Sunday, August 12 – Saturday, August 18, 2007
Sunday, August 12
As I sit here this morning looking out at Tucumcari Mountain waiting to go to church, I decide that I’m going to relate to you why Tucumcari still holds a special place in my heart…
In late 1960 (just a few years ago!), my daddy completed his studies at SMU and was ordained a Methodist preacher. Sometime in January or February of 1961, he was given his first appointment which was associate pastor of the Centre Street Methodist Church in Tucumcari, NM.
Since I was a junior at Hobbs High School in Hobbs, NM, and Worthy Advisor in Rainbows, a girls’ organization sponsored by the Eastern Star, it was decided that Mom, Nancy, and I would remain in Hobbs (Carol was at McMurry) while Dad went on to Tucumcari.
It was an extreme time of adjustment for the whole family. And, as soon as school was out, we left Hobbs and joined Daddy in Tucumcari. What a wonderful place (at that time) it was for a teen-ager! It was smaller than Hobbs and it was easy to meet other kids. And, back then, no one worried about teens hanging out at night or walking all over the town alone. I rapidly became known as Barbara Perry from Tucumcari and for a time I dated Darrell Bone from San Jon! (How corny is that rhyme?!)
What I remember most about Tucumcari was the freedom I enjoyed and the legend of Tucumcari Mountain, which you are now going to hear…
Chief Wautonomah of the Apache tribe was dying and was troubled by the question of who would succeed him as ruler of his people. Two of his finest braves, Tonopah and Tocom, were not only bitter rivals for the chief’s daughter, Kari, but also sworn enemies of one another. However, Kari knew who her heart belonged to, and it was Tocom, which made the competition between the two even more fierce.
Finally, Chief Wautonomah decided what he must do and summoned Tonopah and Tocom to his side. He announced, "Soon I must die and one of you must succeed me as Chief. Tonight, you must take your long knives and meet in combat to settle the matter between you. He who survives shall be the Chief and have for his squaw, Kari, my daughter."
As ordered, the two braves met with knives outstretched, in mortal combat. Unknown to either brave was the fact that Kari was hiding nearby. When Tonopah's knife found the heart of Tocom, the young squaw rushed from her hiding place and used a knife to take Tonopah's life, as well as her own.
When Chief Wautonomah was shown this tragic scene, heartbreak enveloped him and he buried his daughter's knife deep into his own heart, crying out in agony, "Tocom-Kari."
The Chief's dying words live on today as "Tucumcari” and the mountain which bears this name stands as a stark reminder of unfulfilled love.
Isn’t that a story that would bring tears to the eyes of any romantic teen-ager! I loved it!
Now for the rest of the story…(in the words of Paul Harvey)
Sometime in late July or August, Dad was sent to Artesia to be the pastor of Clark Memorial Methodist Church so I never attended one day of school in Tucumcari, but it is a place in my memory bank that recalls special times!
The old church I remembered is gone and a new one stands on the opposite corner…just doesn’t seem right. It was heartwarming though to find people who still remember Mom and Dad.
After church, we pointed the motor home west and drove on to Rio Rancho, NM (suburb of Albuquerque) where we will spend the rest of the week as we wait for Paul and Stephanie’s wedding on the 18th.
Monday, August 13
After a late start to the day, we spent much of the afternoon trying to track down curtains and tension rods we wanted for the front of Big V. It was a much more difficult task than we first thought it would be…but then, this has developed into the week of Little challenges and inconveniencies. Maybe later I will explain that statement…I certainly want to give time for other difficulties to occur!
Jim did decide about 9:00 PM that we should bite the bullet and wander down to Albertson’s to stock up on groceries. I wasn’t real thrilled about the idea, but once it was over and everything put away, I was glad we didn’t have to face that chore tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 14
Jim spent the morning trying to handle a few of the little inconveniences we have been facing.
.... While in Liberal the Sharp convection oven/microwave bit the dust. Monday a Sharp consultant basically said we were out of luck for the following reason…this appliance replaced the original defective one and since the 1st one was over a year old, the warranty was no longer good…even though this 2nd one had to replace it 9 months ago. Doesn’t sound logical to us so Jim called Sisemore RV in Amarillo. To make a long story short, it will be replaced as soon as we can get it to Lubbock!
....The air conditioner fan in the car has decided to give up on us, also. Jim finally decided that this will just have to wait until we get to Artesia to be handled!
