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Jerry May

One more, and this by fans of O.U.

After Texas' QB..... Peter Gardere had won 3 years in a row against O.U.;at his last last time to play them......there were signs

out on the O.U. side of the field: Each one said: Peter Gardere, "Please graduate!"
 

And he went on to win this contest as well, for a total of 4!

David Cordell

This story was forwarded to me by a classmate.

-----

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,

I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

His name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his books.

I thought to myself, 'Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?

He must really be a nerd.'

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

 As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him...

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes     .

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, 'Those guys are jerks.

They really should get lives.'

He looked at me and said, 'Hey thanks!'

There was a big smile on his face.

It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

 I asked him if he wanted to play a little football    

with my friends.  

He said yes.

We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know

Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

I stopped him and said, 'Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

' He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years,Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors we began to think about college.

Kyle decided on

Georgetown and I was going to Duke.

I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never

be a problem.

He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle.

 He looked great.

He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.   

He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous!   

Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech.

So, I smacked him on the back and said, 'Hey, big guy, you'll be great!'

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled....

' Thanks,' he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began     ...

'Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.

Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends....

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

I am going to tell you a story.'

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.

He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

'Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.'

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.

With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.

God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can:

1) Pass this on to your friends or   

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.   

As you can see, I took choice number 1.

'Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.'   

 There is no beginning or end. Yesterday is history.

 Tomorrow is a mystery.

 Today is a gift.

 It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

 If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

David Cordell

The Virginia election and other events are encouraging.

I have decided that there is an antidote to being "woke".

It is being "awakened".

Ordinary Americans have begun to realize that the obsession with race, bias in the press, dumbing-down of education, failure to enforce laws, malfeasance by public servants/politicians, etc. are destroying this country. To quote Howard Beale in the movie Network, "We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore." We have been awakened.

I haven't heard anyone use the term "awakened", but if it catches on, remember you heard it here first (unless you have already heard it). One other point -- it is more grammatically correct!

David Cordell

This Dallas Morning News article is about Lockwood Distilling Company, which is located in the 500 block of Lockwood in Richardson, one block north of Heights shopping center. Phil Dyer, Brenda Brown Dickey, and I visited it (before the change in business model) to see if it was appropriate as a reunion venue, but it was too small. Not sure if the link works for non-subscribers.

Lockwood Distilling

Steve Keene

Janalu,

I hope Tommy comes to his senses and quits fabricating falsehoods about me.  If he does not, I might be forced to post his Pecan Pie recipe that was given to me in confidence and that's a fact. His recipe has a lot in common with some of Joe Biden's speeches.

David Cordell

Steve,

The good news is that people who know you and who know Tommy are not fooled. 

I don't know why you go to that site if you are being defamed and lied about.

Steve Keene

David,

I have often wondered where Joe Biden got his dog faced pony soldier description.  Many may know, but I had not identified it's source until last night when I was watching a Vietnam War movie.  The quote is by R. Lee Ermey, a marine drill instructor turned movie consultant and then actor and voice actor.  The movie is "Siege of Firebase Gloria."  R Lee Ermey is a seargent tasked with defending the firebase after orders were given for him to take his squad to refuge there at the beginning of the Tet Offensive in 1968.  He is addressing the defenders who have put up a weak set of fortifications and he tells them they are a bunch of dog faced pony soldiers.  

You will remember R. Lee Ermey as the drill seargent in Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket".  He was a military advisor for the role and Kubrick decided to try him as the Driil Instructor after hearing his authentic voice.  Ermey ad libbed most of the dialog in the picture as he recalled it from his Drill Instructor days at Camp Pendelton in San Diego.  That is where my Dad got his Marine Recruit training.  Ermey's first small acting role was as one of the pilots in a helicopter during the Ride of the Valkyries scene in "Apocalypse Now."

