Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Days gone by...
One of my fondest memories growing up in Mission was driving through the Shary Estate in Sharyland, Texas. Located northeast of Mission on Shary Road off Buddy Owens, John Harry Shary built the Shary Estate for his family. Shary brought his family from Nebraska and settled into Valley life while he blazed a trail through the citrus industry. He had one daughter, Marialice, who married Texas Govenor Allan Shivers.
Growing up, my dad worked for Allen Brun in Edinburg and sometimes we'd go pick him up. My mom would take Shary Road. At night it looked lonely and ominous and I loved that drive. One Easter, our favorite spot was taken so Daddy had to drive around to find a spot. We found ourselves driving down Shary Road. It was the first time we had a real close up view in the daytime and what a sight it was!
Back then the orchards surrounding the estate had the tree tops completely leveled with each other. I don't know who or how they did it but the tops were level and stood in perfectly straight diagonal lines. Just before you reached the estate on the right (West) side was a beautiful garden with stairs leading down into a wide ravine-like area filled from side to side with beautiful manicured grass. Palm trees and red bouganvillas accented small areas. As you drove by, the sudden drop on the right was so unexpected that by the time you reacted to the sight, you missed a quite different contrast on the left which was that of an enormous open pool surrounded by palm trees lined up straight up and down the sides. It was a humongous reflection pool.
I remember that "drop" was also used for a panoramic photo taken of all the representatives of the different organizations and clubs at Mission High School. And my most memorable person...Robbie Sue Maloy, pictured with her drum major uniform was among the group of high school students. Mission High School Class of 1966 Yearbook photo was awesome! I couldn't wait to be in high school.
A little trivia to add to my memory; Linda Garza, Cynthia Garza Weber's sister, is also in the photo. I hope I remembered this correctly. Cynthia's dad, Eddie Garza, who graduated valedictorian of his class (Sharyland High School), worked for Shary Estates until his retirement. I was always fascinated by Cynthia's knowledge of the building...there's even a bowling alley. To this day I've never been inside.
Shary Estates was also a part of our high school "Chicken!" dare games. Rumors were that there was a ghost on the premises at night especially around the chapel where supposedly Shary folks were interned. Turned out it was the night watchman who took care of the premises...but I found out John Harry Shary was buried in the small chapel!
Well, it's been some time now but if you haven't heard or read the news...UTPA couldn't pay for the upkeep and sold the Shary Estate. The Monitor's Shary Estate Sold! tells of the new owner from Laredo, who plans to turn it into a unique events center of sorts.
I'm looking forward to seeing what they do. Maybe they'll restore the grounds to their former glory. Maybe guided tours...I'd take it!
I feel about the Shary Estate the same way I feel about driving by Crystal Waters in Mission...I know the swimming pool is gone but in my eyes, I still see it in all its glory every time I drive by.
(And, no, I'm not delusional...lol!)
Monday, September 24, 2012
And then it happened, I fell in love with football, again!!
I'm talking about loving football. I can't believe it!
I first enjoyed football when I was a young girl going to the high school football games with the band. Mission Eagles were the bomb! Now, that was FUN!! I actually watched and learned something.
Then there were was football on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's...year after year.
In the beginning, it was okay. After a while, it was one too many football games. I don't care how much in love I was...enough was enough. Luckily, our family was very supportive (despite brother-in-law complaints) and football was set aside for the family.
As time went along, families divided into their own little family group celebrations and established their own holiday routines.
In this family, the girls ruled...but Ralph found a kindred spirit in Sam, our youngest. Samantha really learned the game. She'd always asked questions. By the time she was in high school, she had her dad eating out of her hand and he had a football buddy for life.
Well, little girls grow up and move away and now she shares her own team, the Dallas Cowboys with her husband, Rory.
Then there was the empty nest and ESPN.
There was football on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday,Thursday, Saturday...and repeats on Tuesday and Friday. I was up to my eyeballs in football!!
