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Lance,

Sorry but I can't find the video on You-tube.

There are times I have trouble translating your jubberish. Or are you typing after a few to many arm bends?

01/08/21 02:47 PM

#19901

David Cordell

Bob D.

Linda was a member of a committee that I chaired. I went to her apartment a couple of times at UT -- once was for my first Seder. There was one incident in which a dog was getting a bit frisky with her, and she made a comment that took me aback: "Dogs are such crotch-sniffers." Can't really explain why it bothered me, but it has stuck with me for almost 50 years. I did run into her in Houston once, early in her career.

I have been friends with Melinda Nelson Moody forever because our parents were good friends. Our fathers used to celebrate their birthdays together - my father would have been 104 yesterday, and her father's birthday was day before yesterday. Her parents and my parents are interred in the columbarium at Church of the Transfiguration less than eighteen inches apart. They're probably playing bridge as I write this.

Melinda is a hoot. We visited her in Midland on our trip to Big Bend a couple of years ago. She registered to attend the Reunion last year, but had to withdraw at the last minute.

01/08/21 03:38 PM

#19902

Updated

Steve,

I am so sorry you thought I was insulting you in my post exalting including you in a self-ordained highly exclusive men’s club. I was not. Nooooo. Not at all.

Something I will never forget about you. It was, still is, quite extraordinary. It was something you did that no one else had the chutzpah to do. It took courage. And served as balm for the soul.

I fell into bed last night thinking, Steve and I need to talk.We should have talked a long time ago. My fault, not his. I was born asking questions. I know better than to arrive at a conclusion without thoroughly vetting. I wasn’t being facetious or sarcastic in my post. I was complimenting you.

You see, something undeniable says word on the street got it right this time: among RHS old -boys- club it appears some didn’t get the memo.Two that did are you and Cordell. Not for keeps, Steve. Membership in Gucci requires your continuance of good behavior. No observation period necessary for Dyer. He made the cut, too, de facto.

Oh. One more thing for you old geezers: GUCCI means"very cool. Very hip."

01/08/21 03:51 PM

#19903

Bob Davidson and Lowell Tuttle,

You are best of the best. You don't need a certificate. Never part of RHS Good Old Boys Club. Never cared. You were born GUCCI. Abundant love your way.

01/08/21 04:21 PM

#19904

Well. That didn't take long.... "what does "GUCCI" mean?"

ATTENTION OLD PEOPLE: "GUCCI" MEANS

"VERY COOL" "VERY HIP""

01/08/21 04:25 PM

#19905

Lance,

Not to worry. Remember, there's hope for everyone. Well, most. You don't need a certificate. I've always found you very pleasant. No training (at least not much) necessary. Here's your badge of honor. Custom made in Eagle colors, makes a nice belt-buckle. :)

01/08/21 04:38 PM

#19906

You fellas didn't know I could sketch and graphic design. Know what that means? Means if you don't behave you might find yourself parodied AND caricaturized.

*(1st sketch) 1 of 3 sketches for RJ's office. (2nd sketch) 1 of 4 sketches, gift for our anniversary last summer)

01/08/21 06:22 PM

#19907

This has been a strange week. For everyone. Highly uncharacteristic for me to sign in to either forum. Or any social media. I just don't have the time. This week was no different. I just felt like it.

I can't honestly blame it entirely on the chaos of a house remodel. Something else is going on. I think it's a phenomena I'll call "inexplicable oxymoron."

"Inexplicable" the feeling of anguish at witness to escalated The hatred in our country incomprehensible.

"sOxymoronic, wanting to be among others at a time like this (if only online) but disheartening to find even more.

I'm not ignoring anyone's post. Nor am I making light of it. Jumping into the discussion would drive me crazy. Humor and whimsical drawings keep me from getting there. (2nd of 4 anniversary gift sketches)

01/08/21 06:30 PM

#19908

Lowell Tuttle

Speaking of "The Rag," I sure wish someone somewhere had saved a copy or some copies of Poor Richardson's Almanac....the newsletter written secretly by Bill Parker's big brother and some other folks.

Remember it well enough to know it was against RHS' rules to distribute on campus. I guess it was 67/68 whewn it came out.

01/08/21 06:55 PM

#19909

Lance,

I do not have any pictures to share just memories of the trip I took around France in 1982. I Started in Brussels then went to Luxenbourg and visited the american cemetery then on to Bastogne. Later I went to Normandy and went to Utah, Omaha and Gold Beaches then Pointe Du Hoc and the American cemetery. Later Ste-Mere Eglese then went to Cherbourg. Standing on the beaches at low tide gave me a new appreciation of what the young men went through on June 6, 1944. Seeing the beaches and cliffs on TV or the theater does not come close to actually being there.

01/08/21 06:57 PM

#19910

Holly,

I don't think I will ever be called Gucci. I don't think I was considered "cool' or hip.

01/08/21 08:13 PM

#19911

Lance,

You didn't have to agree with me so quickly.

01/08/21 08:32 PM

#19912

Wayne,

Laughed out loud reading your post. Don't underestimate yourself. The old boys weren't hip either. Some still aren't. They just thought they were,

In order to be Gucci, one has to be down- to earth, thoughtful of others, reasonable and altogether void of condescencion. That's the definition for "very cool." "Very hip." You qualifiy. Others might argue, saying "well Wayne isn't all that reasonable!" To that I'd say "re-read his posts. Read what Wayne's not saying, then you'll figure out what he is."

Here ya go, Wayne. Your very own Gucci belt buckle, in RHS Eagle colors. Wear it with pride!

01/08/21 08:35 PM

#19913

David Cordell

Wayne,

Our classmate Katherine Houzvicka, also my sixth grade classmate, was a member of UT's Longhorn Band. The Alumni Band played at Omaha Beach on the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Here are photos she shared that I think have been posted previously. The single cross represents someone from Texas. Katherine is in the middle of the last photo.

