CHUCK                                                             ROBERT

If
anyone ever gets annoyed with my blogs or doesn't like me for any
reason only from the Internet you can blame Chuck!! Yes it is his fault
because he was buying a new computer in 1999 and decided I should come
into the new world of computers and the Internet so he sent me the one
he had. I have been bugging him ever since!!! Let something, anything, go wrong and I am yelling to him for help-- and he has the answer!

How
could I not love Chuck when for my  sweet 16th Leap Year birthday he
sent me a slab of cooked pork ribs, a bottle of sauce, a pint of baked
beans, a package of seasoning, fudge and a pecan pie from Corky's in
Memphis--ahhhhhhhhhh. Who wouldn't love a guy for doing that????

I've
done a couple of posts on, and about, Chuck. We almost didn't become
friends as I lost him in traffic but that's a whole other blog. We have
now been friends for over 30 years and a person couldn't ask for such a
nice, great guy as a friend.

I
have also written many times about Robert AKA Dr. K. He was the choir
director, and a professor of music, at the Southern Illinois University
in Carbondale. He was just shy of his 60th birthday when he died and at
his memorial  the Shryock Auditorium was overflowing with students and
friends. Dr. K performed all over the world with the Robert Shaw Chorale
and the Fred Waring Pennsylvanians  and performed with such people as
Dinah Shore and Perry Como. With all he did and with all his travels
Robert was nothing but a good old Mississippi country boy. Dressed in a
tux he looked gorgeous and dressed in his tight worn jeans and plaid
shirt he looked gorgeous! In his "In Memorian" book there are a list of a
few of his expressions that I will make a post this coming week. Dr. K
called every guy "Sport" but you felt as if you were the only one he
called that--he, also, called all the women "Darling" and they felt like
Scarlett being addressed by Rhett. Twenty five years later I still miss
him.

I
met a lot of people the decade I lived in Memphis and many are
remembered with good feelings, though I don't seem to be able to connect
with any of them on Facebook! I could make a list of names, though I
have mentioned a few in this series, but I do want to make a special nod
to Layde, who not only was a friend but put up with all my mistakes
when editing my book, "The Free Prisoner", who we lost 2 years ago--a
funny, warm and sweet woman. There was also BJ who I reconnected with
through Facebook--the only one after looking for hundreds of people!
--she died within the past year. The connection with them was through
Nina who was Layde's sister and BJ's partner. What can I say about Nina?
That she still talks to me even if I put the subject lines in my
e-mails all in capitol letters? She is definitely one of the good people
in this world. Certainly not least, but last in this list, is Jean who I
also met through Nina in 1978 and  will be celebrating her birthday this
month. As important, maybe even more important, Nina and Jean will be
celebrating their 35th anniversary this October 10th and I plan to be at
their 50th anniversary!

JEAN                                                        NINA

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HOW TO SPEAK REPUBLICAN BY PETE KOTZ
"ENVIRONMENT:
CONVENIENT PLACE TO DUMP CAR BATTERIES AND KITCHEN APPLIANCES. WHILE
MAINSTREAM MEDIA INSISTS ON ITS PRESERVATION, STUDIES BY THE BUSINESS
FACULTY AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY PROVE THAT BEAVERS ACTUALLY LIKE SWIMMING
IN HYDROCHLORIC ACID BECAUSE IT IMPROVES THEIR SKIN TONE."