Dothan to a plastic surgeon who performed the necessary surgery last Friday afternoon.

He numbed my eyes and they gave me a relaxant in an IV and I was awake during the surgery. There was music playing in the operating room and the young nurses and the Dr. were humming and singing! I remember telling the Dr. to stop singing and concentrate on what he was doing!


They sent me home with instructions to keep ice packs on my eyes every 20 min. for 20 min. at the time except when sleeping. The Dr. called me at 8:30 pm that night to see if I was ok and reminded me to use the ice packs and pain medicine as needed. I took one tylenol tablet before going to bed just in case I might need it. I slept all night.


When I woke up Sat. morning, I couldn't see!! My eyelids were bright red and swollen and all I could see was a thin line of light. That's scary - not to be able to see. It's been a day and 1/2 now since my surgery and I can now see enough to watch TV, read my email, and cook.


I love my 20 minute breaks; get so much done during this time. I even made a pound cake for lunch - thought Jim deserved something for his attentive care. I'm not sure how it will taste but it looks good; almost finished cooking and hasn't "caved in" on top yet.


Have you ever tried listening to TV (without seeing the picture)? Not so good. The only programs I could listen to were music or talk shows. They soon got old so I just sit in the recliner and relax. I really look forward to the ice packs. Makes my eyes feel so good. I might try doing this for my short afternoon naps occasionally.


I return to the Dr. in Dothan next Friday to have the many stitches removed. I will post an after picture later this week. You would not want to see what my face looks like right now!

Katie goes to college!

Tuesday, August 18, was a "red letter day" for Katie. She was
leaving for college. She and her dad worked hard to get all her "stuff" into the car. I thought that since she was going to be living in a dorm that she wouldn't have too much to pack. Not so if you just look at all the boxes in the car.


Once the car was packed, Bill had to fasten Katie's bicycle on a rack on the back of the car. She wouldn't be driving her car to Charleston. Freshmen cannot have a car on campus; thus the new beach bike! Upperclassmen find the parking rates very expensive so cars are not "must have" items on campus.



Katie applied for a 3-day Preview of Charleston, something they started last year to acquaint newcomers to Charleston life before school begins. After arriving at 6 pm (crazy time to check in time the dorm), we realized that Bill was very smart to sign her up for Preview. There's no place to park on the narrow streets of historic Charleston, where the College of Charleston is located. We unloaded her boxes on the sidewalk and then Bill had to take the car to a public parking lot, where we had already parked our car, not far from the dorm.


Volunteer students helped to cart her belongings up to the 4th floor to her new home, which she shares with 3 other girls in the Coed Dorm. We walked into the dorm and I could not imagine how 2 girls could live in such a tiny space, with one bathroom to be shared with 2 other suite mates on the other side of the bathroom.
She decided to move her bed up high so she could put her desk and chests, etc. underneath the bed. I hope she will ask for a ladder. We left her there feeling very uncomfortable about the way she chose to get into her bed!


Bill had ordered her a futon which we picked up at WalMart at Charleston. A church friend and mother of one of Caroline's friends volunteered her son, a Jr at the college who has a truck, to help get the futon from WalMart to the dorm. Then Caroline and I put it together while Jim, Bill and Katie worked on moving furniture around, emptying boxes, etc. Bill had to buy extra cable wire to hook up the small TV in the sitting area, another cable for the computer to be located in her bedroom and not in the sitting area, and stuff like that.


Around 9 pm we all began to get hungry, and were very tired, and walked a couple of blocks to Mellow Mushroom and I never had such good pizza. We were all starving!


After eating, we walked to the parking lot to get our car, and Caroline, Jim and I left to go back to Florence, SC. Bill stayed an extra 30 minutes to make sure Katie's laptop computer was hooked up properly with a wireless connection.


We all got back to Florence around midnight - tired but happy and pleased that we left Katie in a very happy mood. We tried not to cry when we drove off, leaving her behind. I think everybody wiped a few tears. Here you see Katie giving Caroline a good-bye kiss before leaving. Also notice the red pillows Caroline and I made for Katie's dorm.


The next day, Wednesday, was Caroline's first day back at school and she is in the 8th grade this year. We had our picture made with her in her school uniform. We left to come back home after she left for school with her dad.


Sunday was a special day and a special meal as we celebrated Nerissa and Katie going away to school. After lunch Sunday, we helped Nerissa, a Jr. nursing student at Clemson, get her belongings in her car to head back to Clemson. She and her roommate Megan had to enlist the help of Paine, Nerissa's friend, to drive his car and take their extra things that they couldn't get in their cars! Clemson is about 3 hrs in the opposite direction from Charleston.


We are so pleased to be a part of our granddaughter's personal lives. We have enjoyed watching them grow up into "Little Women" .....before we know it they will all be graduating from college and out on their own. 


