As life goes by

Last week:

It is amazing how quickly sixty years go by! Sixty years ago, I graduated from Jasper High School. A number of classmates have kept in contact with each other. This past weekend my friend, Mavis Upton Waggoner and her husband, Clint made a trip to Jasper and then on to Fayetteville where Mavis had graduated from the University. They have just returned from Australia where they had visited with their son, Paul, wife and grandson. We met at our friend June Jenks Staggs home in Fayetteville to visit. It was so much fun visiting with June and Mavis. My sister, Jane went with me to visit them, too. We had a lot of memories and laughs shared all afternoon. Clint took us all out to eat at the Catfish Hole for dinner. It was such a fun day! Mavis Ann remembers the first time she saw me at the Ozark Café in Jasper where her parents owned and operated the café. She said Daddy had brought Jane and me into the café and we were wearing dresses just alike. She thought we might be twins. This had to be before I started first grade, and I was probably four or five years old. Jane was three or four years old. You know way back then we never ate out at a café. We always ate at home so maybe Daddy had taken us in to get ice cream. After we started school we were in the same classes for the twelve years we went to school. Over half of our class went to school together all twelve years. As we were leaving the Catfish Hole some other people were leaving at the same time. They were having a class reunion. They were from Pine Bluff and had graduated in 1967. The students take turns hosting the reunion and go to different places to get together. I have heard of this being done and the class goes all over the United States. Amazing!
We are meeting for our bookclub this Wednesday. We are discussing the book,“The Women” by Christin Hanna about a nurse in Vietnam. Excellent book.
On Thursday the candidates running for President are debating the issues. From the preview, it looks like it will not be about the issues. It will be calling each other names, etc. It would be good if we really could hear about the issues.

Each time I have driven into Rogers I have just been so heartbroken seeing the damage all over the city. Bentonville was damaged, too. Other towns were in the line of the storms and had damage. Near the mall/Mercy Hospital area there is a huge pile of trees that have been hauled there and near Avoca they have been burning trees carried there. It is amazing how much has been cleaned up and how much more has been placed near the streets to be picked up. A lot of trees are still being cut and cleared. Then the work on the houses will be taken care of. Many churches have teams of people going out to help throughout the city. My church has a disaster team from all over that go out helping in storm damaged areas. They have been in Rogers for three weeks and are going to be there for at least one more week.
Jane and I drove through some areas and found piles of mangled metal of a business along with houses that are torn up or have lots of roof damage. A cemetery has trees uprooted and they have fallen all over the gravestones.
The heat will be the next issue. As we get to the 100s we are told to stay out of the heat if possible and work outside early or late if you have to be out. Be careful and be safe.
Have a great week.