This is part of the note Katherine sent me about 18 months ago:

An interesting story is, the trumpeter for a unit got off the landing craft and a bomb hit it, everyone died but him. He lay on wounded on the beach for two days with the trumpet strapped to his chest. He never spoke about and when he died, his grandson found the trumpet and medals in the attic. He took it to get refurbished at the same place a LHAB member was getting his done. The owner put them in contact and the trumpet made it back to Omaha Beach 75 years later. It played taps at the two cemeteries and on the beach. We invited two of his grandkids and they were there to hear it. Moist eyes city!!!!! At Omaha Beach we planted Texas flags at all of Texans markers. We made "Those Known Only To God" honorary Texans, too.

01/08/21 10:03 PM

#19914

Holly,

Thanks for keeping me incognito by spelling my name as King in the Award Certiicate for the Club. I guess you got the memo that Tommy and Hollis and Sandra want me jailed as a terrorist for having a different opinion than their "democratic socialist republic" and daring to support Trump. Apple and Google pulled down my Parler app and now I will have to get off facebook and probably these forums. It has been nice talking to all of you. If any of you want to contact me please send a letter to my P.O. Box by Snail Mail and I will pay a Mexican 8 dollars to open and remove my mail as my surrogate. If you would like to meet with me in person so indicate in the letter and we can each have a representative meet in a neutral crowded location to exchange info of where we might meet in private.

Steve Keene

01/08/21 10:13 PM

#19915

Lance,

I am surprised you can recognize a man who is kind in all his dealings after continually mocking his spelling issues in your posts.

01/09/21 12:08 AM

#19916

Holly,

And it is Stephen.

01/09/21 02:27 AM

#19917

Lance,

No mythical delusion here, but I get what you're saying.

A thousand times you've heard me say, "not everything is at appears. Neither are people." It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in psychology to figure it out. But it does take an open mind, willingness to listen and belief in the possibiility there's more to someone than the post he/she wrote. In other words, seeing him/her not as all good. Or all bad. It's being able to handle ambiguity in a relationship. That doesn't mean tolerating n an abusive, manipulative, deceitful, controlling etc person. It means we're able to handle differences of opinion loathing the person in entirety.

H. Jackon Brown said, “choose your life's mate carefully. From this one decision will come 90 percent of all your happiness or misery.” Same with the company we keep. And the choices we make. You’re right. This is no Pleasantville. But it could sure be a lot better

01/09/21 02:35 AM

#19918

Holly,

Aw shucks! I just saw the new certificate. I am overwhelmed! Well, we did promise to be honest with one another. I am at least whelmed!

P.S.: After seeing my GUCCI achievement award from you, my Columbia fishing shirt from Bass Pro won't even talk to me.

01/09/21 08:44 AM

#19919

Sandra Spieker (Ringo)

Attention Administrators (David and Phil). Flash is mulit-media player developed by Adobe. Flash is going away and will no longer work on any platform as of January 12, 2021. It has security issues etc.. You are linked to a Flash application that I built (The Memorial slide show). I host that slide show on my website, and it is still out there. I have another slide show that will work. I It works in Excel. Here is the link. It is a nice presentation that was shown at the last reunion.

I suggest you change your link before the deadline. I will break the link to the Flash presentation on my web site for security reasons.

Sincerely,

Sandra

01/09/21 09:08 AM

#19920

Holly

Thanks for the Gucci buckle.

Steve,

I still have that bottle of nonalcoholic bubbly to share. We need to get together. I do not know your mailing address.

01/09/21 10:21 AM

#19921

Bob Davidson

David -- I was thinking about Silber while walking the dogs this morning and remembered another side of him:: We had a Plan II classmate whose name I cannot remember for the life of me: he was slim, with short, neat dark hair and moustache, played acoustic guitar beautifully and wrote folk songs I really liked, majored in philosophy, and went on to be a philosophy professor at one of the smaller state universities in Texas -- I ran into him maybe twenty years ago and he was running the honors program at his college, modeling it on Plan II. He was a low-key, very likeable guy. Obviously, he wasn't an RHSer, but you probably knew him. Several of us would go with him to that patio outside the student union and listen to him play and sing when the weather was nice. I thought he could easily have been a successful professional musician.

This guy's answers to the exam questions impressed Silber -- Silber called him into his office, told him he had great potential and offered to help him any way he could. He arranged for an internship for him that summer He also said Silber went out of his way for years helping him personally and professionally, writing recommendations, talking to people he knew, etc. He though Silber walked on water.

That makes me think Silber is a Trump-like character: a bulldozer of a human being who flattens people on the way to do what he thinks needs to be done -- in UT's case, turning it away from its stultifying mediocracy and making it into something more like the so-called public ivies -- Michigan, North Carolina, UC Berkeley. With the PUF, there was and is absolutely no excuse for UT not being the best state university in the country.

01/09/21 10:59 AM

#19922

David, Lance

The summer of 68 I worked an an eclectrians helper at The Dallas Times Herald. For several weeks there was an electricial from out of town and one day we were changing our pants and I noticed all of the scars on both of his legs. I asked him how did he get the scars and all he wold say was he was driving a landing craft toward a Normanday beach on June 6 when the craft took a direct hit from a 88mm gun and he was the only survivor from the craft. He did not want to talk about it.

I have a friend that got 2 Purple Hearts. For the first one he was on patrol when they started getting shelled and he got as low as he could and got hit by schrapnel in the gluteus maximus. He recovered and was in Belgim back on patrol on the point going down a ditch when he got shot in the chest barely missing his heart. He very seldom wanted to talk about the times.

01/09/21 01:20 PM

#19923