Roosevelt News

-- East Coast Edition –

 

-- Printed in Loving Memory of Wanda J. Jackson 1934 - 2011 –

 

News Center

Read old/current issues and send news or comments online at:

http://www.234enterprises.com/RooseveltNews/newscenter.htm

 

Editors:

E-mail: mmay@234enterprises.com

 Carolyn Niebruegge May                      Michael L. May

Vol. 1, Is. 18                                                                                      Nov. 18, 2011

 

 

From the Editor

 

The holiday season is upon us and no, the next holiday--contrary to what you see in stores is Thanksgiving, NOT Christmas.  I’ll never understand why Thanksgiving gets pushed aside for Christmas any more than why you can’t buy a winter coat or coveralls in the winter, but must have them in hand by no later than late summer to early fall.  However, should you decide to take a Caribbean vacation in mid-winter, you can purchase a swimming suit that’s already on the store shelves--makes sense I guess.

 

Going back to Thanksgiving--as a child back in Oklahoma--Thanksgiving was probably my favorite holiday.  We enjoyed great family time together--quail hunting, playing pitch, and big family meals with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  This year, I’ve especially enjoyed the daily posts of many of my Facebook friends saying what they are thankful for.  Without exception, their postings all appear to be well thought out and appropriate.  I haven’t participated in that arena, but probably should have.  Regardless of the economic pinch that all of us are living under, we do have so much to be thankful for.  Most important, our freedom, our families, and hopefully we can say our health.  As a father and grandfather, our children and grandchildren are very near the top of that list.  I’ve told many that if I had understood how “Grand” grandchildren were, I’d have totally skipped children and gone straight to grandchildren.  NO Karen and Kevin, Dad is just kidding!  To see these “little people” develop, expressing the “pieces of the genetic code” that they received from you, your wife, and your children, leads you to not question that there is a God with a special plan for mapping out the lives of these very special individuals that we call “Grandchildren.”

 

We’re off to Georgia tomorrow to spend 10 days with our youngest little lady and her parents to not only celebrate Thanksgiving, but her first Birthday.  Obviously, we can hardly wait to head the car south.  Since we don’t get to spend as much time with Raegan as we do with Paige (who only lives 4 miles away), we have no plans of wasting a minute while we’re there.  We hope that each of you have an opportunity to spend quality time with as many of your family as possible over this upcoming holiday.  Happy Thanksgiving all…

 

mlm

 

 

Content Contributors for the Week

 

Austilene (Turner) Borum (Class of 1962)

Charles Curtis (Class of 1965)

Kaye (Perkins) Weaver (Class of 1971)

All those who sent messages to the Email “Bag”

 

Thank you all!

 

 

When Faced with Tough Decisions

 

I’ve had a Facebook post of Glenda Hyneman’s on my mind since she posted it over a week ago.  It had to do with her making an unpopular--but necessary, and correct--decision relative to placing her step mother, Eva Allard Cooper Sparks in a nursing home facility because the current health care establishment they were using could no longer give her the care she needed.  Glenda’s decision was very unpopular with Eva, resulting in considerable animosity directed Glenda’s way. 

 

After reading this post it took me back to 2001 when I had to make a similar decision to take my Mom out of her home and place her in Ayers Nursing Home in Snyder.  The big difference being that although I knew I had no choice of what had to be done, my Mother was supportive.  She had been on a slow decline over the last 2 or 3 years with the onset of Parkinson’s Disease and the early stages of Alzheimer’s.  After a call from her neighbors (R. C. and LuRetta Hall) informing me that on that particular day she had come to their home (across the street) 8 times asking for assistance on what she should do with the cake she was trying to bake.  She didn’t know whether to put it in the oven or the refrigerator.  We traveled to Oklahoma in the next few days to deal with Mom’s failing health.  Unfortunately, we found her in a much worse state than she was in when we last saw her at Thanksgiving the month before and knew immediately that she needed significant assistance.  Here’s where the issues I had to deal with went in a very different and positive direction from Glenda’s.  Where she was met with resistance, my Mother wrote me a little note (by this time Mom could no longer speak) saying, “Mike, I think I can be happy at Ayers.”  I must say from that moment forward (actually at anytime in her life after Dad passed away) I NEVER met resistance from my Mother as to what I thought was best for her.  I was truly blessed.  For those of you who knew her, I doubt that you would have expected anything less.  With that said, obviously we know that Eva’s resistance was a result of not thinking clearly and is the reason that we all hope to be blessed with children who can and will make sound decisions for us when we can no longer do so.  For me the next few days were a “whirl wind” of activity making arrangements at Ayers, getting the belongings together that she would need in her new home, and getting our minds wrapped around the decision we had just made.  Even as easy as my Mother made this, it was the hardest decision I had ever made.  Thank goodness for Carolyn’s help in “getting Mom and her belongings” together.  I’ll never forget the day we moved her in—cold Oklahoma wind howling, leaves swirling, and dark, gray skies overhead.  As my brother-in-law backed up to the rear entrance of Ayers with her belongings, tears were streaming down my cheeks.  I looked at him and said, “Niebruegge, I can’t believe that a life is reduced down to a pickup load of furniture.”  Yes, it was tough. 

