Hallelujah! I received enough mail to write a NEWSLETTER on schedule . By the way, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY this weekend. Hope you have a safe and fun one. I'll be on the road traveling.
MAIL CALL
from
Billy Jordan
in
The discussions on the Hussars brought back old memories. My sister, who was nine years older then me, was determined to be a Hussar . You would have to know my sister to understand how big a challenge this was for her. She was not real good with the books and had to study more then she ever had to make the grades for the Hussars. We did not have a lot of money and she found second hand boots, bugle and hat. She was not musical and I remember her blowing that bugle learning how to play it and we got complaints from the neighbors, not to mention a few barking dogs. Our dog would go and hide when she played it. One time I took the bugle and tried to blow it and was surprised how hard it was to just get any type of sound from it. She was very proud of being a Hussar. She passed away at 57 years old and one of the memorial pictures at her visitation was her Hussar picture.
My
family has been in fairly good health the past year. My wife
had out-patient surgery for a prolapsed bladder a couple of weeks
ago and all went well. My grandson continues to grow and is
healthy after the autoimmune disease
he had
last summer. He went to Gatlinburg with us back in March for a
few days. While we were there, they were having a Santa Claus
convention. There were Santa Clauses all over the place and he
was in awe. We go to Gatlinburg once or twice a year as it is
only about five hours from where we live. He will be with us
for a week on the beach in
I
am off to the Boundary Waters Canoe area
in a few days for a week
long fishing trip. Six of us will be camping, canoeing and
fishing just over the border in
When I get back I will be spending a week leading a crew of kids at our church's VBS. This has become a huge event for us every year with 200 kids and 40 to 50 staff. Out of the 200 kids less then 50 of them attend our church so this is really a community event. The program this year is "Crocodile Dock". Many of you probably have heard of it and may be doing the same this summer.
My health continues to be good although I can feel a little arthritis in a few joints. I continue to be free of any reoccurrence of my prostate cancer.
from
Carolyn Bigler
Hebert '58
(wife
of faculty member
Alfred Hebert)
Alfred will be leaving the last part of July to attend the National
Senior Games in
Alfred is back home tending to hurricane
Ike damage repairs to our home and Princess and I are in
Red Hussars, Red Hussars, Dreams will never
die. We'll do our best to always keep our colors soaring high. For
the school we love so well we'll play with all our might. We'll love
you forever, forsake you never, dear ol' red and white.
I remember every song we sang and our yells
too. I still double tongue and tiple tongue. My son played a cornet
in high school and I taught him how to double tongue and triple
tongue. I purchased two cow horns, one of which I still have.
Believe it or not on New Year's I used to get it out and play Here
We Come on it. I still play it every now and then. When I bought the
cow horns I tried them out. The preacher man who was selling them
thought I was crazy. He said they were all the same. I told him no
they were not. When I started playing Taps, Here We Come and Dizzy
Bugler he was shocked out of his gourd. LOL.
from
Leah Conner Shields
in
Just a quick hello from
from
Cherlyn Hebert
in
First: I am really truly retiring June 30 . If you remember, I backed out last year due to the economy. But this time it's a done deal; all papers signed, sealed and delivered. Everyone wants to know what I'm going to do. All I know to say is: nothing. I am making no grand proclamations of cleaning out my garage or closets or anything. I'm being coached by my retired friends, who assure me, if it doesn't get done today, there's always tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next. All I know is that I'm looking forward to not being under the pressure of deadlines and always feeling like something's hanging over my head.
Mother is still living in a wonderful Alzheimer's assisted living residence near me. Sometimes she knows my name; sometimes she calls me by my sister's name; sometimes I get no response. But she still knows she loves me, and that's what counts.
Memorial Day weekend I took my new Infiniti M35 for a road
trip to visit Linda
Smith
Webber
and her husband Wayne in
The only big thing I have planned for the rest of the year
is a trip to
Okay, now I'm going to take Janette Light's challenge from the last newsletter and give a shout-out to her and Sharon Lewis , asking to be invited to join them for lunch sometime after July 1 . Janette and I go back to Sam Houston , while Sharon and I hung around together at Woodrow Wilson . It would be so nice to share in the fun. So, girls, how about it? Can I come play with you?
Well, I guess I've run on enough for now. I promise to be more diligent in sharing news in the future. Thanks again, Linda, to you and Mike for all you do for the TJ Class of '68.