The two granddaughters in Austin, TX are seniors in college and Liz will graduate in Dec. but plans to go to Graduate School, the Allison will graduate next year.


It will be 5 more years before the youngest, Caroline, starts to college, and we will be turning 80 that year. I wonder if we will be able to help her move into her dorm. We'll just have to wait and see (and keep exercising and keeping in condition for the big day!)

A Lesson in Government

Yesterday Caroline, almost 14 and an upcoming 8th grader at St Anthony's Catholic School in Florence, SC, went with me to the bi-monthly Elba City Council Meeting at 5:30 P.M. at City Hall.


When we arrived at 5:25 P.M., the 6 councilmen (notice  men, no women) were already seated behind the long table at the front of the room. The Mayor was walking around greeting the few people in the audience, which included the Police Chief, local newspaper editor, radio station owner & manager, head of the water board, a concerned African American citizen who attends every council meeting to "learn", and Caroline, me and the person we were honoring. Not a very large audience.


At exactly 5:30 P.M., the Mayor welcomed everybody to the meeting and then said a prayer. I didn't know they opened their meetings with a prayer. I was impressed. Next he welcomed visitors and asked me to introduce my guest, Caroline. They all welcomed her to Elba. She liked being recognized.


The order of business was very routine with the Mayor asking the Police Chief for a report, which was not very detailed. Then the Mayor telling them about expenses, revenues, bills to be paid and a list for them to review before paying the bills.


He then recognized me and I stood before the group and explained why I was there and asked my guest Mr. Charlie Walker to please stand with me at the front of the room. I told the council members of how Mr. Walker had helped with the bricks needed for the completion of phase 2 of the playground; total number of old high school bricks used in the project and how many of those he donated, and I then presented him with a check for $899 from the Kiwanis Club (which was a donation to the city to pay for the bricks and they in turn gave me the money to present to Mr. Walker). I thought the public should know where the bricks came from and of his generosity. The newspaper editor took a picture of the presentation for the Elba Clipper this week. 


The meeting adjourned at 6 P.M.. and several stopped to talk to Caroline to ask where she was from, etc. and welcomed her to Elba. In turn, we went with the Radio Station Manager (owner) to tour the playground and new buildings. He had never taken time to check it out and it was built in 2006!!! He plans to talk about it on his morning program at 6:30 A.M.. and encourage people go check it out.



Caroline's comments: How boring! I didn't have a clue as to what they were talking about! The Mayor just read something, the clerk called the roll and they all said "I do" (agree). She wanted to know why they had all men at the meeting. Didn't they allow women to have a part?
(young people are beginning to notice these things, YEAH)


She said, "Grandma, you were the only person who said anything meaningful!"

57th Class Reunion was a Big Success

Our 57th class reunion has come and gone and we had a great time last Friday.

Eighteen of 39 remaining members of our class got together as planned and it was so good to be together again. Everything went as planned. They all declared it was the best reunion ever.

We had a total of 28 people present. Of the 5 who had planned to come, 2 called and were ill and couldn't come and we don't know what happened to the other 3. Maybe they just forgot!

It was so much fun "catching up" with things of the past and of future plans. We enjoyed the tour of Elba's newest business which is inside the old Church of Christ downtown - the Coffee County Roasters. And they rejoiced to see the old school facade facelift and the new park buildings which are almost completed. There was a big pile of sand in front of the school steps where we had this photo made, but we didn't mind. That meant "progress" in the restoration of the old building.

Getting ready for my 57th high school class reunion

I'm having so much fun getting ready for the big event on Friday, Aug. 7th. This summer one of my classmates suggested we get our classmates together for an informal reunion, one where we could sit and talk and do a lot of visiting. I agreed and told him I'd send a few emails to see if there was any interest. And everybody started getting excited.

I printed our high school graduation group picture on the back of a post card and send out "Save the Date" with the announcement of our gathering in August. That was back in May and August seemed like a long way off. Now it's here!!

To date we have heard from all but 4 (out of 39 surviving classmates). We have 22 (56%) of our classmates planning to attend, along with several spouses for a total of 31. Twenty of our classmates are deceased. There's only one surviving teacher, Carolyn Brunson. Her daughter plans to bring her to see everybody. She is on the front row of the picture, one from the right.

Many are unable to come due to bad health or other problems. Some aren't driving anymore.

I am so thankful for my good health after hearing of the plight of those suffering from all kinds of illnesses, or their spouses suffering.

When I didn't hear from everybody, I started making phone calls and this took about 2 days to contact everybody but 4. I'll try to finish calling in the morning. I'm glad I have unlimited long distance so I could call everybody. I promised to take a lot of pictures to send to those unable to come.