Then something happened last year. Its called Red Zone on Dish Network. It shows every possible great play or touchdown as it occurs throughout the day on Sunday. I was fascinated. Don't misunderstand me. I do like football but just not to watch it every downtime minute with the channels being switched every other minute. But watching Red Zone was a totally different experience. It was watching the best of the best on multi-screens, touchdowns...and not having to listen to those brainless announcers that are trying to relive out their past behind the microphone. Yes, announcers are a bigger pet peeve of mine so is my husband's constantly switching channels.
So this year, we decided to give it a try. For $1.12 each Sunday for the entire football season, my husband (and I) has six hours straight of nothing but football, football, football! Me? I love good football. I rather watch college football but good, professional, football...priceless! And I found my football groove again (and no more channel surfing!!!)
And even though Dallas is my favorite team - I'm waiting for the Cowboys to back their quarterback!!!...I may watch the Washington Redskins (whom I totally dislike!) but I will watch them ONLY because Robert Griffin III is quarterbacking.
Hey! Good football is good football!
* * *
I first enjoyed football when I was a young girl going to the high school football games with the band. Mission Eagles were the bomb! Now, that was FUN!! I actually watched and learned something.
Then there were was football on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's...year after year.
In the beginning, it was okay. After a while, it was one too many football games. I don't care how much in love I was...enough was enough. Luckily, our family was very supportive (despite brother-in-law complaints) and football was set aside for the family.
As time went along, families divided into their own little family group celebrations and established their own holiday routines.
In this family, the girls ruled...but Ralph found a kindred spirit in Sam, our youngest. Samantha really learned the game. She'd always asked questions. By the time she was in high school, she had her dad eating out of her hand and he had a football buddy for life.
Well, little girls grow up and move away and now she shares her own team, the Dallas Cowboys with her husband, Rory.
Then there was the empty nest and ESPN.
There was football on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday,Thursday, Saturday...and repeats on Tuesday and Friday. I was up to my eyeballs in football!!
Then something happened last year. Its called Red Zone on Dish Network. It shows every possible great play or touchdown as it occurs throughout the day on Sunday. I was fascinated. Don't misunderstand me. I do like football but just not to watch it every downtime minute with the channels being switched every other minute. But watching Red Zone was a totally different experience. It was watching the best of the best on multi-screens, touchdowns...and not having to listen to those brainless announcers that are trying to relive out their past behind the microphone. Yes, announcers are a bigger pet peeve of mine so is my husband's constantly switching channels.
So this year, we decided to give it a try. For $1.12 each Sunday for the entire football season, my husband (and I) has six hours straight of nothing but football, football, football! Me? I love good football. I rather watch college football but good, professional, football...priceless! And I found my football groove again (and no more channel surfing!!!)
And even though Dallas is my favorite team - I'm waiting for the Cowboys to back their quarterback!!!...I may watch the Washington Redskins (whom I totally dislike!) but I will watch them ONLY because Robert Griffin III is quarterbacking.
Hey! Good football is good football!
* * *
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Speaking of reunions...
Save the date: November 8, 2012
In case you didn't know, November 8, 2012 is Mission High School's Homecoming Game. It falls on a Thursday. I have reserved both November 8th and 9th at Justice Hall. We're looking to attend the game on Thursday, with our Homecoming Dance at Justice Hall on Friday.
Yes, you saw it here...Homecoming Dance!
While my plans may seem ambitious, there is purpose behind it.
Most of us have turned 60, 61, 62.... Our last reunion, June 23, 2012 was very poignant. We had several faces that had never attended our reunion before: Hilda Pinon, Alma Montalvo Sanchez, Henry Fankhauser, and Santos Estrada. Armando Cespedes brought his wife for the first time, too. For me, Henry's visit was especially heartfelt. I had been trying for years, leaving message after message on his answering machine. Luckily, Ramiro Rodriguez (Hug!) was able to persuade him to attend. This in spite of the fact that he had just lost his son, Joseph Henry Fankhauser, to the Afghanistan war in April of this year.
I don't think any of us imagined half of the things we have gone through and certainly not the impacts that those events have had in our hearts and minds.