There has been so much devastation and turmoil in everyone's lives over the past year and it breaks our hearts to see loved ones suffering so, it makes it most difficult to look at the bright side of things and report news of good times and blessings in our own life , it feels self-centered or unfeeling to do so. But, my prayers and heartfelt sincere concern for all our classmates that are facing illness, disease, financial difficulty, loss of their home, death is always on my lips. As time passes and lives return to a more normal situation, we will probably be more able to be joyous with expressing our own situations and not feel we are not thinking of others in time of such despair. But, we must try to remember, WE ARE FAMILY! And there is nothing more cozy than the love and acceptance of FAMILY.
Take Care and Know You All Are Loved
*************************************************************************
1979-2009
(contributed by Debbie Borres )
1979: Long hair
2009: Longing for hair
1979: KEG
2009: EKG
1979: Acid rock
2009: Acid reflux
1979: Seeds and stems
2009: Roughage
1979: Hoping for a BMW
2009: Hoping for a BM
1979: Going to a new, hip joint
2009: Getting a new hip joint
1979: Rolling Stones
2009: Kidney stones
1979: Screw the system
2009: Upgrade the system
1979: Disco
2009: Costco
1979: Whatever
2009: Depend
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NEWS FROM THE HOMEFRONT
Things are going pretty well. The heat is stifling and we sure are having trouble keeping our grass green. My parents are settled in at their apartment and things have been going okay. I ran into Cathy Melancon while visiting my parents one day. Her mom lives three doors down from them. It has been ages since I have seen Cathy. She is still as beautiful as ever. I wish we could have talked longer.
We have been spending the last couple of weeks dealing with ICU
for a very close relative in
Murphy and I are heading out this weekend to the Dripping Springs/Wimberly area for classmate Jim Andrus' son's wedding. I'll tell you more about the weekend in the next NEWSLETTER. We should be meeting up with Lynn Eldridge, David Williams, and Paul Colletti who will also be attending.
I hope to get to visit with
Charles Cramer
in August. He lives in
I am wondering if
Donnie DeLee
will be coming down to this area from
I cried today! I was taking my father to get his ID
renewed on
With my dad 93 years old, I wonder how many more FATHER'S DAYS will come and go with him here. I know that many of you have already lost your dad. I have been so very lucky to have mine here this long. His physical being is great, his mind not so good. But, even with dementia being diagnosed in 2000, he is still pretty alert.
Here is a shout-out to my very close friends and classmates: Jody Barbin, Janice Hebert and Barry Boudreaux. I met Jody in Mrs. Barry's 10th grade English class. We became best friends and she and I stood as Maid and Matron of Honor in each other's weddings. Happy 59th birthday this weekend, Jody. Give a hug to that precious classmate/husband of yours, Gary Barbin !
I've known Janice since we were wee tots and we were also in
the same classes at Travis together, attended church and CYO
at
CONDOLENCES
Mel "Cooter" Shaun Simmons
(death of his mother)
5401 Baird
Groves
I received this note from Pete Lippincott '63 , classmate Jane Lippincott's brother. Even though this faculty member was not listed during our tenure at TJHS, I thought you might be interested in the e-mail:
Isabella Olga Bjerring
I imagine some of you read in the
that Mrs. Bjerring passed away at the age of 106 in
was my senior
English teacher
in 1963.
She taught many of us English at T.J. and the article states
she retired from teaching in 1968. I don't know when she
left and moved
from
of
She was born in
and out lived both husbands. Sadly, one of her daughters
passed away
two days before she.
On
her 100th birthday, the family had a big party for Mrs. Bjerring
and
relatives as far away as
If
anyone can fill me in on the events after she left T.J., please
let
me
know. She was a very special teacher for many of us and an
outstanding
person. She was teacher of the year in 1957 at T.J.
God Bless you Mrs. Bjerring......Pete Lippincott, class of 1963
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If you enjoyed even the tiniest bit of this NEWSLETTER, then please help me continue writing it by contributing news. Be it MAIL, tidbits, sad news, good news, questions about other classmates, photos, memorabilia, items to I REMEMBER WHEN, military news, or updates on health conditions. It really doesn't take much to get me going. Don't forget to tell others about our website. We love hearing from different classes.
Keep in touch and
stay safe,
Linda DeCuir
McFadden
lindasuemcfadden@sbcglobal.net
www.tjhs1968.com
