11/10/06 - NNHS Newsletter - 231st Birthday
 
of the United States Marine Corps

"The United States Marine Corps, with it fiercely proud tradition
of excellence in combat, its hallowed rituals, and its unbending
code of honor, is part of the fabric of American myth."

 - Thomas E. Ricks, Making the Corps, 1997
 

   We would have been doing this much earlier in the day, and using all those many images - including all the great Halloween pictures which we still have not seen, but my computer decided to celebrate in its own way early this morning and I've been fighting for repossession of its former self all day, so all those things are out of the question for the moment.  Like a spoiled child, my computer and my camera always seem to pick State Occasions to be naughty.

   I'm going to cut it short and hope for more inclusions tomorrow, but now it's time for your homework.  It's all in here:

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/11-10-04-NNHS-Happy-Birthday-USMC.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/11-10-05-NNHS-USMC-230th-Birthday.html

   I did find one fun new site for you.  This is great!  You can listen to clips and sing along, because the complete lyrics are included to some great old Marine songs:

http://www.gyrene.com/songbook.htm

   Semper Fidelis to all you Marines out there from one of your all-time biggest fans!

   We have four Typhoons celebrating their own birthdays today!  Happy Birthday to Tamsie Warren Ellis ('57), David Witten ('57),   Angie Ray Smith ('64) of VA and to    Steve Pullen ('65) of VA!  Y'all have a good one!  Many Happy Returns!

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/Happy-Birthday.html

I am showing you pictures from the most adventurous time of my life.
 

Your Friend, Herbie 

   OH, MY GOODNESS!!!  I picked you out of all those Marines without even peeking at the answer!!!  And dat ain't bad, considering I never actually met you!

Herbie Darlin', we so appreciate your sharing them with us!  We're honored to post them on the site!   Thanks so much!

 ..... Just thought you would like to know.

   Thanks, Cookie; I appreciate your telling us.

   Sandi, please give Harlee our deepest sympathies in the loss of his mama.  Losing a parent is just never easy, and it doesn't seem to matter how old you are or how close we are.  The situations are all different, but the difficulty always seems to remain.

   And I, the eternal optimist, am afraid I will grudgingly have to agree with you about this year.  There have been a few moments of spectacular beauty and hope, but I really think they shone all the brighter because most of the year was just so - unpleasant and hard...

   But maybe it's just me.....

   Thank you, Ladies!

   It seems to me your family - your extended family, at any rate, has been touched more than its fair share by sadness this month.  Our deepest sympathies to you, and also to Tootsie on the loss of her uncle.

Carol, you dear, sweet woman,

Even in the midst of trying times, you think of others first!! You are amazing.

Yes, I realize there are some that cannot afford to help out. I accept that. There are, however, others that can contribute more as an offset.......

My only goal here is to relieve you of an unfair burden. You do so much for so many and it’s time some of that effort come back to you.

I want to convert your slogan “Y’all take care of each other” into actions to take care of you now.

Take care of yourself.

Love,

Joe

   Joe, you incredible Sweetie-Pie!   Thank you so much - and keep reading....

Just read the note from    Joe Wingo ('65 - of NC) whom I knew from playing football.  I believe he was in the eighth grade when I was a senior, but I do remember him.

   I shouldn't wonder, George!  Joe was rather unforgettable - even then!

   Oh, Honey, if you only knew!!!  The embarrassing thing is, we're not just talking about the website/newsletter expenses right now - or even my time (and I still do try to invest at least eight to ten hours a day, which is down a bit from the fourteen I managed a few months back.

   The site itself costs $150.00 a year, paid in one lump sum in January (I think).

   My high-speed cable is tied up with my phone and TV.  It was the best choice for us at the time, because it was the least expensive, most convenient, and required neither long-term contracts nor direct withdrawal from our checking account - which are both unacceptable to us.  The price has increased on these services to about $157.00 a month, but it is strangely still the best deal.

   In the past, sporadic donations have generally managed to cover these expenses when averaged over the year.  There are, after all, about 450 regular subscribers - not to mention many more who read without my knowledge.

   But the problem now is unthinkable and unfathomable.

   The problem is - my husband's job ended completely on June 30.  All income ceased for our family at that moment.

   And in mid-August, when I said, "That's it - I'm going down.  It's been fun!" - an incredible networking explosion began.  Money started pouring in - vast amounts, large and small, from all over.  And y'all - all of y'all - became the entire financial support for our family.  Y'all paid not only these costs, but our rent ($450.00 a month), our electric (@$212.00 a month), our water (@ $18.00 a month), our car insurance ($95.30 a month), our garbage pickup ($13.00 a month), medicine, gasoline, car repairs, even taxes - see, EVERYTHING!