....For some reason, the batteries on the motor home have also decided that they no longer want to work…
Finally we decided to leave before the roof caved in on us! We attempted to find the area where Mom, Dad, and Nancy lived while I was in college; but the town has grown too much, imagine that!
While we were out, we received a call from Jim’s Aunt TJ telling us that his Uncle Raymond is being sent home from the hospital under the care of Hospice. I don’t think either one of us was surprised, but it still hit us like a ton of bricks. It certainly put the whining about our little inconveniences in perspective!
With the somberness of our feelings whirling inside, we were delighted that later in the afternoon we were able to connect with Paul and Stephanie and have a short visit at Schlotzky’s. We decided that it was really nice to see familiar faces, and thought it was great that they could take a few minutes away from all their wedding preparation activities to join us.
When we got back home, Jim turned on his computer and a blue screen with the dreaded words…FATAL ERROR…greeted him! I won’t even begin to explain his reaction! The bottom line was that his Windows system had crashed; the computer was useless, and there was no way to get help at the time.
During the evening we continued to struggle with our electrical problems in Big V. The situation was getting so desperate that Jim even got out the installation and operations manuals and studied them as if he was preparing for a final exam. I even joined him in this endeavor, but I thought I was reading Greek! Alas, if the answers to the problems were there, neither of us could find them.
Wednesday, August 15
We found a repair shop for the sick computer…kind of funny…it was on Barbara Loop right across from the day care Jaycie used to go to when Jim and Cat lived here in Rio Rancho. (That certainly was newsworthy, wasn’t it?) Anyway, we’re really getting to know the lay-out of this place! Just wish it weren’t all for repairs!
Jim: When I got back from taking the laptop to the repair shop, we decided that it would be a good day to take a drive up to Glorieta Baptist Conference Center, about 60 miles from here. Our friends Jesse and Nancy Fairfax, the folks who headed up the church construction project we worked on in Lady Lake, Florida, had told us they would be working at Glorieta during August, and we wanted to visit with them while we were in the area.
So, we hopped in the Vibe (I always wanted to own a “hot” car, but this isn’t what I intended), cranked up the 4-70 air conditioner (four windows down at 70 miles per hour), and headed north on I-25 past Santa Fe and up into the mountains where Glorieta is located.
Since it was noon, we drove on up to the dining hall, hoping to catch
Jesse and Nancy during their lunch hour. It didn’t take long to spot Jesse at one of the tables. As we were walking toward him, we heard a voice calling out, “My, gosh…what are you doing here!” It was Lynn Worley, one of the ladies we had worked with in Lady Lake. Lynn and her husband, John, have been on a motorcycle trip since June 1 (they live in Georgia), and had made their way to Glorieta to work for a while.
For several minutes we got to visit with Jesse, John, and Lynn and catch up on everyone’s latest news. Nancy had left lunch early to go back to her job at the center’s laundry building, so Lynn volunteered to take us over
there after John and Jesse got in their truck to go back to work (but not before we got the camera out and started taking some pictures).
After finding and visiting with Nancy for a few minutes (and getting a few pictures---our camera battery died, but luckily, Lynn had her camera along, so she took some pictures and will email them to us later), we decided we had better get out of the way and let everyone get back to work; so, we returned Lynn to her dormitory and headed out of the conference center and back down the mountain to Albuquerque, where I was eagerly awaiting a call from the repair shop with word about the laptop.
I didn’t get any calls from the computer repair shop during the afternoon, but I did spend some more time digging through the manuals for Big V. While checking everything out, I discovered that our house batteries were marginal at best, so I disconnected and removed them and we took them in to Wal-Mart to get a couple of replacements.
After getting the new ones installed, we found that they were not charging properly from the house electrical system…nothing to do tonight but to keep a light charge on them from our battery charger so we could have 12 volt lights (Big V has two electrical systems, 120 volt AC and 12 volt DC; when everything works properly, they work together to complement each other and the AC side charges the house batteries. Our current (no pun intended) problem is that something must be wrong with the converter that changes the AC to DC).
Again, we were up late at night trying to find information about the converter (mainly, where the heck is it located?). No luck with any of that, so we have to wait until morning and call the folks at Winnebago.
Thursday, August 16
The first thing on the agenda this morning was to call Kevin at Jack Sisemore in Amarillo to ask some more questions about the electrical system (Kevin and I are getting to be great buds now…guess I might as well just put him on speed-dial). Unfortunately, Kevin couldn’t tell me the location of the converter box, but promised to get back to me after he checked some of their manuals.
