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12/05/15 06:53 PM #19    

Barbara Cheal (Hill)

 

When attending Garner Jr. High, I took the bus to school.  At our Bus stop we were picked up at a little area that had spear grass.  Brian Hangan (spelling?) I think introduced me to these instruments of war!  Coming from a family of all girls this was a new game, combat!  We would get quite a work out before school chasing and being chased trying to avoid these little grass arrows that stung a little when you got hit and clung to your clothes.

I also remember P.E. At Garner that was last period.  A couple of the girls and I were laughing and playing around and pushed each other into the shower fully clothed.  The P.E. Teacher thought it was so funny she took us to the principals office.  We managed to get scolded, and I managed to miss my bus!  I got to walk home in wet clothes all the way back to the Mac Arthur area.


12/05/15 08:06 PM #20    

Barbara Cheal (Hill)

By the way, my husband grew up in East/West Columbia Texas.  He was born in 45 and tells me, No, Ice house was a term coined in Pasadena!  While I don't actually buy this, we seem to have a regional term here!

 

I found this article in Texas Monthly, and thought you might be interested.  http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/texas-primer-the-icehouse/

there is another site, 7-11 in which they talk about a Johnny Thompson who in 1927 started provideding ice cit in blocks, milk, eggs and bread that was usually sold on Sunday's when the grocery was closed.  They became known as Totem stores, and UTotem, which they used to restock their refrigerator, not electrified, when needed.  ( I actually think there were ice trucks that delivered to homes for the old fridges.)  Anyway, Totem became 7-11 at some point and because they figured out that this was a store for convenience, it was named that as well. 


03/30/16 11:40 AM #21    

 

Shirley Burleson (Espinosa)

Hope a lot of you are enjoying my blog:  alamochildhood.blogspot.com, which is about growing up in San Antonio.  I have included a lot of your memories which were shared with me, especially Debby Large, Steve Clark, Jenice Graham Benedict, Mandy Crowley Rohmiller, Robert Cuddy, the late Chester Slimp, Larry Sowle and Jim Berry.  Special thanks go to Barbara Cheal Hill who has been busy commenting on some of the chapters and enhancing them with her own memories.  I hope more will do that.  I am not the only one out there who remembers this stuff!


11/06/16 09:52 AM #22    

 

Carol Carnes (Rakowski)

I will add my voice to the chorus of "thank you's" for the wonderful reunion! Many of you put in a lot of time and effort, and it is much appreciated. It was wonderful to see everyone...and I'm hoping that for the big Five-O that even more of our classmates will attend!

Carol (Carnes) Rakowski

 

 


11/06/16 11:54 AM #23    

 

Shirley Burleson (Espinosa)

I especially enjoyed the "couples" shots taken on Friday (?) night and getting to see who belonged with who.  The 40th reunion was great.  It let me reestablish meaningful contact with a lot of high school friends.  But this 45th was more magical.  We were no longer feeling our way with people we had not seen in 40 years.  We have been in contact and seeing each other for five years now.  I think it's just going to get better and better.  It was especially good to hear from people who were afraid to come because they weren't the most attractive or popular (as most of us were not).  But they came and had a great time.  It's a big compliment to everyone.  So here's to our 65th birthday, and the 50th!

Shirley

 

 


11/06/16 07:15 PM #24    

 

Jenice Graham (Benedict)

Hi Classmates, 

 
I also want to give a big 'shout-out' to the devoted classmates who met numerous times in SATX at breakfast, to plan our 45th Reunion. I thought the locations for both parties were great choices. The Saturday night dinner menu was healthy and tasted good, enjoyable along with table cloths and blue napkins, large size of the room, and adequate waitstaff help. We know it is a lot of work to plan the reunions, and we appreciate your efforts.- Also, Neal Willard did a good job on the invocation and short synopsis of our 45 years since graduation. Walter Thorman told some funny jokes. The MAC decorations were festive. We had classmates that traveled all the way from California (Mark Richard Beaulieu) and from France (Jim Crowley) to come to the reunion! Some attendees had not been to a reunion since our 10th! - Lots of photos were taken and shared. The Memorial Board was honored by all. The conversations were sincere, loving and genuine.  -  All Great Fun! 
 
