|
|
February
2004 |
 |
It’s Valentine month and 50 years of
meeting many people. By now,
most of us are glad we didn’t marry our first sweetheart.
At the same time, those were sweet memories and just as much a part
of our lives as our friendships with each other are now.
I sent out a call for memories
of old sweethearts, but perhaps we are all too cautious to name some of
them. That’s okay.
You know who they were and you know you wouldn’t trade your
present True Love for all the infatuations of your glorious past.
I admit, I would be jealous too, if I had heard my husband mention
an old girlfriend, even from high school.
Now, a
“crush” is something different because nothing ever came of a
“crush”. No
date…nothing! You finally
let it go and moved on. It was
someone that made your knees grow weak every time you passed him in the
hall or on the stairway. One
of these for me was Nat Wright. I’m
sure it was someone else the next week…or day. Well, whoever
your sweetheart is today, I just hope you do something really special for
him or her. A great big bear
hug and a sincere “I love you” mean more to most of us than diamond
rings or fancy dinners. Of
course those are nice, too. But
not as important. If your True
Love has moved on to Heaven, celebrate this special day with them in your
special way. They have been
wonderful gifts to us and their lives are reason to celebrate.
It should give you a warm comforting feeling to know you are Free
to Remember and feel their presence near you. |
|
SPHS
SWEETHEART WANDA RYALS (sends
her recipe for this month) Wanda says:
“Okay out there...Does this ‘spur’ you to send a recipe?
Send in care of wmryals@earthlink.net"
(with
a Southwestern Flair.) 2. Mix 8
oz. sour cream and small pkg. of taco mix and spread over the beans. 3. Peel and
remove seed from two avocados, mash and sprinkle with juice of 1 lemon. Spread this over the taco/sour cream
mixture. 4. Chop green
onions ( about 4) stems and all, and spread over avocado mixture. 5. Drain black
olives and scatter on top of the onions. 6. Get the
small basket of cherry tomatoes, wash, half them and scatter around on the black olives. 7. Grate the
cheese and spread on top of the tomatoes. There are your 7 sins....Serve this dish as a dip with large corn chips. You will feel very SINFUL ~ but ~ OH!!!! it is so HEAVENLY to the taste! Sorta reminds me of EVE in the Garden of Eden.... |
|
Virginia Hurley
One of Gwen's "Spurs" prompted me to think about upkeep
of our cars and some of the old cars in our past. My brother,
Dennis, once had a Model A Ford. I don't remember the year, but
those of you who are enthusiasts know the years of their manufacture.
Anyway, Dennis set about restoring the old car with his limited funds.
There was a lot of afternoon and weekend tuning up and cleaning parts.
Then there was a new black paint job (no other color would do on that
model), and though he seldom asked or wanted my help with such things, he
did ask me to help him as he put the upholstery on. It was gray
vinyl, which today's restorers wouldn't think of using. However,
Dennis just wanted cheap wheels, and got them in the Model A. Which brings me to modern times. Those experiences of helping and listening and being around cars served me well during the times when I had to change my own flats, install new wipers and burned-out headlights. Just goes to show how important it is to listen. We never know when we may need that information! |
|
WOULD YOU BELIEVE? Would you
believe after much begging, I got a neat reply from “STILL ENJOYING MY MOTORCYCLE”
Hi Gwen. You asked and you will receive. I
really like riding my Goldwing, especially on the open road. We (Kris&
I) towed the bike to Arizona where my son lives and with he and his wife,
we rode through the mountains. What a blast, and the roads out there are
great. I also have a trailer that I pull behind the bike when we go on an
overnight trip. Some times we take off without a destination in mind and
just stop where we see an interesting sight. I've been riding motorcycles
more than 50 years now and don't think I will ever get tired of it.
I'm looking forward to our 50'th and
seeing everyone. Well, so much for now. Your Friend, Larry ANOTHER NEAT SURPRISE (I nearly lost her
message because didn’t recognize her email address.)
But was so thrilled to hear from:
Dear Gwen:
What a big job you have. But must be exciting also hearing
from the ones of us that try to summarize some 50 years of so many Ups and
Down. Can't be done! But, will try to pull out some high-lights.
Amazing to think back on it all.
And hard to believe that's it's been 50 years since I was that shy
high-school girl. Wish, I could have enjoyed myself more. Maybe, I
did, just forgot. Ha.
Remember
home-making class, when we had our palms read? I was told that I would
always be young at heart. I believe this has been true.
The song " Young At
Heart" became one of my favorites. Then in Algebra class, one day I
was the only one to get a hard problem right. That was a thrill, as I
always had to work hard to get good grades. Never was easy.
I met Gordon, my husband, in January of our senior year 1954. We met
on a blind date. Thank you, Joy Lyle Graham. She is my sister,
Joan's good friend and still is. We married April l4, 1956. We
have four children, Sherry 46, Keith 45, Kenneth 44, & Glen 43.
