10/05/10 - NNHS Newsletter - In My Room

“The whole value of solitude depends upon one's self; it may be a sanctuary
or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment,
a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it.”

- John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
(30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913)

http://www.nnhs65.com/reunion-page/10-09-10-Typhoon-Tailgate.pdf

http://nnhs65.com/frat-soro-SPD.html

  If you don't know what I'm going to say next, you don't know me very well.

   Last year (2004) just before the reunion, I tried to be subtle and sensitive and allude to this as gently as possible. 
This year (2005) I cannot afford to be so coy.

   Have you not noticed how very quickly one of us can be gone?  If you're thinking of waiting until "next time" to see
everyone, look around.  "Next time", either they - or you yourself - may not be around to partake of that opportunity.
How many have we lost this year alone??  You count them all; I cannot bear to do so.

   If you can't attend, you can't attend, and that's that.  But if you're vacillating about whether or not to come, if you're
just "thinking about it ", and haven't quite decided - and especially if your mind is filling with a lot of nonsense such
as, "I'm too fat.  I don't want to see everybody looking like this" - please let me point out to you that your friends love
you, and they don't care how you look, they just want to see you again, and everything else is pure balderdash!!!

   As I can't find the exact quotation, I cannot find the exact date, but I believe it was about sixty-five years ago when
Ashley Montagu said, "The greatest forces of evil in this world are those which seek to keep a baby from its
mother's breast." 

   While I wholeheartedly agree with that, I would extend it to read, "The next greatest forces of evil are those
which seek to keep people from their friends by inflicting lies of self-doubt upon them."

   And let me also remind you what       the Head Cheerleader of 1965, Pam Smith Arnold
of VA said (ten) years ago, which I have preserved on the Reunion Page, lest we forget:

   I might get off this soapbox soon - but don't count on it. 

   "I excuse not myself."

October 05, 1955 - The play "The Diary of Anne Frank" opened at the Cort Theatre in New York.

   Hi, Doug!  Though I didn't know her, I do remember Catherine. She graduated in 1961, and as an eighth-grader, I usually didn't have a great deal of contact with the seniors. She was in chorus and I was in band, so I did pass her in the halls on a daily basis. She was on the high honor roll, and a member of the Latin Club and National Honor Society, and she won the Sherman Award that year for highest achievement in chorus - one smart lady!

   Catherine's not on my subscriber list, but I'm sending this to the head of her reunion committee and a couple of her classmates to see what we might find.

   Unfortunately, I'm leaving town tomorrow morning to head out for my own reunion (well, no, that's not unfortunate, that's good! ). Anyway, I'm not sure of what time if any I'll have on the computer until I return to Illinois on the 18th.

   Perhaps those with any answers can respond to you directly at doug@monroenews.com. 

   Best wishes, Doug - and thanks, Joe!

===================

Guaranteed to Roll Your Eyes

A New York retail clerk was suffering from aching feet.

"It's all those years of standing," his doctor declared. "You need a vacation. Go to Miami, soak your feet in the ocean and you'll feel better."

When the man got to Florida, he went into a hardware store, bought two large buckets and headed for the beach.

"How much for two buckets of that seawater?" he asked the lifeguard.

"A dollar a bucket," the fellow replied with a straight face.

The clerk paid him, filled his buckets, went to his hotel room and soaked his feet. They felt so much better he decided to repeat the treatment that afternoon. Again he handed the lifeguard two dollars. The young man took the money and said, "Help yourself."

The clerk started for the water, then stopped in amazement. The tide was out. "Wow," he said, turning to the lifeguard. "Some business you got here!"

===================

Special Brownies

A father of some teenage children had the family rule that they could not attend PG-13 or R rated movies. His three teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local theaters. It was rated PG-13.

The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family's church to find out what was offensive in the movie. The teens made a list of pros and cons about the movie to use to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it.