Bob Davidson

All,

I was downtown yesterday, that is downtown Houston.  Where I parked was near the elevated portion of  Highway 59 on the edge of downtown.  There were a number of city vehicles parked on the curb of the sprawling tent city under the freeway, along with several police cars and an ambulance -- and a mixed crowd of officially employed-looking people and hobo-looking folks.  I drove by, noticed the oddity, and went on with my business.

When I came back to the truck in the afternoon, the tents were gone, so were the homeless who have congregated there for the past few years.  A police car was still there, and some city workers were raking the ground and picking up trash from the site.  There were a couple of HPD officers in my parking lot who seemed approachable so I asked them what was going on.  They said the city is "decommissioning" the homeless camp.  Their word, not mine. 

The explanation was that they sent in social workers, with armed backup, to relocate the homeless to residences and into treatment that are funded with some sort of federal COVID funds, whether they want to go or not.  Then they give the former tent city dwellers trespass notices and city workers clean out the space and turn it back into a park.  The cops thought it was a good idea since it gets the bums out of the danger of living on the streets but didn't think they'd accept treatment.

I have never heard of this -- I googled the term and found that it is a real thing the City of Houston is doing. 

Has anyone else ever heard of this?  I'm a little appalled at what looks like authoritarian overreaching but really, really hate seeing all the homeless camps in parks and under freeways. 

I'm curious how others think about this.

Wayne Gary

Bob,

Dallas keeps clearing out encampments under the freeways.  They have tried giving tickets to homeless asking for money at intersections.

Many don't wamt to go to shelters or seek help.

David Cordell

Bob,

I am troubled by the existence and appearance of homeless encampments, and equally troubled by the process of breaking them up.

I wonder if the authorities can identify empty warehouse space, put in some bathrooms, and move the homeless in. I know that "warehousing" sounds bad, but it seems like they could provide services and keep an eye on the drug situation. 

Obviously, this is not an original idea. Has probably been tried unsuccessfully. Getting the homeless who like being homeless to stop being homeless -- not so easy, especially when addiction is rampant.

At the risk of being sexist, it is the women who concern me most -- single mothers and their children who have been abused and who have nothing.

I think I mentioned recently that one Thanksgiving when we lived in Philly, my wife had to go to Bay City because her mother was very ill. I decided to take my sons to a location that was serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless. It was an eye-opener that was totally unappreciated by them at the time, but I think they retained the lesson. 

We have so much, and so many have so little.

David Cordell

Well, it looks like David and Martha will share Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital. (Sniff, sniff.) Martha has been hospitalized since Monday morning with an infection. I would appreciate your prayers.

Steve Keene

Bob D.,

It is sad, but I think most of the homeless are in hispanic or black neighborhoods.  Some of this is the presence of public transportation, but I think more is because the hispanics always operate with cash and the blacks are on the public dole and have pinges of guilt if they don't spread some of those free entitlements.  A homeless person will starve to death in McKinney, Frisco, Plano, Flower Mound, Argyle, Keller or Highland Park. Same for Burleson, Cleburne, Kaufman, Midlothian, Waxahachie, Rockwall or Weatherford.

Bob Davidson

In response to the proprietor of the Tommyrot forum and his latest libels:

Again -- are they liberal because they are crazy or crazy because they are liberal?  I know I'm old and that my vision isn't what it used to be, but I just reread my comments and David's and simply cannot find the words "bums" or "scum" anywhere but in Tommy's nasty little imagination.  Shame, shame, shame on you, you creepy liar.

David Cordell

Bob,

I must acknowledge that I posted the question of whether anyone had noticed that so many of the cause celebre "victims" were low-life scum. All three of the Rittenhouse victims had violent records, and at least one of them was particularly bad. George Floyd, notwithstanding Lowell's post, had a lengthy record that included pointing a gun at a pregnant woman's belly during a robbery. 

I assume from your post that Tommy must have made some snarky comment about you, me, or both. I haven't been to his site in several years, and don't plan to visit it. His opinion is not a matter of interest to me.

Bob Davidson

David -- I know I should avoid that garbage, too, and intend to in the future.  I assumed he was referring to the homeless comments, but I really should know better than to assume that actuality has a close relationship to malice.