Got that over with in a hurry!! Also, have 7 grand children, one
deceased at l3 years old in 1995. ( a very hard, hard time )
Our family will never get over this. But, time marches on.
Sherry's two girls have given us 3 great-grandchildren.
Joaney, has 2 - Serina 7 and Trevor 4. And Jenny, has 1, Nicholas 7. Both
the 7 year olds were born in February. So, we call them our twin cousins;
as they are so close. What a joy they have been.
Gordon retired in l996, and I
haven't worked outside the home since 1979. We have traveled a lot
in our Allegro Motor Homes. We are on our third motor home now. In
1998, Gordon started having some health problems, just one thing after
another. Too much to get into. Thankfully, he is doing much better
now.
We have some 30 acres in
Bleakwood, near Kirbyville. We have the motor home there now, while
we are finally building a neat little camp-house with a big---porch.
All we need is the swing!! Our son, and two grandsons each killed a
buck there this past deer season. The first one for the 18 year old.
He was so excited. This place keeps us young and busy. (along with
the children and little ones).
My Mother is 91 and at the Ridgewood in
Well, Gwen, trying to keep this simple.
Not easy! Love and God
Bless” (as Red Skelton always said).
Take care and the very best to you, Gwen:
[I can feel Gloria’s laughter in so much of her article.
I remember her sweet smiles. Have
you noticed what a sense of humor Greenies have?
Reckon it has something to do with the name we were labeled with?
Greenies! Ha! Well, we all
know how that same sense of humor has brought us through many rough times.
I’m glad we can still share in our laughter which moves us on to
the Queen of Humor.] |
|
"60something
Humor" Despite what you may
have seen on the streets, the following
|
|
VALENTINE
CELEBRITY Delores
Shankle Thorne “Teacher
of the Year Award”
I had a wonderful visit with Delores by phone the other night.
We caught up on a lot of things.
She was the friend I probably spent most of my time with at SPHS,
especially the last two years. I
think she and Elma Jean had gone to Beaumont High together before that.
Then she and I were at Baylor together, again the last two years,
where she met her husband, Gerald Thorne.
A very handsome and intelligent young man.
They had a beautiful baby daughter while there and named
her Debra.
After we chatted awhile I could tell Gerald could hardly wait to
talk to me. He had something
very important to share. Talk
about a proud husband…and great sweetheart.
He knew he had to tell me because Delores was too modest.
I still don’t think I’m giving you the whole story because he
never emailed the information to me and my shorthand is just a bunch of
scribbles. So I tracked down
this article from the newspaper.
School Receives $1,000 Donation from John Deere CONGRATULATIONS
TO DELORES THORNE
Delores
Thorne, 4th grade teacher, recently received the National Rural
Education Association Teacher of the Year Award.
As
a result of this honor, John Deere contributed $1,000 to Sunnyvale ISD. to
be used for fourth grade classrooms.
Mrs.
Thorne has been an educator for forty-five years and with
[I
also heard that she gave a great speech at the National presentation of
her award in
And by the way, Delores
remembered when Marvin Laurent was TWIRP KING, and Jo Ann Ruff, his queen
with a broken neck. I thought
I remembered that happening in the gym when she was hit on the head by a
basketball. “Fill in the
gaps”…Jo Ann if I am wrong. Just
hope you are okay now.” [Thanks Elma Jean for helping me get in touch with Delores.] |
|
A
VALENTINE FOR SKEETER
I’m
sending a Greenie Valentine to Wanda Wilson Ryals for being such a
great on-line friend. She was
a delightful cut-up in class back in high school, and still has a great
sense of humor without compromising her Christian values.
A big hug to WANDA! “ I’d
like to send a Valentine to the many memories of Mr. Joseph Truncale
and the appreciation he gave me for GOOD MUSIC.
I can still hear his beautiful voice when I hear Ava Maria
and THE LORD’S PRAYER.
I’d also like to send one to the old Chorus Gang (you know who
you are) for the four years of the most fun times I had in my High School
Years. “
Wanda Wilson Ryals” |
| The "GreenieGusherOnline" is published for the purpose of keeping our class informed and up-to-date on things of interest and needs about all of our classmates. It is the wish of the editors and co-editors that everyone become involved and contributes to this fun and informative project. The "GreenieGusherOnline" will be updated as news, announcements, etc., arise. Items of interest can be e-mailed to the Editor, Gwen Garig Watkins, Web Host, John Watson, Contributing Editors, Virginia McDaniel Hurley, Wanda Wilson Ryals, Helen Hughes Dale, and Theo Matthews Houston . Every edition will be archived for those who may have missed an issue and will be accessible on the web site. We will continue to keep the archived "Greenie Gusher Revisited". |
|
|
|
|