Every time we reunite, I see the triumphs of the heart. We share our pain and definitely our physical challenges which are many but there is so much laughter, too. So many have lost spouses, parents and friends, losses that stretched hearts to the breaking point. We sympathize with those whose footsteps are following behind us. No one prepares you for these journeys.
But our reunions bring back our youth to our hearts to remind us we have so much to celebrate, so much to fight for and that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
This last reunion reminded me and briefly stirred me out of my self-imposed prison. I say briefly because it wasn't long after the reunion that I returned back to my hole. I reemerged in early September.
Then on September 11th, despite the date having an already haunting reputation, a new memory has been attached to it.
Our last reunion is the last time we will see this one classmate. He made the effort to attend other reunions, despite the fact that he was very ill. He attended this reunion in a wheelchair. But make no mistake, the young man we knew in high school was smiling big, from the heart. In his eyes you saw the joy he felt at seeing everyone that attended. It was grand seeing him. Rafael "Fio" Ojeda was his constant companion, taking him here and there, visiting friends, and bringing him to our reunions. Fio was his ride as we would say.
On September 11, 2012, Hernan Garza went to meet his maker.
* * *
So I say to you:
"I am linked to you in much bigger ways.
Ways I can't explain.
Lines I can't describe.
Your string crossed mine in the universe
and forever became entangled
together."
- Diana Corpus Garza
(c) 2007
Consider attending this next one. And you don't have to be from our Class of 1970 either...
* * *
See https://www.facebook.com/pages/missionhighschoolclassof-1970com/153715497036 for more information on any Mission High School Class of 1970 news.
In case you didn't know, November 8, 2012 is Mission High School's Homecoming Game. It falls on a Thursday. I have reserved both November 8th and 9th at Justice Hall. We're looking to attend the game on Thursday, with our Homecoming Dance at Justice Hall on Friday.
Yes, you saw it here...Homecoming Dance!
While my plans may seem ambitious, there is purpose behind it.
Most of us have turned 60, 61, 62.... Our last reunion, June 23, 2012 was very poignant. We had several faces that had never attended our reunion before: Hilda Pinon, Alma Montalvo Sanchez, Henry Fankhauser, and Santos Estrada. Armando Cespedes brought his wife for the first time, too. For me, Henry's visit was especially heartfelt. I had been trying for years, leaving message after message on his answering machine. Luckily, Ramiro Rodriguez (Hug!) was able to persuade him to attend. This in spite of the fact that he had just lost his son, Joseph Henry Fankhauser, to the Afghanistan war in April of this year.
I don't think any of us imagined half of the things we have gone through and certainly not the impacts that those events have had in our hearts and minds.
Every time we reunite, I see the triumphs of the heart. We share our pain and definitely our physical challenges which are many but there is so much laughter, too. So many have lost spouses, parents and friends, losses that stretched hearts to the breaking point. We sympathize with those whose footsteps are following behind us. No one prepares you for these journeys.
But our reunions bring back our youth to our hearts to remind us we have so much to celebrate, so much to fight for and that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
This last reunion reminded me and briefly stirred me out of my self-imposed prison. I say briefly because it wasn't long after the reunion that I returned back to my hole. I reemerged in early September.
Then on September 11th, despite the date having an already haunting reputation, a new memory has been attached to it.
Our last reunion is the last time we will see this one classmate. He made the effort to attend other reunions, despite the fact that he was very ill. He attended this reunion in a wheelchair. But make no mistake, the young man we knew in high school was smiling big, from the heart. In his eyes you saw the joy he felt at seeing everyone that attended. It was grand seeing him. Rafael "Fio" Ojeda was his constant companion, taking him here and there, visiting friends, and bringing him to our reunions. Fio was his ride as we would say.
On September 11, 2012, Hernan Garza went to meet his maker.
* * *
So I say to you:
"I am linked to you in much bigger ways.
Ways I can't explain.
Lines I can't describe.
Your string crossed mine in the universe
and forever became entangled
together."
