Wednesday, March 23, 2005
MAY TO JULY....1989
The rest of the month passed with the usual traditions. It’s a big birthday month for mom, two of my aunts, and myself. Mine is close to Memorial Day week-end so George usually came home for a visit at that time. It started the summer out with a bang and we looked forward to his coming. There were always church activities starting up….Bible School and acquiring a summer Youth Director began after school ended each year. At times it was volunteer help from college kids who were going into ministerial work and one summer, while he was in college, John accepted the responsibility.
One other tradition of the season….in those years at least, were my many cases of poison ivy. I don’t know how or why. I well knew what the plant was and had learned to stay away from it…..however, my cats didn’t know the difference and I suspect after they rubbed their little bodies against it, they brought me the gift. I also thought it might have been on the garden tools and eventually I forgot and handled them while there was still residue. If there was a hint of it in the next county, I would somehow get it. One time we were visiting Big Springs Park and I pointed to a massive growth of vines crawling up a tree, (from a safe distance I thought)…..but a few days later, I broke out. Poison ivy loved me….my skin was easily infected even though I had high natural resistance….so my doctor said. Even the medications broke me out……the allergist told me not to put anything on it because my skin was too eager to break out……..for whatever reason. Age and cunning eventually won out over those earlier bouts.
In mid-June, my cousin Mark and his wife Maggie, stopped in on a Sunday after church. They were taking their first wedding anniversary trip back to canoe around Eminence where there are State Parks and beautiful scenery. Mark was majoring in horticulture after playing basketball for Nebraska University during his earlier college years. I’m not sure of Maggie’s degree but it was along the same line I believe. They made a good team with the same interests. They had stopped in the year before on their honeymoon and we were happy to see them. We went after mom so she could visit with them.
July first was my 40th High School Class Reunion. As I was getting ready to go, Becky and Jennifer appeared with a little wet, yellow striped kitten. He had been under their porch all night, crying. A terrible electrical storm came up and I guess his mama dumped him and took off. He was about 6-weeks old and we fell in love with him. We named him “Morris” after the Morris on television. Actually we had a kitten once before that grew into a Morris and this one looked like one of his off-spring. Morris #1 was 13-years old and was an outside cat. Little by little, the younger cats in the neighborhood began getting the jump on him and he was full of old wounds and weak from fighting. One day he just never came home. We never found him but always grieved for him. He loved the outdoors and we never made a “house cat” out of him. Morris #2 had to be down the line from him, somehow.
We went to Cabool to the VFW-Hall where the dinner was to be catered. We went with a couple from our church (she was a classmate of ours) and when we entered the hall and signed in, some of my old gal pals came up and we were in a group hug when I heard a voice say, “Do you have a hug for an old friend?” When my eyes followed in the direction of the voice, I almost fell over. My high-school sweetheart whom I hadn’t seen since I moved to Kansas City in 1954, was the voice. He had never been back for a previous reunion, no one knew his address or his whereabouts…never had any contact at all….so we didn’t know if he was dead or alive. Of course I had always wondered…one never forgets their high-school sweetheart.
I introduced him to Bear and the three of us sat together and had a good visit. Bear enjoyed him as he had aspired to drive an over-the-road “rig” but had served his years out with the Army and the Navy, instead. Rocky’s adventures caused Bear to laugh and cry both….life on the road provides totally different situations than life in a community. I was happy to know Rocky was alive and had survived a heart attack, otherwise his health was good. He was married and living on a farm on the west side of the State and had driven an 18-wheeler most of the years since high-school. He was raised on a farm and had never lost his love for animals….his farm was a haven for every kind, many of which he rescued from the highways. He and his wife of many years, raised small dogs for commercial sales. I came home happy to be reacquainted with him and to hear news of his family, whom I had known from the years lived in Cabool…. however, it was sad to learn his parents had passed away some years ago.
Time has a way of changing things but it cannot erase good memories or friendships. Sooner or later, they all come together, and sometimes at a class reunion…….
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
One other tradition of the season….in those years at least, were my many cases of poison ivy. I don’t know how or why. I well knew what the plant was and had learned to stay away from it…..however, my cats didn’t know the difference and I suspect after they rubbed their little bodies against it, they brought me the gift. I also thought it might have been on the garden tools and eventually I forgot and handled them while there was still residue. If there was a hint of it in the next county, I would somehow get it. One time we were visiting Big Springs Park and I pointed to a massive growth of vines crawling up a tree, (from a safe distance I thought)…..but a few days later, I broke out. Poison ivy loved me….my skin was easily infected even though I had high natural resistance….so my doctor said. Even the medications broke me out……the allergist told me not to put anything on it because my skin was too eager to break out……..for whatever reason. Age and cunning eventually won out over those earlier bouts.
In mid-June, my cousin Mark and his wife Maggie, stopped in on a Sunday after church. They were taking their first wedding anniversary trip back to canoe around Eminence where there are State Parks and beautiful scenery. Mark was majoring in horticulture after playing basketball for Nebraska University during his earlier college years. I’m not sure of Maggie’s degree but it was along the same line I believe. They made a good team with the same interests. They had stopped in the year before on their honeymoon and we were happy to see them. We went after mom so she could visit with them.
July first was my 40th High School Class Reunion. As I was getting ready to go, Becky and Jennifer appeared with a little wet, yellow striped kitten. He had been under their porch all night, crying. A terrible electrical storm came up and I guess his mama dumped him and took off. He was about 6-weeks old and we fell in love with him. We named him “Morris” after the Morris on television. Actually we had a kitten once before that grew into a Morris and this one looked like one of his off-spring. Morris #1 was 13-years old and was an outside cat. Little by little, the younger cats in the neighborhood began getting the jump on him and he was full of old wounds and weak from fighting. One day he just never came home. We never found him but always grieved for him. He loved the outdoors and we never made a “house cat” out of him. Morris #2 had to be down the line from him, somehow.
We went to Cabool to the VFW-Hall where the dinner was to be catered. We went with a couple from our church (she was a classmate of ours) and when we entered the hall and signed in, some of my old gal pals came up and we were in a group hug when I heard a voice say, “Do you have a hug for an old friend?” When my eyes followed in the direction of the voice, I almost fell over. My high-school sweetheart whom I hadn’t seen since I moved to Kansas City in 1954, was the voice. He had never been back for a previous reunion, no one knew his address or his whereabouts…never had any contact at all….so we didn’t know if he was dead or alive. Of course I had always wondered…one never forgets their high-school sweetheart.
I introduced him to Bear and the three of us sat together and had a good visit. Bear enjoyed him as he had aspired to drive an over-the-road “rig” but had served his years out with the Army and the Navy, instead. Rocky’s adventures caused Bear to laugh and cry both….life on the road provides totally different situations than life in a community. I was happy to know Rocky was alive and had survived a heart attack, otherwise his health was good. He was married and living on a farm on the west side of the State and had driven an 18-wheeler most of the years since high-school. He was raised on a farm and had never lost his love for animals….his farm was a haven for every kind, many of which he rescued from the highways. He and his wife of many years, raised small dogs for commercial sales. I came home happy to be reacquainted with him and to hear news of his family, whom I had known from the years lived in Cabool…. however, it was sad to learn his parents had passed away some years ago.
Time has a way of changing things but it cannot erase good memories or friendships. Sooner or later, they all come together, and sometimes at a class reunion…….
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