 

After getting her settled, we started our trip back to Virginia with heavy hearts.  On that flight, as a mechanism for dealing with the events of the last few days, and to reassure myself that what I had done was what I should have, I pulled out my computer and started to write.  The piece that follows, which I titled “Saying Goodbye,” is what I wrote on that flight, “word for word,” and unedited since the day it was written.  Although this article addresses 3 self defined forms of saying goodbye, it centers on the form I was dealing with at the time.  Regardless of that fact, I think that my thoughts on all 3 forms of saying goodbye may strike a cord with many of you.

 

“If you live long enough, you will face saying “goodbye” to a grandparent, parent, close relative, friend, or most devastatingly—a spouse or one of your own children.  Regardless of the loved one, it’s never easy and usually life altering.  “Goodbye” comes in at least three forms—“the immediate and sudden goodbye” with no warning—a call in the night, a knock at the door, followed by the sudden realization that life will never be the same again.  The second form is the “yes, I can see it coming goodbye” resulting from a long or short term illness.  This form  has some advantages—time—time to attend to unfinished business, time to prepare and more importantly, time to adequately, if that is possible, say goodbye in your own terms.  The last, and in my opinion, the most painful and stressful goodbye is what I term the “long goodbye”—this goodbye is illustrated by the presence a frail body and mind lingering aimlessly in a world of forgotten yesterdays.  I have experienced two of the above “goodbyes” and although can’t recommend either as a good choice I am currently experiencing what I believe to be the most difficult one to deal with—the “long goodbye.”

 

The decision process one faces in deciding when it is time that a loved one can no longer safely survive or cope with the everyday chores of caring for ones self is hurtful at best.  One becomes consumed with the challenge of making an informed, logical and unselfish decision.  I believe that we all put off the ultimate decision to the very last minute.  Hopefully, we will have the good fortune of making the right decision before it is too late.  Denial plays a vital role in prolonging the decision.  I believe, although not good, denial is always there, is real and is an integral part of “getting on” with what needs to be done.  I was fortunate.  I made the decision in time.  However, with that decision came guilt—what have I done, was it the right decision, was it made with the loved ones needs or my own in mind?

 

I believe that making the decision is the hardest part—deciding that you are willing to “force” your loved one to give up a life style they have grown accustomed to for a very different and controlled environment--an environment that lacks the excitement and independence of living alone, but provides the comfort needed by both you and your loved one to assure that even though this is not where either of you wish to be—it’s where the one you care for most needs to be at this point in time.

 

After a while—sometimes a long while, you gradually start to adjust and recognize that this is just another stage in life, unfortunately a near final stage.  As sad as it may appear, a nursing home is no more or no less than a place where one “waits” to die.  Although this sounds cruel, the home and its attendants perform a critical and much needed service at this juncture in one’s life.  Hopefully, if you are both fortunate, this “period in the home” will be short, yet long enough to allow you to ponder and ultimately, more gracefully, accept the finality of what is imminent and once that’s happened leave you in a better position to understand that there are indeed “sentences” much worse than death.”

 

Now you ask yourself, “Why did he write this article?”  The answer is, I wrote it to hopefully provide consolation to those of you who are currently dealing with what Glenda is.   Know and don’t question that this journey is tough, but you’re not the first to walk this road nor will you be the last.  Be strong, be brave, and do your duty by doing what is right and “make that tough decision” when you must.

 

mlm

 

 

Thoughts from the Squirrel Lair

 

Cool Paragliders (and the Raptor). 

 

This is another video courtesy of Junior Curtis.  You’ll feel good when you view this one!  Make sure you play this on full screen (left click on the little box at the bottom right of the You Tube screen).

 

I think this is about as cool as it gets.  For those who don't know, Torrey Pines is a state park and launch site for paragliders in San Diego, California.  Occasionally these paragliders bring along some special friends.

