Classmate Blogs

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY TO EVERYONE IN THE CLASS OF 1961 - Larry Blanks

Most of us have or will be celebrating our 70th birthday this year. I think we're all to be congratulated for this milestone, and I sincerely hope and pray everyone is in good health considering.

Remember Jimmy Durante singing "September Song" back on TV in the 1950's? Well, I was sent an email that I wanted to share with you all because I think it's appropriate for us. "It's a long, long way, from May to December" :

AND THEN IT IS WINTER

Time has a way of moving quicly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on my new life with my mate.

Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went.

I know I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then with all my hopes and dreams.

But, here it is… the winter of life and it catches me by surprise…How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go?

I remember seeing older people through the years and thinking that those years were far away from me and that winter was so long off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is…my friends are retired and getting grey…they move slower and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse shape than I… but, I see the great change…

Not like the ones that I remember when we were young and vibrant…but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we’d be.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore… it’s mandatory! Cause if I don’t on my own free will… I just fall asleep where I sit!

And so…now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!

But, at least I know, that though the winter has come––and I’m not sure how long it will last––I know, that when it’s over on this earth…its over. A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets, but very, very few. There are a few things I wish I hadn’t done…and of course things I should have done, but indeed, there are many things I’m happy to have done. It’s all in a lifetime.

If you’re not in your winter yet…let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do it quickly! Don’t put things off too long!

Do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not! You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life…live for today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember…and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!

“Life” is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.

LIVE IT WELL!

ENJOY TODAY!

DO SOMETHING FUN!

BE HAPPY !

"September Song" - Jimmy Durante

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Information on Ted Swingle from Linda Liles Courvoisier

Seeing friends once again at the 50^th reunion was something I was looking forward to for many months.

Being at the Lions Club for the first time in 52 years brought back memories of slow dancing to the Platters “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” and being at Teen Town on Saturday nights.

During the past years, Ted Swingle and I have been in contact from time to time and knowing I was coming back to Chattanooga had been wanting to call and say hello once again being as we had last spoken in 2005. After talking to several classmates I found out Ted is very sick. After getting in touch with Ted and his wife Libby I went to their house to visit.

Ted gave me his permission to share his ongoing fight with friends and former classmates.

Ted has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which can be a very virulent disease, breaking it down is like a cancer of the bone marrow. He collapsed Christmas night 2007 in his bathroom and after going to the emergency room the next day and numerous tests and x-rays, he received his diagnosis. He has been through multiple surgeries to stabilize his spine as well as chemotherapy, irradiation, platelet and blood transfusions and has had one or two stem cell transplants. His therapy is ongoing. He spends time in rehab to regain strength in his extremities. He is in therapy at this time at Siskin and has to use a walker or wheelchair to get around.

He has a good outlook and when I asked if there was anything I could do his answer was prayers. He has a telephone close by and am sure would love to hear from his classmates.

He is definitely facing an uphill battle and we all need to remember him in our prayers.

If anyone wants to contact Ted send me an e-mail and I will gladly give you his telephone number. Linda (Liles) Courvoisier

Email is: courvoisier_linda@yahoo.com

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A Visit To Red Bank High - Jerry Parker, Class of 1961

Brenda and I made a trip to Red Bank on Thursday evening, spent the night with her mother, and then went to Lake Winnepesaukah on Friday morning to meet my son and his family from Huntsville AL at 11:00 am. After spending the day at the park, we drove back to Murfreesboro in the evening. Since we had some "time to kill" on Friday morning, we decided to drive around Red Bank and past our old school.

As we drove by the entrance near the old gym, we noticed two parked cars and the door was partially opened. We decided to stop and go inside. We went to the principal's office (he was there preparing for the school opening in a couple of weeks) and requested permission to walk around. He told us to see all we wanted to see.

That was my first visit to the inside of the school since graduation day in 1961, and it was Brenda's first visit since 1964. Walking the old hallways and peeking in the classrooms brought back a flood of memories. I even found my old locker up on the second floor near the door to Mrs. Coop's room. I could almost hear Coach Bruce Edwards calling someone a "flop-eared liar", or hear Mrs. Taylor's laugh as she needled someone at the blackboard trying to work a geometry problem, or hear Mrs. Regan explain how to diagram the sentences in the Gettsburg Address. I saw the spot in the old gym where Coach Hutch Lewis applied his own "board of education" to my posterior and to those of other guys for not following his orders, and I could almost feel the licks again !! I quickly exited the gym!

The school has deteriorated much in recent years. The principal said the roof leaks when it rains. The school was neat and clean despite its age and benign neglect by the school administration. It made me wonder ... the old City High School was built in the 1920s and was renovated and made into an excellent facility which is now the magnet school for the arts in Chattanooga. The old half of Red Bank High was built in the late 1930s and produced its first graduating class in 1941. The "new part" of the school (fronting Dayton Boulevard) was built in the early 1950s and was occupied in 1954. If the old City High could be preserved, it makes me wonder why they can't do something good for our old school instead of tearing it down!

Jerry

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