Again,' thank you ' to Bob Cuddy and Marilyn Dyer Jones for continually managing our MAC '71 website and updating it with photos and information. I am thankful we have this site and everyone needs to use it to keep in touch. The stories submitted on the User Forum are priceless memories shared. Check those out if you haven't done so yet, and please submit some of your own. 
 
Remember, "We Are Best And Second To None, Cause We're the Class of 71!"

- Jenice Graham Benedict
 

07/25/20 03:07 PM #25    

 

Steve Clark

IN MEMORIUM

It seems to me a rather odd retrospection on life that all of us must experience innumerable graduations as we find our own way . By that I mean a physical graduation from childhood to adulthood, an educational graduation through various levels of knowledge acquisition, by intellectual graduation through maturation and experience, and emotional graduation again through existential experience. Through all of these innumerable moments of challenge I think I find the most difficult and complicated to assimilate are those related to emotion.

Just when I think I have steeled myself against the recurrence of countless gut wrenching, heart rending past events that all of us have had to deal with by this stage in our lives (and I refer to my fellow classmates here). I find myself gasping for air like a newborn taking its first breath as my sight lands upon those shocking words announcing the passing of one more member of our ever decreasing class of '71. My mind immediately fills with flashes of memory like excerpts in a streaming collage of scenes from an old movie. Everything I remembered about that person comes crashing in all at once in an avalanche of sentiment and thought that are virtually enveloping and overwhelming. That is how I felt when I received the news that Chris Endicott Mazurek had left us.

I continue to feel rather inadequate in these moments as I can only but offer my sincere condolences to friends and family and not much more. That's a poor consideration for having lost someone as dear and as joyous a soul as has now been taken from us. I will mourn her passing , but I will also celebrate the short time I had to know her and call her my friend. I shed a tear and offer a toast to you, Chris! God bless.

07/26/20 10:18 AM #26    

Elaine Willmann (Hitzfelder)

Steve - this is one of the most beautiful expressions of life and love. Thank you. 


07/26/20 11:11 AM #27    

 

Shirley Burleson (Espinosa)

As I said in FB, a sensitive, thoughtful tribute to a life lost too early.


07/26/20 12:15 PM #28    

 

Neal Willard

Steve thank you for the perfect sentiment about Chris. You are not alone in the way we all are beginning to feel as we realize “it is true that if we live long enough life has a way on presenting the inevitable. That being the inevitability of the loss of the people who mean so much to us; the inevitable diminishing of our personal worlds that once were.

In the last several years many of our old friends have passed on.  Although their passing may not have been entirely unexpected, we still hold to our hope, don't we? Let’ face it, we can't help ourselves.

Nevertheless, when hope is shattered, we are left to mourn. Each in our own way. Even before we were old many of us have had to say goodbye to too many friends.  Through those years and sadness, perhaps we might have noticed a strange and wonderful thing in regard to those old friends when they died.  Although we may not have visited each other in a long while, or for some since our school day, does it not continue to feel they are still there?

When Lord Byron wrote in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage:

What is the worst of woes that wait on age?

What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?

To view each loved one blotted from life's page,

And be alone on earth, as I am now.

We may know perfectly well our friends are gone, that another piece of our life has gone permanently missing, but fortunately our memories of them and old times remain. The sadness in losing old friends is that there is now much less of the memories created together and we can no longer say, “Remember when we...” and laugh or, sometimes, cry together.

That is gone now. We may question, “is there any point in trying to tell someone else about what happened back then.”  Those are the special memories in which you had to be there. Will we now wonder, when we are the only one left to recall those memories if they really happened?  Now that is an existential indulgence we should now try to avoid.

