The message forum is an ongoing dialogue between classmates. There are no items, topics, subtopics, etc.

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Message" button to add your entry to the forum.

Timothy Lavelle

Kathy, you are very kind like all my other good mates here in Forumland but you seem to be confused about what your husband and I went through. He and I share a bond. Personally, I am certain there were terrorists involved and I'm sure your husband was defending you against bank robbers, alien invaders or a pack of wolves. That's what us manly men do...us back-yard heroes DO NOT get hurt being thrown off lawnmowers while drinking  a Mohito and reading Cosmopolitan...we are bad ass dudes who protect their women-folk from Indians, giant killer moles and bands of terrorists who got lost on their way to an airport somewhere.

Thank you all for making this as fun as is possible.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

I am thinking it's a very good thing for you, Tim, that the state of Washington provides such high quality medicinal and recreational opportunities for a person in your situation. Hope the healing and rehab go smoothly. 

Clare

Timothy Lavelle

Yeah Hummer - most often, especially after talking to our good mate Frank Ganley on the telephone today, I am pleased that we have all adopted "What the Frank?" (was that from Mark??) as the meaning of WTF. But sometimes I have to go with "Washington, that's Fabulous" regarding the state's liberal leanings. 

Isn't it funny...a phenominal sort of thing... that we have all grown up in such different circumstances, learned different ways to swim through our individual streams, adopted some rules or beliefs for ourselves that do not agree with other's rules/beliefs...and still find the time and opportunity to be kind to one another. Washington, That's Fabulous!!

...or maybe it's just the drugs talkin'...

David Mitchell

............this just in

In a recent survey of international traveler's most dangerous destinations to avoid, the final tally shows an interesting patern. The top five destinations that travelers say they will most likely avoid in 2017 due to safety concerns are in order:

1) The City of Mosul 

2) Anywhere near the Korean Penninsula

3) Inside the cabin of a United (or Delta) plane

4) Tim's front yard

5) Sean Spicer's brain

   * (50th anniversary class reunions came in 14th)

Pamplona anyone? 

John Maxwell

Michael McLeod

What kind of potion do you have in mind for us, Dr. Hamilton?

Does it have anything to do with all those commercial about sexy seniors?

Janie Albright (Blank)

Jack your story of the old couple on the roof makes me think maybe they were German. I can remember when I was a kid my grandmother was meticulous and my father would say he expected the next time he came she'd be out sweeping the roof. When we were in Germany you'd see people out scrubbing their porch and sidewalk every morning. And yes it was a surprise you were once an electrical lineman. The Glen Campbell song will have new meaning. 

Kathleen Wintering (Nagy)

Tim, Roofs are always off limits!! That is why God made roofers! When do you get your cast off? Kathy W.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Timothy Lavelle

Dave, Jocko, Kathy..."Tim's front yard" - hilarious. "German people's personal industry" takes me back to a story of a village of Germans who once a year would go out and clean-up a local woods cause Mom Nature kept messing it up with leaves and sticks! Kathy Wintergreen...I am taking myself out of the hands of rural doctors (don't take this personal Doc Jim) and meeting with the big city boys up in Olympia to see what comes next. If initial info is right, my summer and early fall will be a fun mix of "Mr LaVelle, what is your date of birth" or "Let me know if this hurts" or "No Mr. LaVelle, we really cannot prescribe heroin".

Jim, I had some bucket list items from before and I just don't know why more folks don't chime in with theirs. I am thnking now that in addition to my earlier list, I want to have my own Iron Man suit. Let's see a lawnmower mess with a guy in an Iron Man suit!

This site is soooo educational. From earliest childhood I thought the guy's name was John Bears F'Tipton. No wonder I never got my check for a million... 

David Mitchell

All this talk of Tim's acccicent, and Frank's (the details of which really gives one pause about his reasoning capacity)  - and throw in Beth (she also had a dilly of a lawn mower acciddent) makes me want to offer a word of advice - just as Jack and Jim have hinted. I think balance is the real issue here. A wise man once said that to achieve balance in life, one must hold a piece of chocolate in both hands at the same time. Perhaps it would be helpful if we could all adhere to this rule of lfe. 

David Mitchell

And Jack and Janie, I also immediately thougth of "Wichita Lineman", one of my favorite songs of that era - another great one written by Jimmy Webb. Great story Jack

Michael McLeod

I think I have a vague memory - which are, more and more, the only kind I have - of watching you, Jack, whip out some special outfit and climb a pole for our amusement. 