My favorite feel-good story of the day:  our local favorite professional football player, J. J. Watt, is paying for the funeral expenses of the victims of the BLM maniac in Waukesha, his hometown.  [To you liberals -- since your media don't report anything that doesn't fit the narrative:  a registered sex offender black racist career criminal deliberately drove his vehicle at high speed into the Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six people and seriously injuring over forty others in an eight-block rampage, two days after he was released on a low bond by a Soros-funded DA for a series of felonious attacks on one of his baby mommas, including running her over with the same vehicle.] 

Wayne Gary

David,

Check your e-mail. I sent a Get Well Card for Martha.

A long time ago I heard 'Chicken Soup" is the Jewish mother's penicillin.

It can't hurt.

David Cordell

Lance, thanks for the comment. I am reminded of something I heard recently. What's the best time to eat Thanksgiving dinner? Answer: Halftime.

Wayne, thanks so much for the eCard. Martha really appreciated it. Doesn't look like she'll get sprung from the hospital soon. Would have to have a lot of improvement. So far, not much progress.

David Cordell

Bob, just heard the J.J. Watt story on Fox & Friends. Wonder if it made it to the legacy media. Really respect his philanthropic activity, especially after the hurricane.

Speaking of philanthropic individuals in Houston, not sure if you were on the Forum when I mentioned that I shared an apartment with Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale and another guy in the first semester of my junior year at UT. At that time, I would NEVER have thought that he would turn out as he has, in business or in philanthropy. I was told that in at least one year he was the largest donor to the Catholic Church in the country, but his activity in Houston is what really impresses, especially after the hurricane. I visited his parents' home back in college, and it had one room that was set up as a chapel.

Different topic.

About low-life scum -- how about Darrell Brooks, Jr., the "bad driver" in Waukesha, WI?  Wonder if there will be vigils and rioting in support of him. How about the "no cash bail" and "empty the prisons" crowds?

Ron Knight

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

I have so much to be thankful for, especially this Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for all of my renewed friendships from RHS. I'd like to name a few and PLEASE forgive if I leave anyone out. Steve Keene, I promise we will get around to some great eateries one of these days. Tommy Thomas, I do want to make it to Austin before you get on your Mountain and retire in the sunset. Thanks for your support and sometimes ear. Mike Marks, If I can ever find a Pontiac GTO like your old one I want to buy it for you and let's cruz the streets of Richardson just one more time! Crank up The Doors!  Hal Zelaney for all the memories at Theos and for being my brother of the Sooner Nation. Boomer!! Bruce Anderson, another Sooner brother! and Bruce thank you for your service to this great country. Freedom does not come for free! Thank the Forum for getting me back in touch with both Boon and Jean Richards, Eddie Norman, Russ Stovall, Brenda Brown, Phil Dyer, Gil Ohlen and others I can't remember. And thanks to some that I did not know from RHS days, but from the Forum. Sandra and Danny Ringo. Sandra I wish I had known in high school, my loss. And our adopted Class of 1969 favorite, Hollis Heyn. I want to come to St. Louis and have you as my tour guide to visit some of the haunts I used to frequent (if still around). And maybe a drive by St Mary's Hospital where my daughter was born. And then of course to Cyrano's for some ice cream or anything from their menu!!

Of course of my renewed friends from RHS, Glenn Messmer (the Juggler) is the greatest. We picked up where we left off many years ago without a beat. When we reunited it was only like where were you last week?  And the week had turned into years. Glenn is my brother from another mother, as "they say". We talk or communicate almost daily. He is my rock and my support system. I can count on one hand those truly special friends. Thank you my brother to count as one of those. Much Love!

And David and Martha Cordell. David thanks for all you do for our great Class of 1969. Martha, I pray for a speedy recovery and getting out of the Hospital ASAP!

