Merry Christmas from Ole Miss Girl

Meridian Postcards

There are some great old postcards of Meridian at this site. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

http://usgwarchives.org/ms/lauderdale/postcards/ppcs-laud.html

God's Minute

SIRACH (ECCLESIASTICUS) 7:32-36

Stretch forth your hand to the poor, so that your blessing may be complete. Give graciously to all the living, and withhold not kindness from the dead. Do not fail those who weep, but mourn with those who mourn. Do not shrink from visiting a sick man, because for such deeds you will be loved. In all you do, remember the end of your life, and then you will never sin.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Happiness is not a matter of good fortune or worldly possessions. It’s a mental attitude. It comes from appreciating what we have, instead of being miserable about what we don’t have. It’s so simple – yet so difficult for the human mind to comprehend.

Bill and Lisa Hazelden


Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

Do the following each day:

Think of three things you are grateful for.

Express your gratitude to at least three people in your life.

Find three ways to give of yourself.

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more that is poor.

Seneca

Rita Is At Home

Rita has discontinued dialysis and is at home now. Her home address is 6128 15th Ave., Meridian MS 39305. Please pray for Rita, James and their sons and family. They need our prayers and to know how very much we care about them.

"Imprint"

"Imprint"

I remember you.
You fluttered through my life
And left your imprint on my soul.

"I Remember You"

Poem Posted by Ole Miss Girl

P.S. 11-29-08 Told you so.

God's Minute

GENESIS 1:1-5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

JOHN 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

MORE FALL PHOTOS

Here are some more fall leaves (what's left of them) that I couldn't help photographing for the blog. This land belongs to Jack Warner, and used to be his horse farm when he was into that. This is a block from our house in Tuscaloosa. Warner owns a museum of American art that he has collected, and it is considered one of the major collections of its type in the world. He makes loans to major museums throughout the world.

CRESCENT CITY GRILL REUNION PHOTO

You know who the girls are (named in the photo below), so here are the guys' names. In front is Jere Skelton. Behind Patsy on far left is her husband Delmer Carlisle. Next to Joyce Thompson Rogers is her friend Milo Beasly. Next to Joyce Giles is her friend Otis Weir. Next to Margie is her husband Earl Robinson.

Ronnie Norris, Patricia's husband, made the photos, so is not included. Thanks, Ronnie.

CRESCENT CITY GRILL REUNION 10/24

Patricia Vaughn Norris kindly sent me these photos to post. Many didn't make it to the Philadelphia reunion, but still wanted to meet.

Front: Patsy Craven Talbert Carlisle

Row 1: Linda Thompson Butler, Eula Fay Neal Latham, Carolyn Tanner Kozman, Beth Hobgood Clark, Rita Ward Alexander, Patricia Vaughn Norris

Row 2: Joyce Bragg Giles, Joyce Thompson Rogers, Jewel Partridge Williams, Charlotte Belk Giles, Patsy Ward Rogers, Margie Godwin Robinson, Fay Stoudermire Skelton,

PHOTO OF MILLIE MAJORS JONES & HUSBAND GEORGE

HERE'S A GREAT PICTURE OF MILLIE MAJORS JONES & HUSBAND GEORGE. MILLIE AND I EMAIL A LOT, AND I ASKED HER FOR A PICTURE TO POST. MILLIE, YOU'RE STILL LOOKING GREAT! IF YOU WANT TO COMMENT, CLICK ON THE WORD "COMMENT" BELOW.

Reunion DVD

Hi Classmates,

We had one person (so far) who had trouble viewing their DVD. If anyone else has had a problem, please e-mail us and let us know. We don't want anyone having a blank DVD. Guess 1 out of 70 isn't too bad, but it's not acceptable.

Ron & Mary Jane (heisty@bellsouth.net)

Name Your Classmates

Who are these dateless dolls from 1953?

THANKSGIVING TRIVIA QUIZ

Click on the URL below to see how much you know about Thanksgiving:

http://home.aristotle.net/Thanksgiving/trivia.asp

Peggy Edwards sent this to me.

Click on "comment" below to tell us your score.

MORE FALL PHOTOS

Here is a Bradford Pear tree and some kind of vine, whose berries I found extremely colorful. Anyone know what it is?

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

SUNG BY LOUIS AT THE REUNION

Last Memories of My Mom and Dad

"Forever Young"

My Mom and Dad
Picture made in 1939,
about the time they married.