I also have a memory, this one being more distinct, of being at your house, and noticing you fall asleep. except your eyes were open. and i ran down and told your mom and she laughed and said you always slept like that.

John Maxwell

David Fredericks

RE: post #1486

Dave......have been out of town the past week and am catching up on E-mails.  Your Vatican cover is a dandy.  Knowing the history behind it makes it extra special.  Let me know if you decide to put it on Ebay (just kidding!).  The cover makes one want to start collecting Vatican in earnest.

Mark Schweickart

Jack,

Regardiing your bucket list, your selections all make perfect sense: the beguining, the rhino-riding, the tab-skipping, the eskimo-icing, the golden-wiring, but I have to question the eating of a mature douglas fir. What the Frank, man! Are you losing it? I am beginning to worry about you.

John Maxwell

David Mitchell

Dave,

I thought you would appreciate the Vatican stamp "cover". I should give you the rest of the stories that go before this letter. It's actually two stories - one is pretty interesting and one is more humorous.

If we can dial back about 4 years before the date of that letter (1962) - in October of 1958 Dad was to give a paper at some sort of World Allergy Conference in Brussells. He decided to take Mom and make a long vacation out of it (something his workaholic habits rarely permitted), and see more of Europe - including Italy. One of the first nights at sea, Dad noticed Bishop Issenmann in the ship's dining room. He went over to his table, said hello, and they agreed to get together for some of the rest of the journey. He and Mom had the Bishop as their dinner guest for several of the nights of their voyage. That was when they discovered that they had some things in common, among them, being life-long stamp collectors. They also happened to agree on many matters regarding the "politics" of the Church. I also personally surmised that the two were both simple, accessible men, who shared a distaste for status and attention. Although they had met before in some official diocesen activities, the time they shared on the voyage developed into a more personal friendship.

The Bishop was on his way to Rome for church business, and suggested they get together a few nights when Mom and Dad got down there. He gave them his phone number in Rome and made sure to tell them about a favorite little back alley "trattoria" that he frequented since he had been a student in Rome years before. 

But early in the voyage the news reached them of the death of Pope Pious the XII. When they reached port in Le Havre, They agreed to try and get in touch later in Rome, but acknowledge that things would be changed and it might be difficult. Mom and Dad headed for Brussels and the Bishop caught his train to Rome. The rest of the timing got more interesting.

After the conference in Brusels, Dad and Mom had reached Venice and while there, a chubby little man named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (Cardinal Patriarch of Venice) was elected Pope John XXIII. The city of Venice went wild with celebration - so much so that Mom and Dad (and all other tourists) were warned by the hotel staff not to go out into the streets for their own safety. Mom said that what they could see from the hotel lobby was sheer pandemonium!

A day or so later, Mom and Dad reached Rome and were able to reach Bishop Issenmann by phone. He would be unable to see them, but he insisted he get them tickets to the new Pope's coronation Mass. Somewhere I may still have a few of Dad's slides from the ceremony inside St Peter's with one shot of the Pope being carried in on his platform (in his official chair) while Dad reached the camera overhead and made a very good guess at the angle of the shot. One of the memories Dad had was of all the "Pomp and Circumstance", which was very off-putting to Dad and Mom. And more than that, Dad was scandalized by the rude, pushy, elbowing of many of the priests and nuns as they unapologetically pushed forward to gain a better view near the aisles. 

But the lasting take away from their adventure was the Bishop's "tip" about the little trattoria. They did manage to go there and had a wonderful meal. Mom said it could not have seated more than two dozen people and was manged by "Papa" out front as maitre'd - "Mama" back in the kitchen - and the daughter and son waiting tables and busing. Oh, and the family cat, perched in the kitchen "pass through", inspecting every dish as it went out to the guests.

It turns out, Mom had a meat canneloni that was devine. She asked the son (waiter) if she could have the recipe, and he seemed delighted to provide it. He waited while his mother wrote it out herself and folded it up neatly to hand back to Mom. She never opened it until they got back to their hotel, only to realize  it was written (of course) in Italian. Once back in Columbus, she had a friend translate it and tried it. It has become the favorite family dish, and my late first wife, my three kids, and I, all still make it. And it really IS fabulous!