Meanwhile, we pored over the manuals we had and I began pulling out drawers, taking out floor panels, and searching all through Big V for the “secret location.” --- all of this to no avail, of course. I finally called Kevin check on their progress; he said that no one in their shop was sure where the box was, but that they would call Winnebago first thing tomorrow.
On the good side, I did get a call from the computer shop letting me know that the laptop was fixed and ready to be picked up, so we made the trip down NM 528 to the other end of Rio Rancho to get it. There was no particular explanation for why it had crashed…just one of those occasional cyber-gremlins; but, it was up and running, and I was happy to get it back.
Putting all of the mechanical problems aside for a few hours, we spent a wonderful evening with some college friends of mine from the days at Eastern New Mexico University. Bob and Teresa Stevens are Albuquerque natives, but I met Bob when we were freshmen at ENMU. We were both music majors, played in the band, and were good friends throughout our college years. Bob returned to Albuquerque as a band director and eventually retired from Albuquerque Public Schools.
Max Johnson has been a friend from my “growing-up” days in Artesia. He was a couple of years ahead of me in school, but we had that “Bulldog Band” connection. And, like Bob, he was a music major and band member at ENMU. Max was a bit of a mentor to me, and asked me to be an usher at his wedding in 1966, just before I went off to USAF basic training. Max and his wife Marion now reside in Santa Fe.
Because of our jobs and vacation schedules (or lack of vacation time), it has been 15 or 16 years since I last saw Max and Marion, and maybe 10 or 11 years since we saw Bob and Teresa at a bandmasters convention in San Antonio.
When we decided we would come to Albuquerque for Paul and Stephanie’s wedding, I got in touch with Bob and Max, and they were able to work out a little get-together tonight at Bob and Teresa’s lovely home. The years quickly melted away as the conversations got started, and the three of us guys started reminiscing about the “old days” and the friends who were (and those who are no longer with us).
Sunday, August 12
As I sit here this morning looking out at Tucumcari Mountain waiting to go to church, I decide that I’m going to relate to you why Tucumcari still holds a special place in my heart…
In late 1960 (just a few years ago!), my daddy completed his studies at SMU and was ordained a Methodist preacher. Sometime in January or February of 1961, he was given his first appointment which was associate pastor of the Centre Street Methodist Church in Tucumcari, NM.
Since I was a junior at Hobbs High School in Hobbs, NM, and Worthy Advisor in Rainbows, a girls’ organization sponsored by the Eastern Star, it was decided that Mom, Nancy, and I would remain in Hobbs (Carol was at McMurry) while Dad went on to Tucumcari.
It was an extreme time of adjustment for the whole family. And, as soon as school was out, we left Hobbs and joined Daddy in Tucumcari. What a wonderful place (at that time) it was for a teen-ager! It was smaller than Hobbs and it was easy to meet other kids. And, back then, no one worried about teens hanging out at night or walking all over the town alone. I rapidly became known as Barbara Perry from Tucumcari and for a time I dated Darrell Bone from San Jon! (How corny is that rhyme?!)
What I remember most about Tucumcari was the freedom I enjoyed and the legend of Tucumcari Mountain, which you are now going to hear…
Chief Wautonomah of the Apache tribe was dying and was troubled by the question of who would succeed him as ruler of his people. Two of his finest braves, Tonopah and Tocom, were not only bitter rivals for the chief’s daughter, Kari, but also sworn enemies of one another. However, Kari knew who her heart belonged to, and it was Tocom, which made the competition between the two even more fierce.
Finally, Chief Wautonomah decided what he must do and summoned Tonopah and Tocom to his side. He announced, "Soon I must die and one of you must succeed me as Chief. Tonight, you must take your long knives and meet in combat to settle the matter between you. He who survives shall be the Chief and have for his squaw, Kari, my daughter."
As ordered, the two braves met with knives outstretched, in mortal combat. Unknown to either brave was the fact that Kari was hiding nearby. When Tonopah's knife found the heart of Tocom, the young squaw rushed from her hiding place and used a knife to take Tonopah's life, as well as her own.
When Chief Wautonomah was shown this tragic scene, heartbreak enveloped him and he buried his daughter's knife deep into his own heart, crying out in agony, "Tocom-Kari."