The cons were that it contained ONLY 3 swear words, the ONLY violence was a building exploding (and you see that on TV all the time they said), and you actually did not "see" the couple in the movie having sex - it was just implied sex, off camera.

The pros were that it was a popular movie - a block buster.

Everyone was seeing it. If the teens saw the movie then they would not feel left out when their friends discussed it. The movie contained a good story and plot. It had some great adventure and suspense in it. There were some fantastic special effects in this movie. The movie's stars were some of the most talented actors in Hollywood. It probably would be nominated for several awards. Many of the members of their Christian church had even seen the movie and said it wasn't "very bad."

Therefore, since there were more pros than cons, the teens said they were asking their father to reconsider his position on just this ONE movie and let them have permission to go see it.

The father looked at the list and thought for a few minutes. He said he could tell his children had spent some time and thought on this request. He asked if he could have a day to think about it before making his decision.

The teens were thrilled, thinking: "Now we've got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can't turn us down!" So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to think about their request.

The next evening the father called in his three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told his children he had thought about their request and had decided that if they would eat a brownie then he would let them go to the movie. But just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons.

The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.

The brownies only had one con. He had included a little bit of a special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well - they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop and he had baked it at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed.

Therefore, if any of his children could stand to eat the brownies which included just a "little bit of crap" and not be affected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with "just a little bit of smut" and not be affected.

Of course, none of the teens would eat the brownies and the smug smiles had left their faces. Only Dad was smiling smugly as they left the room. Now when his teenagers ask permission to do something he is opposed to, the father just asks, "Would you like me to whip up a batch of my special brownies?"

by Annette Nay
www.annettenay.com

===================

   Thanks, Shari - love the special brownies story!

"It's your stuff," the man explained. "It's your stuff back. Even the money in your wallet."

"I don't understand," Carl said. "Why would you help me now?"

The man shifted his feet, seeming embarrassed and ill at ease. "I learned something from you," he said. "I ran with that gang and hurt people like you we picked you because you were old and we knew we could do it. But every time we came and did something to you, instead of yelling and fighting back, you tried to give us a drink. You didn't hate us for hating you. You kept showing love against our hate."

He stopped for a moment. "I couldn't sleep after we stole your stuff, so here it is back."

He paused for another awkward moment, not knowing what more there was to say. "That bag's my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess." And with that, he walked off down the street.

Carl looked down at the sack in his hands and gingerly opened it. He took out his retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride that still smiled back at him from all those years ago.

He died one cold day after Christmas that winter. Many people attended his funeral in spite of the weather.

In particular the minister noticed a tall young man that he didn't know sitting quietly in a distant corner of the church.

The minister spoke of Carl's garden as a lesson in life.

In a voice made thick with unshed tears, he said, "Do your best to make your garden as beautiful as you can. We will never forget Carl and his garden."

The following spring another flyer went up. It read: "Person needed to care for Carl's garden."

The flyer went unnoticed by the busy parishioners until one day when a knock was heard at the minister's office door.

Opening the door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the flyer. "I believe this is my job, if you'll have me," the young man said.

The minister recognized him as the same young man who had returned the stolen watch and wallet to Carl.

He knew that Carl's kindness had turned this man's life around. As the minister handed him the keys to the garden shed, he said, "Yes, go take care of Carl's garden and honor him."

The man went to work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and vegetables just as Carl had done.

During that time, he went to college, got married, and became a prominent member of the community. But he never forgot his promise to Carl's memory and kept the garden as beautiful as he thought Carl would have kept it.

One day he approached the new minister and told him that he couldn't care for the garden any longer. He explained with a shy and happy smile, "My wife just had a baby boy last night, and she's bringing him home on Saturday."

"Well, congratulations!" said the minister, as he was handed the garden shed keys. "That's wonderful! What's the baby's name?"

"Carl," he replied.


... GOOD FRIENDS ARE LIKE ANGELS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEE THEM TO KNOW THEY ARE THERE.

   Thanks, Dools, I really like this one!