--------------

p.s. (and this is NOT the second story)

After Mary learned from Mom how to make it, she made it so well that everybody among our friends in Denver loved it. One year we were back in Columbus for Christmas and Mom made her canneloni for dinner. It was wonderful! And clever Dave couldn't resist complimenting her with, "Mom, it's terriffic!  I think it's almost as good as when Mary makes it for us at home in Denver". Mary slowly dropped her head in her hands - and my Mother gave me a look that made me wish I could eat broken glass.   

Janie Albright (Blank)

Great story, Dave! Your dad sure had some interesting experiences and you are a good story teller. Thanks for sharing. 

Michael McLeod

Love the story, Dave.

David Mitchell

Mark,

Sorry to keep beating a dead horse but stillI can't get over how much I enjoyed "Jessie". Just had another thought. How about Sally Fields? I think she's shorter than Kathy Bates, and would look younger.

And please, could I have the pop corn concession rights?

David Mitchell

Here is the other story about Bishop Issenmann and my parents. Somewhere between the dates of the letter and the boat story - (say, about 1961, not sure), something else occurred that was pretty cute.

Mom and Dad had learned a lot about the Bishop's past on the boat trip to Europe in '58. One of these facts was that he had at some time in his past, been affiliated with a national Catholic newspaper that used to be published in Denver. I want to say he was the editor, but memory fails me here. And that he would still, on occasion, travel back to Denver for business with that paper. 

Dad heard that the Bishop was going back to Denver and mentioned to him that one of my older sisiters was a freshman at Lorretto Heights Catholic College for Women (long since closed). - and that the Bishop might call on her while on his visit. Dad gave the Bishop my sister's phone number and the name of the dorm she lived in. The Bishop was well acquainted with the schools prominent location - on a hill on South Federal Blvd in southwest Denver (now home to a large Vietnamese population). He told Dad he would try to call on Jeanie if time allowed.

In another corner of Denver, on the far northwest corner of town sat (still does, I think) Regis Catholic men's College, run by Jesuits. My sister referred to it as a "fomp school for rich boys from Chicago who couldn't get in to Notre Dame". Obviously, the boys from Regis were like hawks preying on the "sweet" girls from Lorretto Heights - dating many of them and always looking for excuses to hang out on the ladies campus. One of the rules at Lorretto was that no one be allowed to use the phone during evening study hall hours, unless it was an emergency. The girls did not have phones in their rooms - there was one phone per floor in the dorms and the girls themsleves were assigned to man the phones, one at a time, on a rotating basis each evening. They were allowed to take messages, but never to let their classmates take calls during this time.

But the guys from Regis knew this, and were alwasy coming up with fake "emergencies" to get through on the phone during this time of the evening. And likewise, the girls were wise to every clever excuse in the book from those Regis boys.

So Dad came home from the office one night and was chuckling with some funny news to share at the dinner table. As he told the story he was laughing so hard he could hardly finish it. Bishop Issenmann had called him that day at the office to relate what had happened on his Denver trip.

The bishop had called Jeannie's dorm one evening and got one of the girls who was minding the phones at that time. When she explained that Jeannie was not permitted to come to the phone, he tried to explain that it was quite important. The girl asked him who was calling and he said "This is Bishop Clarence Issenmann, of the Diocese of Columbus Ohio, calling as a favor to Jeannie's parents." And with that, the girl yelled back, "Oh yea honey, and I'm Elizabeth Taylor", and hung up on him.

Dad went on to say that the Bishop himself was laughing so hard over the phone that he could hardly get to the end of his story with Dad.

(If I recall correctly, the Bishop did call again at an earlier hour on another day and had a nice brief conversation with my sister)

Jeanine Eilers (Decker)

Great stories, Dave.  Thanks for taking the time to send them.

Joseph D. McCarthy

Bucket List.  An immediate item on my bucket list; something I plan on doing within days.  

The National Park Service has a SENIOR Pass that permits the "Senior" and people in the same vehicle free admission to ALL National Parks for the LIFE of the Senior.  Currently the cost of the pass is $10.00, plus a $10.00 application fee.  Why don't they say "Hey if you want de pass it's $20.00"?  Anyway, as of August 1st the cost goes up to $80.00, plus processing fee.  It can be obtained on line, through snail mail (USPS), or in person at any national park facility, there is a voluminous list by state on the web-site.  You can check it out at:                     

       https://www.nps.gov    or type in the search bar  www.nps.gov