The Chief's dying words live on today as "Tucumcari” and the mountain which bears this name stands as a stark reminder of unfulfilled love.
Isn’t that a story that would bring tears to the eyes of any romantic teen-ager! I loved it!
Now for the rest of the story…(in the words of Paul Harvey)
Sometime in late July or August, Dad was sent to Artesia to be the pastor of Clark Memorial Methodist Church so I never attended one day of school in Tucumcari, but it is a place in my memory bank that recalls special times!
The old church I remembered is gone and a new one stands on the opposite corner…just doesn’t seem right. It was heartwarming though to find people who still remember Mom and Dad.
After church, we pointed the motor home west and drove on to Rio Rancho, NM (suburb of Albuquerque) where we will spend the rest of the week as we wait for Paul and Stephanie’s wedding on the 18th.
Monday, August 13
After a late start to the day, we spent much of the afternoon trying to track down curtains and tension rods we wanted for the front of Big V. It was a much more difficult task than we first thought it would be…but then, this has developed into the week of Little challenges and inconveniencies. Maybe later I will explain that statement…I certainly want to give time for other difficulties to occur!
Jim did decide about 9:00 PM that we should bite the bullet and wander down to Albertson’s to stock up on groceries. I wasn’t real thrilled about the idea, but once it was over and everything put away, I was glad we didn’t have to face that chore tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 14
Jim spent the morning trying to handle a few of the little inconveniences we have been facing.
.... While in Liberal the Sharp convection oven/microwave bit the dust. Monday a Sharp consultant basically said we were out of luck for the following reason…this appliance replaced the original defective one and since the 1st one was over a year old, the warranty was no longer good…even though this 2nd one had to replace it 9 months ago. Doesn’t sound logical to us so Jim called Sisemore RV in Amarillo. To make a long story short, it will be replaced as soon as we can get it to Lubbock!
....The air conditioner fan in the car has decided to give up on us, also. Jim finally decided that this will just have to wait until we get to Artesia to be handled!
....For some reason, the batteries on the motor home have also decided that they no longer want to work…
Finally we decided to leave before the roof caved in on us! We attempted to find the area where Mom, Dad, and Nancy lived while I was in college; but the town has grown too much, imagine that!
While we were out, we received a call from Jim’s Aunt TJ telling us that his Uncle Raymond is being sent home from the hospital under the care of Hospice. I don’t think either one of us was surprised, but it still hit us like a ton of bricks. It certainly put the whining about our little inconveniences in perspective!
With the somberness of our feelings whirling inside, we were delighted that later in the afternoon we were able to connect with Paul and Stephanie and have a short visit at Schlotzky’s. We decided that it was really nice to see familiar faces, and thought it was great that they could take a few minutes away from all their wedding preparation activities to join us.
When we got back home, Jim turned on his computer and a blue screen with the dreaded words…FATAL ERROR…greeted him! I won’t even begin to explain his reaction! The bottom line was that his Windows system had crashed; the computer was useless, and there was no way to get help at the time.
During the evening we continued to struggle with our electrical problems in Big V. The situation was getting so desperate that Jim even got out the installation and operations manuals and studied them as if he was preparing for a final exam. I even joined him in this endeavor, but I thought I was reading Greek! Alas, if the answers to the problems were there, neither of us could find them.
Wednesday, August 15
We found a repair shop for the sick computer…kind of funny…it was on Barbara Loop right across from the day care Jaycie used to go to when Jim and Cat lived here in Rio Rancho. (That certainly was newsworthy, wasn’t it?) Anyway, we’re really getting to know the lay-out of this place! Just wish it weren’t all for repairs!
Jim: When I got back from taking the laptop to the repair shop, we decided that it would be a good day to take a drive up to Glorieta Baptist Conference Center, about 60 miles from here. Our friends Jesse and Nancy Fairfax, the folks who headed up the church construction project we worked on in Lady Lake, Florida, had told us they would be working at Glorieta during August, and we wanted to visit with them while we were in the area.
So, we hopped in the Vibe (I always wanted to own a “hot” car, but this isn’t what I intended), cranked up the 4-70 air conditioner (four windows down at 70 miles per hour), and headed north on I-25 past Santa Fe and up into the mountains where Glorieta is located.