 

Enjoy!


http://www.parahawkusa.com/Home.html

 

 

 

Alumni Website

 

We have renewed the account that Wanda Jackson had set up at the photo sharing website, picturetrail.com for the Roosevelt Alumni:  http://www.picturetrail.com/rooseveltalumni.  She had posted many pictures from past reunions, class panels, and old schools buildings along with write ups about them.  We thought you might find these interesting if you haven’t visited this site in the past.

 

 

News

 

Update on Cecil Perkins (Class of 1954)

 

Kaye (Perkins) Weaver, sister of Cecil Perkins, posted the following update on Cecil on Wednesday, November 16.
 
Just came from yet another emergency room run with my brother, Cecil. He was dismissed to a rehab facility in Clinton yesterday. He fell this morning and is on his way back to McBride’s Bone & Joint in OKC. Say a little prayer in his behalf and his wife, Patti. I'm sure they would appreciate it and so do I. Thanks.

 

********

 

Byrd Variety of Wheat

 

The Colorado Wheat Research Foundation announced the release of two new wheat varieties with the potential to shape future wheat planting decisions in the High Plains region.  One was Byrd variety which topped the state average in dry land Uniform Variety Performance Trials in both 2010 and 2011, beating the next highest ranked released variety by more than 5 bushels per acre to a two-year average.

 

Now just why are we be telling you about this new variety of wheat.  One reason is that many of our readers are farmers or at least grew up with farm backgrounds and would be interested.  Well, that is not the reason we are writing this article.  The Byrd variety of wheat was named for Byrd Curtis, a former resident of the Consolidated 8/Roosevelt area and brother of Roosevelt graduates, Charles (Class of 1965) and Jerry Curtis (Class of 1961).

 

The following article appeared in the Colorado Wheat Farmer summer 2011 edition after the variety was announced.

 

Dr. Byrd Curtis was the first wheat breeder at Colorado State University (CSU), from 1963 to 1968.  Dr. Scott Haley, who named the variety in honor of his predecessor, said “Colorado wheat producers wouldn’t have the varieties we have today if it hadn’t been for Byrd’s initial work at CSU.  While Byrd’s successors made profound contributions in their own right, Byrd’s early work set the stage for all that followed.  Buried in the pedigree of most of our wheats are crosses that Byrd first made when establishing the program.”

 

Dr. Curtis said he was shocked when Dr. Haley called to tell him the variety had been named for him.

 

“I am just overwhelmed.  It is a great honor,” Dr. Curtis said.  “I am amazed at the attributes of the variety, and I look forward to learning more about it.  I hope it does well for farmers.”

 

Dr. Curtis also expressed appreciation for the work that CSU is doing in wheat breeding and research and the long-term partnership of the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee with CSU.

 

Dr. Curtis received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at Oklahoma State University (OSU) and his master’s degree from Kansas State University.  He taught at OSU as well as at CSU.  He was also Manager of Hybrid Small Grains Breeding at Cargill and Director of the Wheat Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico.  He also worked with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas in Syria.  He lives in Fort Collins and he and his wife Eloise are active in civic, recreational, church, and family activities.  Several years ago, the Curtis’ established the Byrd and Eloise Curtis Scholarship for graduate students in wheat breeding and genetics at CSU.

 

Dr. Curtis is another prime example of one of the many residents of our community that have gone on to become well known in their field and establish recognition for our area.

 

cnm

 

 

Birthdays and Anniversaries

 

We have compiled all of the birthday and anniversary information we could from Wanda’s files.  We are sure we are missing some.  Please send us the birthdays and anniversaries for your family and friends so that we can have as complete as list as possible.  We are going to start with what we have from Wanda’s files so if we miss you, please send us the information so we have it for the news next year.  In addition, should any of the birthdays we list be wrong, also please let us know.

 

Happy Birthday To:

 

November 18 – Ben Horton
November 20 – Bud Johnson
November 20 – John Gibbs
November 21 – Andurea Melton

November 22 – Bobbie (Alford) Buckner, Class of 1947
November 23 – Kristen Rutledge
November 23 – Janet Williams

November 24 – Sheila Muldowney Jones

 

Happy Anniversary To:

 

November 21 – Clifton & Ann Webb

 

 

Humor

 

Humor for Lexiphiles

 

Lexiphiles (lovers of words)

 

You know that you can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish.

 

To write with a broken pencil is . . .pointless.

 

When fish are in schools they sometimes. . .take debate.

 

A thief who stole a calendar. . .got twelve months.

 

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles. . .U.C.L.A.

 

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes. . .was on shaky ground.

 

The batteries were given out. . .free of charge.

 

A dentist and a manicurist married. . .They fought tooth and nail.