 So, as we trudge forward, wading through our sadness one more time knowing it will not be the last and that we are a little bit more alone in the world than we were just a few months ago. Let us not say of Chris and our other classmates and friends as most people almost always say, “we loved them so much,” “ we remember when” or “How can that be,” spoken in the past tense? Do not we still love them all?  Do not we still remember them all?  They and their memory, that is the part of our life that never ends.

Reach out to that old friend, classmate or family member and start remembering now before it is too late.

Mike our prayers are with you.


07/27/20 03:44 PM #29    

 

Jenice Graham (Benedict)

Thank you Steve and Neal for writing your feelings and thoughts after the passing of yet another treasured MAC classmate. Agreeing with Steve, at times I also feel inadequate to offer condolences to others because strong emotions surface making it painful to put meaningful feelings down in words. But past the pain of loss, I always find there's a feeling of gratefulness for having known that person and recognizing they were a blessing or a lesson in my life, however short or long their acquaintance was in time. It's all a gift. 

In the days ahead, I wish all of our MAC friends good health and a long life with this old Irish blessing -  "May your days be many and your troubles be few, May all God’s blessings descend upon you, May peace be within you, May your heart be strong, May you find what you’re seeking wherever you roam."

Brahma love to all,

Jenice Graham Benedict

7-27-2020


05/27/21 11:47 AM #30    

 

Janey Whyborn (Bibb)

Holy cow!  We graduated 50 YEARS AGO TODAY!!   Just unbelievable and where has that time gone?? Looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion in October!


05/28/21 05:33 AM #31    

 

James Crowley

Holy Cow, indeed!   (Gawd, I miss Texas. )

Looking forward to a visit in July, now that I'm vaccinated.

Y'all stay safe now, hear.

   jim


05/29/21 12:21 PM #32    

 

Curtis Cook

This message is from Curtis Cook. Is Shirley Burleson (Espinosa) the sister of Drew Espinosa?

05/29/21 12:41 PM #33    

 

Curtis Cook

Shirley Burleson (Espinosa), in case you're wondering I used to hang out with Drew Espinosa and so did Chip Otto.

05/13/22 10:16 PM #34    

 

Curtis Cook

Update on Curtis Cook: he has a growth on his right kidney. It is the size of a small golf ball. It is cancerous. He will have surgery on May 26, 2022. He will be staying overnight at the hospital. Please pray that the doctors get all the cancer and it never comes back. Thank you for your prayers.

05/17/22 04:19 PM #35    

Robert Tomasini

Praying for you Curtis


04/19/23 07:47 PM #36    

 

Jenice Graham (Benedict)

Dear MAC friends,

 
There are always firsts in life, and by this time, most of us have experienced almost everything. But one thing that's sure is that we're becoming 'septuagenarians' for the first time. Yes, I said the unusual word "sep-tu-a-ge-nar-i-an!"  
 
Many of you in our 1971 class have already turned 70 years old, but there are many who haven't. This birthday is a reflective time for us "1952-53" babies! We've been a part of the 'Baby Boomer" generation, which began immediately after World War II in 1946 and ended in 1964. We've experienced all the different stages of life by now and can confidently say, "Been there - Done that!" We still think of ourselves as being the 'Me Generation' and 'young-ish,' but the reality is we are closer to witnessing another century pass!
 
 As you reach your birthday milestone of completing 70 years, I hope you celebrate your birthday like a Rockstar, exactly like you’ve celebrated your whole eventful youth — with ENTHUSIASM, EXCITEMENT, and THRILL!  I personally wish you lots of happiness, joy, love, and good health, and that these gifts lead you into your happiest moments of life in the coming years ahead.  
 
Happy Birthday to the Mac Class of 1971! 
- Your lifelong friend, 
Jenice Grahan Benedict

04/20/23 07:54 AM #37    

 

Carla Thrasher (Daws)

Great message. I intend to celebrate my 70th the entire month of June! Happy 70th, everyone!