Since it was noon, we drove on up to the dining hall, hoping to catch
Jesse and Nancy during their lunch hour. It didn’t take long to spot Jesse at one of the tables. As we were walking toward him, we heard a voice calling out, “My, gosh…what are you doing here!” It was Lynn Worley, one of the ladies we had worked with in Lady Lake. Lynn and her husband, John, have been on a motorcycle trip since June 1 (they live in Georgia), and had made their way to Glorieta to work for a while.For several minutes we got to visit with Jesse, John, and Lynn and catch up on everyone’s latest news. Nancy had left lunch early to go back to her job at the center’s laundry building, so Lynn volunteered to take us over
there after John and Jesse got in their truck to go back to work (but not before we got the camera out and started taking some pictures).After finding and visiting with Nancy for a few minutes (and getting a few pictures---our camera battery died, but luckily, Lynn had her camera along, so she took some pictures and will email them to us later), we decided we had better get out of the way and let everyone get back to work; so, we returned Lynn to her dormitory and headed out of the conference center and back down the mountain to Albuquerque, where I was eagerly awaiting a call from the repair shop with word about the laptop.
I didn’t get any calls from the computer repair shop during the afternoon, but I did spend some more time digging through the manuals for Big V. While checking everything out, I discovered that our house batteries were marginal at best, so I disconnected and removed them and we took them in to Wal-Mart to get a couple of replacements.
After getting the new ones installed, we found that they were not charging properly from the house electrical system…nothing to do tonight but to keep a light charge on them from our battery charger so we could have 12 volt lights (Big V has two electrical systems, 120 volt AC and 12 volt DC; when everything works properly, they work together to complement each other and the AC side charges the house batteries. Our current (no pun intended) problem is that something must be wrong with the converter that changes the AC to DC).
Again, we were up late at night trying to find information about the converter (mainly, where the heck is it located?). No luck with any of that, so we have to wait until morning and call the folks at Winnebago.
Thursday, August 16
The first thing on the agenda this morning was to call Kevin at Jack Sisemore in Amarillo to ask some more questions about the electrical system (Kevin and I are getting to be great buds now…guess I might as well just put him on speed-dial). Unfortunately, Kevin couldn’t tell me the location of the converter box, but promised to get back to me after he checked some of their manuals.
Meanwhile, we pored over the manuals we had and I began pulling out drawers, taking out floor panels, and searching all through Big V for the “secret location.” --- all of this to no avail, of course. I finally called Kevin check on their progress; he said that no one in their shop was sure where the box was, but that they would call Winnebago first thing tomorrow.
On the good side, I did get a call from the computer shop letting me know that the laptop was fixed and ready to be picked up, so we made the trip down NM 528 to the other end of Rio Rancho to get it. There was no particular explanation for why it had crashed…just one of those occasional cyber-gremlins; but, it was up and running, and I was happy to get it back.
Putting all of the mechanical problems aside for a few hours, we spent a wonderful evening with some college friends of mine from the days at Eastern New Mexico University. Bob and Teresa Stevens are Albuquerque natives, but I met Bob when we were freshmen at ENMU. We were both music majors, played in the band, and were good friends throughout our college years. Bob returned to Albuquerque as a band director and eventually retired from Albuquerque Public Schools.
Max Johnson has been a friend from my “growing-up” days in Artesia. He was a couple of years ahead of me in school, but we had that “Bulldog Band” connection. And, like Bob, he was a music major and band member at ENMU. Max was a bit of a mentor to me, and asked me to be an usher at his wedding in 1966, just before I went off to USAF basic training. Max and his wife Marion now reside in Santa Fe.
Because of our jobs and vacation schedules (or lack of vacation time), it has been 15 or 16 years since I last saw Max and Marion, and maybe 10 or 11 years since we saw Bob and Teresa at a bandmasters convention in San Antonio.When we decided we would come to Albuquerque for Paul and Stephanie’s wedding, I got in touch with Bob and Max, and they were able to work out a little get-together tonight at Bob and Teresa’s lovely home. The years quickly melted away as the conversations got started, and the three of us guys started reminiscing about the “old days” and the friends who were (and those who are no longer with us).
What a wonderful evening we had sharing conversations and great food. Thanks, Bob and Terry, for opening up your home to all of us, and thanks also to Max and Marion for making the trip down from Santa Fe. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
Friday, August 17
We started the morning with a phone call from Kevin at Jack Sisemore Traveland in Amarillo. He had me talk to one of the electricians there and I got to once again explain the problem we were having with the house lights.