- Diana Corpus Garza
(c) 2007
Consider attending this next one. And you don't have to be from our Class of 1970 either...
* * *
See https://www.facebook.com/pages/missionhighschoolclassof-1970com/153715497036 for more information on any Mission High School Class of 1970 news.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Backing up my computer...
I LOVE reunions.
All kinds of reunions. School reunions, family reunions, friend reunions...you name it - I'll make it!
You can imagine my data records.
Well, they're gone!
I was in the process of backing up my computer (my flash drive wasn't big enough) and I was unable to finish the job. In doing so, my computer closed down to update. It never came back. Lost were all my high school classmate data, my family data, friends, every contact I have made since 2007 and all my college essays, short stories and poems I've written for the last 15 years. Poof! All gone!
Oh, did I tell you all the photos....?
Surprisingly enough...it's okay.
Okay, on many levels. I hesitated submitting any of my writings for publishing. Why? Fear. Fear of rejection, fear of offending, fear of writing badly. Needless to say, my desire to write is still here. That's why it's okay. My passion is real. So if I didn't publish anything that's okay...there's more where that came from.
This is where I know God is real and working in my life.
So my computer is out. Steps in: Nilda, a fellow Diva and her family of computer wizards. They weren't able to retrieve my information but I now have a computer up and running. I'm having to restock it with all the software that's somewhere in my garage/home. This will take some time.
But that is one thing I am blessed with...TIME!!
And then...the piece of resistance...for our anniversary, my husband buys me a 23" all in one touch computer. I'm on it now.
It gets better...
A couple of days after Nilda brought my old computer back, my computer went out again so I called AT&T. They suggested I take the router to their center to have it tested. Well, my husband, a former AT&T employee requested the router be replaced, at which they balked but we took the router to get tested. We forgot the power cord. Went back, again. It was the power cord. A power cord was $10.
Seven days later, we receive a brand new router. Of course we call and AT&T decided to replace our router. And it gets better. While installing the new router and following their implicit directions, I discovered that one phone in the household was NEVER hooked up properly (Nilda and I were comparing services and were complaining that AT&T was messing up big time.). The computer picked up the error connection immediately when we began installing the new router! This time everything was installed properly.
My computerS are zipping everywhere in record time.
Sigh! Reunions? Piece of cake!
All kinds of reunions. School reunions, family reunions, friend reunions...you name it - I'll make it!
You can imagine my data records.
Well, they're gone!
I was in the process of backing up my computer (my flash drive wasn't big enough) and I was unable to finish the job. In doing so, my computer closed down to update. It never came back. Lost were all my high school classmate data, my family data, friends, every contact I have made since 2007 and all my college essays, short stories and poems I've written for the last 15 years. Poof! All gone!
Oh, did I tell you all the photos....?
Surprisingly enough...it's okay.
Okay, on many levels. I hesitated submitting any of my writings for publishing. Why? Fear. Fear of rejection, fear of offending, fear of writing badly. Needless to say, my desire to write is still here. That's why it's okay. My passion is real. So if I didn't publish anything that's okay...there's more where that came from.
This is where I know God is real and working in my life.
So my computer is out. Steps in: Nilda, a fellow Diva and her family of computer wizards. They weren't able to retrieve my information but I now have a computer up and running. I'm having to restock it with all the software that's somewhere in my garage/home. This will take some time.
But that is one thing I am blessed with...TIME!!
And then...the piece of resistance...for our anniversary, my husband buys me a 23" all in one touch computer. I'm on it now.
It gets better...
A couple of days after Nilda brought my old computer back, my computer went out again so I called AT&T. They suggested I take the router to their center to have it tested. Well, my husband, a former AT&T employee requested the router be replaced, at which they balked but we took the router to get tested. We forgot the power cord. Went back, again. It was the power cord. A power cord was $10.
Seven days later, we receive a brand new router. Of course we call and AT&T decided to replace our router. And it gets better. While installing the new router and following their implicit directions, I discovered that one phone in the household was NEVER hooked up properly (Nilda and I were comparing services and were complaining that AT&T was messing up big time.). The computer picked up the error connection immediately when we began installing the new router! This time everything was installed properly.