04/20/23 08:43 AM #38    

 

Janey Whyborn (Bibb)

Thank you, Jenice, for reminding us to embrace and celebrate this milestone. There are many who are not fortunate to have lived this long. My husband turned 70 in January and I will next week, so we decided to celebrate our big birthdays by going to Hawaii for the first time! We have also made the choice to try to live better longer by adopting a healthy lifestyle and good eating choices. We want to enjoy our grandchildren as long as we can! I wish you all good health, happiness, and enjoyment in the years ahead. Happy 70th birthdays is to all our Mac '71 classmates! 

Janey Whyborn Bibb


 

 


04/20/23 10:22 AM #39    

 

Neal Willard

Jenice, thank you for reminding us about an event some would like to forget. But it was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., who said, "To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old." For some turning 70 years old makes us more thankful for "the big things in life," such as large print add-ons for our phones so we can read and respond to those all import messages and news events. Even though some of us may be feeling the effects of our 70th birthday more than others, remember, at 70, the mind runs faster than the body, so let’s try to keep up. It should also be a reminder that we have a great many old friends to reach out to. Are we, not all, old friends that still keep up with each other, even if it is on our Mac class website or as Facebook friends only?
Sure, we are, but sadly, many of us are getting to a point where our memories may not be as good as they used to be. Nevertheless, each of us is one of the special ones we will never forget. So, remember that on our 70th birthday, we have added another candle of knowledge and wisdom to our life. May it give us the power to enlighten the whole world. Let us be thankful for the year that has just passed and anticipate with a happy heart what the coming year will bring. Hopefully, by now, we all know that a birthday is not about our age. Birthdays are about living, and there are two attitudes we can have, (1) be thankful we have lived another year. Or (2) complain about being a year older. Whichever we choose, let us not forget that another birthday gives each of us another opportunity to Laugh often, Love much, Learn plenty, and Live well!  I hope we find all of the “L's” in our life this coming year, and may the best of our past be the worst of our future.

As Dr. Seuss taught us, "Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!"  

Happy Birthday, Class of 71 !!!


04/20/23 10:27 AM #40    

 

James Screeton

Unlike most of the class of 71, I'll be turning 71 in July. It sadens me at the number a classmates we have lost over the years. And yes, babyboomers are a unique. Our parents grew up in the great depression, and wanted their children to have the childhood they didn't have. It is also the generation that was taught not just to except what you were told on face value, but to question.  Why? And we should teach our chilren, and grand chilren the same message.  


04/20/23 10:48 AM #41    

 

David Warren

Thank you Jenice for your words of wisdom.

I am reminded of my two favorite sayings from Satchel Paige, a star Negro Leagues baseball player who made his "rookie" Major League Baseball debut at age 42 (because of segregation in MLB up to that time), and was an All Star at 45 and 46 (he thinks). I repeat them to myself as often as I need them:

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" and

"We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing."

Play on - Don't stop!


04/20/23 06:22 PM #42    

 

Jim Miller

These are all great thoughts as we approach another milestone of life.Thank you for your comments.I have to quote Dan Cook "it ain't over till the fat lady sings". Jim


07/08/24 05:55 PM #43    

 

Paul Bauml

   Not one of my favorite teachers at Garner, Coach Smith did marry my 7th grade Homeroom teacher, Ms. Flood, in 1966.  I have good memories of Ms. Flood. To see their marriage announcement, I googled "marriage james smith virginia flood", and it came up in the ancestory.com website, with an image of the Apr 17, 1966, Express-News article.  I wasn't able to upload it to this forum.  It has an unclear picture of Ms Flood, but it was nice to see anyway.  I hope she's finding comfort in her family, friends, and spiritual beliefs.  May Coach Smith rest in peace.

Garner 1965-67.


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