 

A will is a. . .dead giveaway.

 

If you don’t pay your exorcist. . .you can get repossessed.

 

With her marriage, she got a new name. . .and a dress.

 

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I’ll show you . . .A-flat miner.

 

You are stuck with your debt if. . .you can’t budge it.

 

Local Area Network in Australia. . .The LAN down under.

 

A boiled egg is. . .hard to beat.

 

When you’ve seen one shopping center. . .you’ve seen a mall.

 

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was. . .resisting a rest.

 

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off?. . .He’s all right now.

 

If you take a laptop computer for a run you could. . .jog your memory.

 

A bicycle can’t stand alone. . .it is too tired.

 

In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism. . .it’s your Count that votes.

 

When a clock is hungry. . .it goes back four seconds.

 

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine. . .was fully recovered.

 

He had a photographic memory. . .which was never developed.

 

Those who get too big for their britches will be. . .exposed in the end.

 

When she saw her first strands of gray hair. . .she thought she’d dye.

 

Acupuncture. . .a jab well done.

 

 

From the Email “Bag”

 

November 10, 2011

 

Mike and Carolyn,

EVERY EDITION IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL; and, to us who receive it, it's worth every agonizing minute you put into it.   (I know those minutes turn into hours!)  Words cannot sufficiently express the appreciation that WE ALL have for your efforts.

Thanks again,


Marilyn Lester (Class of '64)

 

********

 

November 10, 2011

 

I enjoyed the Roosevelt News and would like to continue receiving it.  Have been so busy last few months and forgot to report the change of my email.  Thanks for the job you guys are doing.

 

Howard R. LaFever (Class of 1962)

 

********

 

November 11, 2011

 

Hi,

 

I have a new e-mail address and do want to keep up with the Roosevelt news.

I'm still trying to get use to this new one email.  Change isn't for old people like me. Ha ha

 

I have enjoyed reading the news that I have received. You are doing a great job. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks so much for your time,

 

Cheryl (Eaton) Owens (Class of 1960)

 

********

 

November 15, 2011

 

Please add Craig Goodson to receive the newsletters.  Class of 1966.  I have lived in Wichita Falls, TX since Sep 1992.

Retired USAF after 20 yrs and 21 days.  Retired Civil service Sheppard AFB, TX after 25 yrs.

My wife Rachel of 41 yrs, 9 months and 9days passed away 21 Jun 2011.

 

Craig Goodson (Class of 1966)

 

 

Obituaries

 

Useful Links:

 

Becker Funeral Home of Snyder, OK

http://www.beckerfuneral.com/?page=snyder

 

Ray and Martha’s Funeral Home of Hobart, Mt. View, and Carnegie, OK

http://rayandmarthas.com/

 

Roosevelt Cemetery Layout

http://www.234enterprises.com/Roosevelt%20Cemetery%20Layout.htm

 

Roosevelt Cemetery Markers (Picture Trail)

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/listing/user/rooseveltcemetery

 

Roosevelt Cemetery on Find A Grave

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99397&CScn=roosevelt&CScntry=4&CSst=38

 

Hobart Rose Cemetery on Find A Grave

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99399&CScn=Hobart+Rose&CScntry=4&CSst=38

 

Hobart Resurrection (Catholic) Cemetery on Find A Grave

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2246374&CScn=Resurrection&CScntry=4&CSst=38

 

Mountain Park Cemetery on Find A Grave

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99042&CScn=Mountain+Park&CScntry=4&CSst=38

 

Snyder Fairlawn Cemetery on Find A Grave

 

 

News Center -- Always Available Online

 

Remember--past, current, and all future editions of “Roosevelt News -- East Coast Edition” can be viewed online from any computer at: http://www.234enterprises.com/RooseveltNews/newscenter.htm.  We highly recommend that you bookmark this link.

 

In addition to viewing all copies of the paper, you can use this website to send comments or news items to us for publication.  Simply enter your name, your class year (if a Roosevelt graduate), your email address, and the comments you want to make or the news item you want to send and click on “Submit Information” button at the bottom left of the page.  The information that you submitted will show on your screen under a title of “Form Confirmation”—confirming that what you entered was sent to our email. 

 

 

Email Addresses

 

This newsletter is an email edition.  The only way for you to receive it and keep up-to-date with your friends from Roosevelt is for you to keep us informed of changes to your email address.  So please be sure to notify us at mmay@234enterprises.com should your email address change.  We also encourage you to send us email addresses for friends and family who might also like to receive the newsletter so that we can include them on our list.

 

 

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