We had planned to go next door to the coffee house and get our lunch at Pearl's Deli and bring it back to the coffee house to eat. Guess what! Pearl's closed for good on July 31. So I solved that problem today by ordering enough Subway sandwiches to feed 30. I am filling a large tub with ice and putting bottles of water in it. Do you think that back in 1952 we would ever have dreamed of "buying water" in bottles??

Our big event is the 75th birthday cake. Most all of us turn 75 sometime this year. We can all celebrate our birthdays Friday.

One of our classmates (Phillip Hamm) will drive 50 miles to Dothan to pick up another classmate (Glen Vaughan) at the assisted living home where he resides, and bring him to the reunion. That's true friendship! 
Some from out of state or away from the area are coming to Elba the day before so they won't have so far to come for the big event the next day.

We are looking forward to a tour of the new coffee roasting business and maybe another tour or two before we assemble at the old school (now remodeled) on the front steps to have another group picture made in the same spot as in 1952. Then we will settle down to lunch and more visiting and swaping stories of our high school days.

Ah! I can hardly wait to see all my friends. I plan to make name tags with our high school photos on them so we can recognize everybody right away.

On Saturday I will give an update of what takes place on Friday, August 7th, 2009.

School Days Remembered

In this 1945 school photo, I am on the 2nd row from top, near the center with my face circled with white and my name written there.


Curtis School that I attended out in the country usually started early in September. Sometimes we would get dismissed at noon so we could go home to help work in the cotton or peanut fields in the afternoon.

I remember how hot it was without air conditioning or electric fans. We would open the tall windows to get air circulating. The school buses were not air conditioned either and I don't think they had heaters for the cold days. The buses were privately owned and the bus I rode was orange, with 4 long benches running from front to back of the bus. Two of the benches were in the center and students sat on each side.


On my left in the photo above, were my two best friends: Janice Cowen Hudson and Evelyn Jones Mikel. We have remained close friends for all our lives and don't live too far apart.


Janice and I organized the Curtis reunion many years ago and are still "in charge" the 2nd Saturday of October every year. Janice's husband Buddy Hudson died a few years ago. She has 2 boys and 2 girls and they have children and grandchildren so she has a big happy family to take care of her when she gets old!



The next photo is my friend Evelyn Jones Mikel, in the green sweater. Next to her is her older sister Edith Jones Calhoun.


Evelyn had a tragedy in her family yesterday. Her 2-year-old twin great-grandchildren accidentally fell into their grandmother's above-the-ground swimming pool and drowned before the grandmother missed them. I feel so sorry for the grandmother, and of course the young parents and great grandparents, Evelyn and Joe. Earlier this year another granddaughter had a severely deformed child whose lifespan is short. The little boy is still alive and growing but cannot live much longer due to so many problems.


My heart goes out to this family. Things like this just aren't supposed to happen to my friends; this is just something we hear about on the news or read about in the newspaper.


Now that I've told you about my friends, I'll get back to "going back to school" memories. We didn't have to purchase many school supplies. I think a few pencils and a tablet for younger kids and a pack of notebook paper for the older students. I think we had to buy an 8-pack of crayons and maybe a pair of scissors. They were always handed down to the younger children in each family. As I was the oldest, I always got to buy new supplies.


When I reached Jr. High (7th grade),  I had to buy some of my textbooks. I always bargained with someone when school was out to buy his or her books in the fall. We took very good care of our books so we could sell them at the end of the year.


Having a few new clothes to wear when school started was always so much fun. My Aunt Barbara would usually make me a new dress to wear the first day of school. I don't remember if I had new shoes or not. We would remove our shoes after we got to school and sometimes go barefoot all day. It was very hot inside the school building. We were not allowed to wear shorts to school. It wasn't until I was in the 8th grade that girls could wear long pants or jeans.


In the group photo above I have on a green wool 2-piece suit with a white satin blouse. My mother cut the suit from one her sister sent to her and I don't know where the fabric for the blouse came from. She made me such pretty clothes to wear. I had pigtails (braids) until the 5th grade and I remember my mother rolling my hair so it would be curly in the photo above.


I always get nostalgic when I see the ads for back to school supplies. I usually go to the store and get a few items just for the excitement of being in on shopping for school! Plus I can always use more paper clips, pens and pencils, paper, folders, crayons, etc.


I used to help the 5 granddaughters with back-to-school school supplies, but all are in college but one and she informed me that she had everything she needs for the 8th grade. The last time I helped them shop for school supplies, I couldn't believe the many things (and certain brands, etc) that they had to buy and take to school the first day. Things like Kleenex and hand washing soap, paper towels, and on and on.


I'm sure that when the big yellow school bus comes by our house in a couple of weeks, I will have a lump in my throat and start humming "School Days, School Days, etc."