After eliminating things like bad batteries, disconnect switch in the wrong position, etc., he said that it sounded like maybe there was a problem with the converter. Hello…is there an echo in here?
Anyway, he asked if we could bring the motor home in to the shop, and I told him we’d be there when they opened Monday morning. So, our travel plans have changed once again…we intend to leave Albuquerque around noon Sunday and go to Amarillo. If they can get the converter switched out Monday morning, we’ll head on down to Lubbock and drop off the microwave/convection oven for repairs. Depending on how everything plays out, we should be back in Artesia Monday evening or sometime Tuesday.
After finishing with the telephone business, we bundled up all the dirty clothes and headed over to the campground laundry to get the washing and drying taken care of…really exciting stuff!
Tonight was a backyard barbecue with a Mexican theme for out-of-town guests and Stephanie and Paul’s wedding party. The setting for this celebration was a lovely hacienda in Corrales, NM. It was surrounded with flowers and trees of all kinds and left one feeling they had wandered into a land far away from civilization as we know it!
Saturday, August 11
Just a waiting day…waiting to get ready for Stephanie and Paul’s wedding…
To fill in the time, we worked on the journal and blog…it’s pretty much a two person effort that requires lots of discussion, proofing (and we still mess up!), and planning.
Our next endeavor won't surprise those of you who think we’ve got a screw loose anyway... but the other day while searching for the converter location, Jim and I dropped an important screw under the steps. Though we searched high and low for the silly thing, it remains to this day AWOL! So…in the afternoon, Jim had to go to a hardware store for replacement screws! And, then we carefully put them back in!
After Jim took a nap and I read, it was time to gussy up and get to the church for the big wedding!
The monsignor had a really great wedding message (homily) to deliver….Jim said it was like attending an in-service meeting on marriage!
After the wedding, it was to the Rancho de Corrales in Corrales, NM, for a wonderful dinner, reception, and dance rolled into one. Though the room was a little too dark for my small camera to do justice to Stephanie and Paul, we will let photos do the rest of the talking…
Friday, August 17
We started the morning with a phone call from Kevin at Jack Sisemore Traveland in Amarillo. He had me talk to one of the electricians there and I got to once again explain the problem we were having with the house lights.
After eliminating things like bad batteries, disconnect switch in the wrong position, etc., he said that it sounded like maybe there was a problem with the converter. Hello…is there an echo in here?
Anyway, he asked if we could bring the motor home in to the shop, and I told him we’d be there when they opened Monday morning. So, our travel plans have changed once again…we intend to leave Albuquerque around noon Sunday and go to Amarillo. If they can get the converter switched out Monday morning, we’ll head on down to Lubbock and drop off the microwave/convection oven for repairs. Depending on how everything plays out, we should be back in Artesia Monday evening or sometime Tuesday.
After finishing with the telephone business, we bundled up all the dirty clothes and headed over to the campground laundry to get the washing and drying taken care of…really exciting stuff!
Tonight was a backyard barbecue with a Mexican theme for out-of-town guests and Stephanie and Paul’s wedding party. The setting for this celebration was a lovely hacienda in Corrales, NM. It was surrounded with flowers and trees of all kinds and left one feeling they had wandered into a land far away from civilization as we know it!
Saturday, August 11
Just a waiting day…waiting to get ready for Stephanie and Paul’s wedding…
To fill in the time, we worked on the journal and blog…it’s pretty much a two person effort that requires lots of discussion, proofing (and we still mess up!), and planning.
Our next endeavor won't surprise those of you who think we’ve got a screw loose anyway... but the other day while searching for the converter location, Jim and I dropped an important screw under the steps. Though we searched high and low for the silly thing, it remains to this day AWOL! So…in the afternoon, Jim had to go to a hardware store for replacement screws! And, then we carefully put them back in!
After Jim took a nap and I read, it was time to gussy up and get to the church for the big wedding!
The monsignor had a really great wedding message (homily) to deliver….Jim said it was like attending an in-service meeting on marriage!
After the wedding, it was to the Rancho de Corrales in Corrales, NM, for a wonderful dinner, reception, and dance rolled into one. Though the room was a little too dark for my small camera to do justice to Stephanie and Paul, we will let photos do the rest of the talking…
Because of all that has occurred to us personally this week, we think it’s time to pull out a poem that I love and had my language arts students memorize.
Don't Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
Whe he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
- Anonymous –
From Albuquerque, New Mexico...
Jim and Barbara
