Reunion Time

Hello, everyone. Sorry for my absence. I have been in Stillwater MN, reuniting with some old friends. Jane Lendway of St. Paul MN, was our gracious hostess once again as she welcomed us into her cabin on Lake Cornelian. Jane, Anne Schuchmann of Yelm, WA, Lana Swearingen of Tucson, AZ and I were all married to soldiers and stationed together in Kaiserslautern, Germany in the mid 70's. Real Army Wives. We sort of kept in touch off and on after we returned and then Anne and Jane and I began getting together regularly several years ago.

Barb Tackenberry, Jane's sister who visited us in Germany also lives in St. Paul. She has long been part of the group. A few years ago we reconnected with Lana Swearingen, another Army wife from the same time and added her to the pot. This year we welcomed another, Iris Anspach from Tacoma WA. Every reunion is a gluttony of good times. There is always so much to say, so much to share. A good bit of that is spent wondering how we got to be the women we are today, so different from the young wives coping with life in a foreign land so many years ago.

Enough about me! Let's talk about you. In fact, let's talk about Jessie Malin. I know you're tired of hearing about her, but she just won't stand still. Before I went to Minnesota, she and Rob and Cathy Louder spent a long weekend with Steve and Mary Malin at their lake house on Kentucky Lake. Sun and water sports, good eating and hanging with the family. They all worked on their tans and admired the latest innovations at the cabin, like the new stairs down to the doc. Jessie really liked that. What a good time. She tells me she plans to stay home for a while. We will see.

Lane Wozniak spent a few days in Kansas City, MO three weeks ago attending a youTHeology mentoring training session. She says she really learned a lot, and is looking forward to being a mentor for Suzy Bell for the next year. It was a long drive though and she was really glad to be home sleeping in her own bed.

The flock of traveling flamingos have migrated elsewhere now. They made a brief stop in my yard before going quietly on their way. They are such a fun way for the Methodist Youth to make money for their mission projects. I miss them now they are gone.

Carla Sanders Latham has asked me to put out a plea for hay bales. The class of 1984 needs to borrow some for their float in the Labor Day parade. If you can be of help to them, give Carla a call at (479) 619-5158.They will take really good care of them and give them back right after the parade.

Yes, Labor Day is almost here! What do you have planned? Demetra Shultz is going to be this year's Grand Marshal. A great representative for our town! Congratulations!

Pat Speer is going to be here for Labor Day. It will be good to see her so keep a lookout. Who else is coming?

I guess you heard that Pauline Shields has made another trip to the hospital. Her niece, Judy Jefferies came right down from St. Louis to take a look at her. I think Pauline is on the road to recovery now and I hope she will be home soon.

She has lots of Rector company. Frances Haas is recovering from a broken leg and doing very well, I can tell you. Doyne Webb is also there recovering from a broken hip. Y'all get better quick. We miss you. They are all at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. How lucky are we to have that hospital nearby.

Frances Haas tells me that her grandson, Ralph Morrel, a Master Sergeant in Army Intelligence has volunteered to go to Afghanistan. Ralph who was married to Leah Anderson on July 25th, will leave on August 28th to serve us overseas. We can all keep him and Leah in our prayers. I can tell Ms Frances is pretty proud of him. She tells me he is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Korean. She told me a lot more, but I'm not sharing everything.

Ms Cleta had another great big birthday party. Almost 50 people gathered to help her celebrate her 96th last Monday. I could tell she really had a good time. She wants to thank everyone who dropped by and sent cards and telephoned. She says she got 5 flower arrangements. So her house is really looking lovely. Happy Belated Birthday, Ms. Cleta.

If you are interested in the political stuff that is happening around us right now, take a look at this blog: http://letusgetthisstraight.blogspot.com... Several of us are doing this together to try and weed out the misinformation that is so going around now. Tell us what you think, what frightens you, worries you? If it is a truth we need to know it. If it is not true, we need to know that too. It is hard to make the right decision when you are not getting the truth.

I do believe I have gone on long enough. It's time to go. Let me know what goes on with you. See you on Labor Day! My address is 514 West 3rd St. Phone: (870) 595-3173 and email: porchswing@newwavecomm.net. Thank you so much for all your emails and phone calls. I love hearing from you.

Keep all our soldiers in your prayers.