Beth's recent e-mail to us about nursing home residents brought back memories of my father. He was living at home but not well, mentally or physically. Then his wife discovered that she had terminal cancer and went to live with her sister so that she would have someone to care for her. My father went to a nursing home in Oxford. He was in his early 80's.

The nursing home was the sadest place I have ever been in. Daddy said that all of them were put there to wait to die. He said it was a warehouse. He had stopped smoking, but started again. He opened himself a charge account at a drug store across the street and had cigarettes delivered.

I would visit and find him buzzing around in his wheelchair, teasing the other residents. He would make me lie down on his bed to rest as it had not been long since my heart surgery. He was still trying to take care of his little girl who could not help him in this sadest and last period of his life. My last visit to the nursing home was to accompany him to the hospital where he spent his last days.

Fast forward several more years, my mom was in the hospital in Meridian after a stroke. She was unable to talk, walk or move her right side. My mom had always been very reserve and distant with her affection. No hugs except when saying goodbye. During her last days, I gave her what I had needed to get all my life – lots of hugs, kisses and touching. I told her over and over that I loved her. I will never forget the long periods she spent looking into my eyes. They say that a mother bonds with her baby while looking deeply into their eyes. That’s what we did during her last days.

One afternoon, the nurses propped her up in a chair. She dozed. Again, I went to sleep in a parent’s hospital bed, holding her hand. We were so hopeful for her to get better, but it was not to be. Within about a week, God kissed her with his mercy and took her to himself.

Life on the Farm by Maxine

Here is another funny story about my life on a farm. I laugh out loud every time I think about this, so I hope I can write the details of it plain enough for you to see it through my letter.

I have two brothers. My oldest brother, Ozell, has always been known to be sane and smart. My younger brother, Jerry, is, ---well, ---not, but he is a lot of fun to be around.

My son, Shane bought 147 acres just north of us, with an old farm house on it, exactly the same floor plan as the house we grew up in on Old Marion Road in Meridian. His wife wanted him to bulldoze it down, but Shane decided to restore it.

Jerry came to spend a week with us and wanted to go see this property. Once we got there, Jerry and Bill, my husband, got into one of Shane's golf carts to take a tour of the whole property.

It doesn't sound funny yet, but just wait.

Bill and Jerry are both over 300 pounds, and they completely filled up the front seat of that golf cart. Jerry was driving and Bill was in the passenger seat. Don't get ahead of me now on this story, because you cannot guess what is about to happen.

As they go across the front pasture down toward the lake, there were furrows where it had once been plowed. Every time Jerry would hit a bump, Bill's right foot would fall off the running board, hit the ground, and he would holler. After several times of this happening, Jerry found a rope about 12 feet long in the back of the golf cart. He told Bill, "I have an idea, tie this end around your foot, and I'll throw it across the golf cart and hold the other end, so your foot won't fall off the cart." They both agreed it was a good idea.

After this great idea failed, Bill said, "Jerry, let me hold the other end." So they switched holding the rope.

Jerry took off again, with Shane now looking back from his golf cart wondering what on earth they are doing, and why is it taking them so long to follow him. This time, they were both just beaming for being so smart. But they forgot one major detail. Bill had one end of the rope tied around his right foot, and was holding on to the other end, but the slack of the rope fell onto the ground, got tangled in the back tire of the golf cart, and in a split second, it jerked Bill out of the cart and face down on the ground.

Jerry looked over to where Bill had been sitting and he was GONE!!! Jerry said the only thing he could think of was the scripture in the Bible that speaks of "Two or more will be in the field, and one will be taken", and he thought Jesus was nearby.

STOP LAUGHING, I can hear you.

My son, Shane, had seen the whole thing and thought his Dad was dead. When he got back to where they were, Bill was laughing so hard he was shaking.

Shane came back up to the house where I was and said to me, "Mom, I don't mean to be disrespectful to my Dad and my Uncle, but how in the hell did I inherit those two, they are like Frick and Frack."

My life is never dull. Just hang around us and you will be laughing.

Hope you enjoyed this.

God's Minute

PSALM 51

For the leader. A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense. Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.

For I know my offense; my sin is always before me. Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight that you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn. True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.

Still, you insist on sincerity of heart; in my inmost being teach me wisdom. Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow. Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.

A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit. Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.

I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you. Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power.

Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise. For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept. My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.