My computerS are zipping everywhere in record time.
Sigh! Reunions? Piece of cake!
Rise above...
Celebrate everyday!
These last fourteen months have been rough, to say the least. But even these obvious adversities that countless families and friends go through every day can only take their toll if you let them. No one will understand this but this last year I gained a brother and a sister.
I gained a brother who I can count on, go to just to laugh and sometimes cry. I gained the brother that protected me growing up whose love and acceptance I cherished above all. I know he isn't perfect but it's not his perfection I am seeking but rather his tenderness when no one is looking, his heart of gold when he fought for me and I felt all alone. A brother's love cannot replace a father's love and I miss my father dearly, but he is what is closest to my dad now and it fills the empty space.
My sister...my sister. I am the mother who raised you. I am the mother who made the birthday parties to celebrate your birthdays, and then cleaned up any sign of a celebration so our parents wouldn't find out. I am the mother who took the spankings because I couldn't stop you from leaving and punished you by locking you out. Now I have a sister, one that understands, who knows the depth of my pain and does not belittle it, who treasurers our children unconditionally. She fills my life with laughter as loud as thunder, and sweetness with her smile. My days would be incomplete without her in my life.
Somehow, we've made it - adversities and all. But that's why Jesus died for us...so we could rise above it all. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my soul.
I found this poem on the internet signed by the enternal_optimist and it said it better than I ever could.
There are more days of sunshine, than darkness...time only makes it better.
****
To Rise Above
by enternal_optimist
As a stone tumbled in coarse reality,
constantly worn as it is refined,
adversity, its true beauty shows.
So it is by trial we find,
all that we are capable of, the strength that lies beneath.
We are not defined by our trials,
but by how we face them.
We are all afraid; bravery is a choice,
that though you may lose, you will never be defeated.
Who among us does not have flaws?
Who does not bear scars?
Each of our journey's unique,
Our adversities leave upon us lasting marks,
They show us all that we have overcome.
Life; a constant struggle,
and by choosing not to give in, we rise above.
These last fourteen months have been rough, to say the least. But even these obvious adversities that countless families and friends go through every day can only take their toll if you let them. No one will understand this but this last year I gained a brother and a sister.
I gained a brother who I can count on, go to just to laugh and sometimes cry. I gained the brother that protected me growing up whose love and acceptance I cherished above all. I know he isn't perfect but it's not his perfection I am seeking but rather his tenderness when no one is looking, his heart of gold when he fought for me and I felt all alone. A brother's love cannot replace a father's love and I miss my father dearly, but he is what is closest to my dad now and it fills the empty space.
My sister...my sister. I am the mother who raised you. I am the mother who made the birthday parties to celebrate your birthdays, and then cleaned up any sign of a celebration so our parents wouldn't find out. I am the mother who took the spankings because I couldn't stop you from leaving and punished you by locking you out. Now I have a sister, one that understands, who knows the depth of my pain and does not belittle it, who treasurers our children unconditionally. She fills my life with laughter as loud as thunder, and sweetness with her smile. My days would be incomplete without her in my life.
Somehow, we've made it - adversities and all. But that's why Jesus died for us...so we could rise above it all. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my soul.
I found this poem on the internet signed by the enternal_optimist and it said it better than I ever could.
There are more days of sunshine, than darkness...time only makes it better.
****
To Rise Above
by enternal_optimist
As a stone tumbled in coarse reality,
constantly worn as it is refined,
adversity, its true beauty shows.
So it is by trial we find,
all that we are capable of, the strength that lies beneath.
We are not defined by our trials,
but by how we face them.
We are all afraid; bravery is a choice,
that though you may lose, you will never be defeated.
Who among us does not have flaws?
Who does not bear scars?
Each of our journey's unique,
Our adversities leave upon us lasting marks,
They show us all that we have overcome.
Life; a constant struggle,
and by choosing not to give in, we rise above.
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