   We simply could not have otherwise survived.  We thought soon it would end, and I'd have enough squirreled away from that phenomenal outpouring that the problems would be resolved for months to come.

   Because, you see, I've already seen who my true friends are - and they are legion!

   For me to come back now and say, "Whoops!  I need some more!  If I don't have $440.00 by 11/15/06, I'm DOOMED!" (which is true, but still outrageous)  is roughly akin to - to - I can't even think of an analogy here.....

   And my publishing all this is roughly akin to running "neckid" in the rain, too....

   Well, I seem to have just started bawling again.....

   Anyway, there have been a number of those "bright spots".  Wal-Mart has just this moment started offering our prescription drugs (generic) here in North Carolina for $4.00 each.  That means instead of about $180.00 a month, last week it only cost $18.00 to fill four prescriptions (Paul's Metformin ran $6.00).  And Sunday we arrived home from church to find a Good Fairy had brought 25 pounds of flour, 12 pounds of rice, and homemade chicken tetrazini (I don't know how to spell that, and neither does my computer) and blueberry pie - which were both fabulous!

   And there's an anonymous consortium of Typhoon supporters somewhere in Florida who send me a $100.00 check every month.  I didn't even quite pick up on that one at first.....

   So there's the problem.  And there's the embarrassment.  And there's the pain.  It should have ended by now.  It should have gone away.  It should have been resolved.  But it didn't, and it didn't, and it hasn't.

   And I don't even know any words to thank all you wonderful people.  I have a stack of thank-you notes and postage stamps to try, and the words freeze in my mind before they make it to my pen.  How do you thank people for things of this magnitude???

   I don't know.  I just don't.

Your latest Newsletter theme music gave me a jolt, BECAUSE, I was watching The Phantom of The Opera on my DVD. I have spent many hours watching that and I love it. So nice to see we are on the same musical track. ~~~~~

   WOWZERONI!!!  Isn't that remarkable?!?
 

By the way, I am mailing you my donation on Veterans Day, Sat. 11-11-06 and that's tomorrow.

Your Friend, Herbie  

   Herbie, you Sweetie-Pie, you take my breath away...

   That's an idea, though...  I've kept careful track of who sent what and when, but many of them were confidential, and therein lies the rub.  Some of them wanted to be anonymous from the world, and many of them even wanted to be kept unknown to me.

   But we could definitely keep such a page someway....

   Anyway, thank you so much, Herbie Darlin'!  You are definitely my hero - in many, many ways!

I guess since I haven’t attended any of the class reunions and I moved away from the area I thought I might not be remembered. I didn’t socialize much in high school, classes and sports were about it for me there. Thank you for using the word ‘handsome’. I don’t think anyone has used that term with me for a very long time. Having beautiful girls stare at me never makes me uncomfortable, then or now. It just doesn’t happen any more. I do remember YOU quite well. You signed my Anchor with my other name. You’re very lucky I didn’t ask you out, although I thought about it. You were just too sweet. As I recall, I really only dated one girl at NNHS, Phyllis Rose, class of ‘62 and one from Warwick, Linda Capps, WHS class of ‘62.

Thanks again for remembering,

Robert '61

   Robert, I probably should have asked you before I published this.  I sent it to Elaine, and started to leave it at that, but it was just so charming, I couldn't seem to stop myself.

   I try to remind people on a regular basis that I have little to no judgment whatsoever, and if something should be kept confidential, it would be best to tell me in Big Bold Print.

   But it struck a deep chord within me for several reasons, and I'm sure it will with many others.  Thank you for sending it!

   Oh, yes, if you're "away from the area", where are you?!?  I've been saying "VA", but you could be in Timbuktu, for all I know.

   Thanks, Robert!   I hope you're not gunning for me now.....

   WILD GIGGLES!!!  Aren't they funny?!?  Thanks, Gorgeous! 

Carol,

Look at one a day to brighten your day,

Jerry Blanchard (Class 62) of Va. 

   OHHH, how adorable!!!  Doncha just wanna pick these juicy little babies up and hug and squeeze 'em?!?  Thanks, Jerry!

  
   And remember, remember - tomorrow is Veteran's Day!  Be sure to express your gratitude to all the veterans you encounter.

   And I have Halloween pictures, and pet photos, and David Whitley's drawings, and more pictures from Evelyn's Birthday Party for All of Us, and still all those great reunion images yet to come.  Keep the faith!  I'll get 'em done!

   Y'all take care of each other!  TYPHOONS FOREVER!  We'll Always Have Buckroe!