Make Zion prosper in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifice, burnt offerings and holocausts; then bullocks will be offered on your altar.

FALL LEAVES

Have you been for a walk with your camera the last few days? Everywhere you look is a photo opportunity! Hope you enjoy these. Sometimes these fall trees take my breath away.

This Magic Moment

SUNG BY LOUIS AT THE REUNION

Another Maxine Story: Christmas Present to Hot Springs

I hope those of you who are waiting to hear about my latest extension of my 2007 Christmas present will enjoy this story. If you are not interested, delete now.

To bring you up to date, back in September 2007, while being laid up following foot surgery reconstruction, I thought about what was important to me. All I wanted was to be able to spend three days alone with each of my children without responsibility and chores.

My oldest daughter, Debbie, presented me with three days in Wimberly, Texas, in a cabin in the wilderness of The Devil's Backbone, which happens to be the most haunted place in Texas. And, YES, we were entertained, complete with a hot tub and a precious little ghost boy named Ted. This was in my first letter.

Dennis, my oldest son, had originally wanted to take me to Hot Springs, Arkansas, on his Honda GoldWing motorcycle, but my surgeon threatened to dismiss his services IF I got on a motorcycle.

So, my son and his wife Rita, picked my up at 4:00 AM on May 1st, 2008 and we drove in his big Ford pickup truck. I got the back seat, so that I could elevate my foot most of the way. We went the most scenic routes so it took us about 8 hours to get there.

We arrived in time to drive around town to plan our trip around the springs and decide what we wanted to do.

Upon our arrival, we noticed several women running. We asked "WHY"? They were running to catch a "DUCK" which I will explain later. But these women had hugh boobs and were capable of giving themselves a black eye as they ran. And they told us about the "JUG FOUNTAINS" that were stationed around in several places. Now I have heard "boobs" called "jugs" before, and I definitely didn't want to be drinking the water if it did that. We saw the "Jug Fountains" and people were lined up getting water. I passed. Most of the women we saw weren't wearing a bra either.

I told my son that I didn't want any of that free spring water because boobs that big would be uncomfortable, and it might give me an uncontrollabe desire to get a tatoo.

We decided to check out the "Duck." The duck is a vehicle that travel on land and water. Captain Carl was the driver and he had a ball with me. Of course I played right along with the entertainment, as he drove off the pavement into the lake.

My son had rented a KOA Kottage (cabin) that was up in the Ouachita Mountains. I think the elevation was 1200 feet where we were, and this overlooked a beautiful pond down below with lots of ducks.

Without TV or radio, we had to entertain ourselves playing word games, like we did when he was little. This proved to be an eye-opener when I came up with an "E" word that he didn't know I knew. We finally went to sleep with words floating around in our brains. It started raining and the wind howled and we wondered if we were safe, but we were on the northeast side of the mountain and most of the bad weather comes from the west. The next morning we went down to the KOA kitchen to eat breakfast and start our tours, and found out that TORNADOES had been all around us, and 8 people were killed.

We took a tour of the city of Hot Springs, went up a 200 foot needle on the mountain overlooking the surrounding area. You could see the mountain breathing hot misty air out of it's belly in several places.

There were several bath houses built over these hot springs, and there were guided tours that offered more than a bath. There was also a place where scalding hot water was running down the side of the mountain where you could sit by the side of it and if you wanted to do so, you could soak your feet or whatever in it. I saw a young man jump in and immediately came out looking like a lobster. So, I hobbled over for a closer look. There was a gentleman there with a thermometer and he said it was 164 degrees that day. I told him that I thought that was the same temperature we would heat the water to dip our hogs in to scald them on hog-killing day in Mississippi. I put my hand in and said "I'm not about to try and soak a tender foot."

There are 47 hot springs which for thousands of years, have poured forth from the southwestern slope of Hot Springs Mountain, at a rate of nearly a million gallions a day. The waters, having traveled through many layers of filtering rock on the way to the Earth's surface, have been found to be nearly 100% pure. It is hard water though.

We walked through the wax museum, and ate at BUBBALU'S BODACIOUS BURGERS. Later we went to Garvan Woodland Gardens, which is 210 acres of trail surrounded by waterfalls and flowers of every description. The hailstones from the night before had knocked all of the flowers off, but it was still beautiful. This property surrounds 4-1/2 miles of shoreline on Lake Hamilton. This was previously owned by a lady named Verna Garvan and when she died, she donated it to The University of Arkansas Architecture in 1985. The grounds were well manicured and they plant 83,000 bulbs every year. We were able to get a golf cart to ride around in.