Martha, my fears were that I was going to be doing the same thing as you today. I was released Tuesday afternoon after a little over a 5 day stay at Mission Hospital of Asheville. Some of you know my battle with acute Anemia a couple of years ago that culminated in finding I had Kidney Disease. I want to pass along a WARNING  to any of you out there that may have been diagnosed with this disease. IF YOU GET DEHYDRATED TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. I did not. I did hydrate but not enough. This all started out a couple of weeks ago when I contracted food poisoning. I had diarrhea for 5 days. The diarrhea was a major domino that fell and created a chain of events that landed me in the hospital for over 5 days. Normal Creatinine levels for normal kidneys is 1.0. When I entered the ER last Thursday mine was at 4.8, a critical level. A normal person's Hemaglobin is between 13.0 and 17.0. Mine was back to the anemic levels again of 8.9 ( lowest I ever got was 6.7 or transfusion time). I entered the hospital with what had been early stages of Kidney Disease. I was released with a loss of 50% of my Kidney function and have now become a 75% risk factor of having to have dialysis. I may improve my Nephrologist said before releasing me Tuesday, but may not. The dehydration has done in my kidneys for now and brought back some of the Anemia I had before. So, if any of you have kidney disease PLEASE take dehydration VERY Seriously.

I am VERY Thankful to be home today!

Karlan Fairchild, Ed Norton, Bob Fleming, Rick and Nat Davis, Janet Hambright, Roxanne Baxter, Cynthia Woodward, Bob and Val Kirkpatrick, Jan Alexander, Virginia Hooter DeSilva and more to follow...

Sandra Spieker (Ringo)

Ron,

My thoughts are with you this day for a speedy recovery and hopes that you do not need dialysis!  Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

David Cordell

Yikes, Ron! So very sorry to read about your serious health issues. I hope and pray for the best possible outcome!

Meanwhile, I forgot to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I have been so self-absorbed in my own little world, and the day just didn't start out as a "normal" Thanksgiving.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Hollis Carolyn Heyn

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Prayers and best wishes to you, dear Ron, and to Martha Cordell as well.  

I've spent the morning visiting at one friend/colleague's home and then another friend/colleague's home who lives nearby the first one.  So fun to see all the kiddos and doggies at each home.  

Over the river and through some woods (actually some southern Illinois prairie) to another home with about ten people.  I'm all boostered as are the others.  Surely is fun being around folks after a lot of solitude.

Lowell Tuttle

David and all happy thanksgiving.  

What a concern, Ron.   Stay careful.

Re: Jim McInvale...

That oil field best friend of mine Gary Chapman, whose daughter was drowned this summer in the missing persons newstory which was a big feature here in Houston is very goo d friends with Mattress Mac's wife, Linda McInvale.

They own the Westside Tennis Club.   Linda Mac keeps exotic animals there.   Gary, my friend, is friendly and has special status to go into the giraffe's habitat.   They lost one recently and Linda Mac invited Gary to go along with her to select a new giraffe.

They helicoptered from Houston to Fredericksburg and visited the wildlike farm there and selected a new giraffe, I think it's name is Thullo, for the facility.

Getting ready for a special feature this T (rhubarb pie.)  Susie Tuttle c onstructed it at my request.   Used frozen instead of fresh, as the only store here that has it is Central Market...and that place was crazy this week.

David Cordell

Lowell.

I think I may have told this story. I only met Linda once. Probably 1987. I was in the real world for a few years, mostly in the pension business. She is the numbers person in that pair. I showed her a proposal that showed how she could structure a plan so that she, Jim, and well-paid critical personnel could maximize their percentage of the total corporate contribution. She replied that she didn't care about helping out the well-paid. She was cocerned about the people who weren't making much money and couldn't put much aside for themselves.

Most small business pension plans are generically called doctor plans, or pig plans. The purpose is to shelter/defer income for the big guy and give as little as possible to the little guys. I made a bad assumption and didn't bother to ask what their goal was. Classic blunder on my part.

Interesting about the giraffe death. I think the Dallas Zoo has lost three giraffes in the past couple of months.

Russ Stovall

David :

🙏🙏🙏🙏