We met some interesting characters while we were there, and ate some good food, and saw another beautiful part of our country, but most of all, I got to spend this time alone with my son, and he squeezed my heart when I asked him "What was the most memorable time for him?", and he said, "Spending time with my Mom." They were so good to me, and I appreciate the memories we made.

As much as I enjoyed myself, it was still good to get back to my own bed.

Until my next adventure, the love overflows,

Maxine

Message to McCrancy, Burnett, Davis & Russell - Charter.Net

To: Charles McCraney, Joe Burnett, Joy Jean Shotts Davis, and Ray Russell - Charter.Net

I'm writing you folks with charter.net on the blog because e-mails I'm sending are always returned undeliverable as spam. I have tried sending only to the four of you (without everyone else) and also sending to you individually. The outcome is the same. I'm sorry. I don't know what else to try.

I've also had a similar problem with Cable One folks when sending e-mail to whole class, but I am able to send them individual e-mails successfully. E-mails sent to My Way are returned as well.

Hot Mail and GMail accounts are possible alternatives and are free

God bless,
Ouida

ATTENTION!!!!

Over 250 class photographs are on Photobucket.
http://photobucket.com/meridian1958

I have uploaded about 250 photos into Photobucket for your viewing. Most are from the class reunion; some were on the blog before the reunion. I have labeled most of them and hope to go back later to work on this some more. (I'm labeling all pictures with names 2 times and some 3 times, on my computer, on the blog and then on Photobucket so takes some time to finish.)

• This is the web address: http://photobucket.com/meridian1958
  
• To e-mail a picture to someone, right click with the mouse and select e-mail.
  
• To save a picture to your computer, right click again and select save picture as . . .
  
• To create a shortcut on your desktop so you can return to this page quick, right click in the white space on the page and select create shortcut.
  
• You can create a shortcut to this blog page the same way.
  
• You may preview all of the pictures from the page that comes up, moving from page to page with navigation at the bottom of the page.
  
• The method I prefer to preview the pictures is to click on the first picture in the group of four. It will enlarge. On the right, there is a window with three small photos and an arrow pointing left and arrow pointing right. Click on the picture you want to see. It will enlarge, and you may continue moving through to see all 250 plus pictures.
  
  Contributors: Coty Huggins Tootle, Bill Chatham, Martha Hopkins, Beth Hobgood Clark and Ouida Tomlinson. If I have left anyone off or made any errors in identifying classmates, please let me know. I would appreciate your help. My brain is fried.
  
  I hope you enjoy. Also, my video arrived yesterday from MJ and RJ. It is excellent and wonderful to watch. I'm seeing all the things I missed and enjoying the great music.
  
  God's Blessings to Each of You,
  
  Ouida

Reunion Photographs

Carol Winslett Dennis

Mary Jane Kelley Heisterkamp and Nic Nichols

Ivan Burnett, John Loomis, William Betts





Edwina, Lyle and Peggy

Reunion Photographs

Jimmy & Natasha Satterfield

Jimmy Lewis

Peggy, Nona and Arlene

Tee & Lyle

Natasha & Jimmy Satterfield

Reunion Photographs

Peggy Edwards and Joyce Thompson Rogers

Tom & Genie Coats, Joann Gay

Reunion Photographs

Larry Tyner and Joe Griffin

Jim Dalton, Bill Culpepper,
Les Owen, Denny Powers

Carey Ann Sanford, Nona & Melton Rhodes

Bill Culpepper, Patsy Fisher McDonald
and Mary McLemore Weaver

Reunion Photographs

Peggy Sellers, Mary McLemore Weaver,
Ouida Landreth Tomlinson, and Arlene Davidson Merson

Donna Jill Johnson, Lynne Johnson Grimes,
Tom Coats, and Larry Tyner

Bill Culpepper

Reunion Committee and The Blog Team
Tom Coats, Patsy McDonald,
Ouida Landreth Tomlinson, Beth Hobgood Clark,
Marty Davidson, Myra Meritt Mabry and Jinny Curan Walz

Reunion Photographs

The Cheerleaders

Jinny arranging the football team.

Roy and Carlee Whitaker Hamilton

Tom Singley and Beth Raines