Hello Pups and Dogs of Yore,
"The Trick is growing up without growing old." I'm a baseball fan and Spring training has arrived. I mark the seasons of my calendar in baseball nomenclature. Springtime comes into being with "Opening Day." Summer officially begins with the All-Star Game. The leaves of Autumn turn bright with color as the World Series is played. Winter is the dreaded "Off Season" highlighted by the advent of Spring training when ballplayers ready themselves for the beginning of a new season. Ah, a new season filled with jubilant enthusiasm and high expectations for a winning year. Don't you often feel that it would be great if life were like baseball? We could start afresh with each new season. Therein lies "the trick."
The opening quotation in this Miles' Files about "growing up without growing old" is attributed to Casey Stengel who is probably best remembered for his years as manager of the New York Yankees in the 1950s and as the first manager of the "Amazin'" New York Mets in 1962. He was an eccentric little man with a wonderful sense of humor and a spirit of the "forever young." I abide by such words from Stengel and other "forever youngsters" such as Oscar Wilde, Groucho Marx, Bob Dylan, and Yogi Berra. I have found an easy way in which to master "the trick" of meeting the inevitable process of aging without becoming "old." The magician's secret to this simple "trick" is friendship. Sharing thoughts and memories with friends by mail, over the phone, face to face, through cyberspace via email, or just by thinking of them will keep you "forever young." You, the readers of the Miles' Files, have proven this to me throughout the past year. How can one "grow old" when he is draped in the memories of youthful experiences?
Your stories from the past and your comments on the present heighten my every day and enable me to relate my life to yours through the common "Newport experience." At some point in the last year, Ruth Johnston (1970 littermate) shared with me that she had convinced a dear friend (raised in Little Rock) that Newport is the "center of the Universe" since there was nowhere they would go without running into someone from our "hometown." I'm fairly certain wherever one goes, you will find a Newport connection if you look deep enough (I'm pretty sure that Adam and Eve once lived in Newport). Anyway, the Newport spirit that resides in each of you can keep an "old Hound" feeling like a "young Pup" if you will let yourself run with fellow pups (kennel mates and strays alike) from time to time. And have I been running amongst you since the last Miles' Files! I have received wonderful messages from the likes of Bobby Joe Forrester, Mary Wynne Parker, Jan Grimes, Ricky Harris, David Sibley, Freeman Travis, Joy Stanfield, Paul Burton, Laura Benish (all Class of '70) as well as Martha Conner ('68), Ann Conner ('72), Karen Fortune ('72), Connie Cross ('67), Becky Hemenway ('61), Carolyn Cross ('65) and Buddy Jones ('64), Donnie Washam ('69), Alannette Hare ('67), Kay Taylor ('72), Phil Hout ('56), Mary Lynn Pinkett ('71) and some more. There is no way to "grow old" when you are in that crowd.
A good way to allow fellow classmates to stay in touch is to register on the NHS website. I know that Steve Ahart, an old baseball teammate of mine, is a new registrant on the Class of '70's page bringing to 49 the number of my classmates now listed on the site. That address is: www.nhsalumni.net
Speaking of baseball, Rickey Harris and Paul Burton are together this weekend watching Rickey's son, Zach, play for Oklahoma University where Zach is leading the Sooners in hitting in this young season. Rickey's wife, Kathy, sent me a link to the OU baseball website highlighting Zach's achievements. It must be Springtime! I can hear the crack of the bat. I remember Zach as a Little Leaguer, and his Dad too for that matter. Wish I could be there!
Laura Benish and Harry Goodyear ('69) have been playing in sunny Puerto Rico. Envy strikes again! Recent messages from Mary Wynne Parker and her husband, Grady Perryman, indicate that Mary Wynne is doing remarkably well in her current chemo treatment schedule. They enjoyed a good walk on Monday and a longer one on Tuesday of this week and then took in a basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke (the Mecca of college basketball) on Wednesday. More feelings of envy!!!
I know all of you continue to hold Mary Wynne in your thoughts and prayers. Several months ago, the Class of 1970 began a "thought session" every Sunday evening at 7pm where we remember our classmates near and far on life's journey. Those other "old dogs" now receiving the Miles' Files are welcome to join this time of thought and prayer as you work on this "trick" of growing up without growing old. I must comment that I believe our power of thought and prayer works extremely well. Not long after our 30th Reunion last June, Bobby Joe Forrester suffered a heart attack. He rallied and is caring better for himself. BJ sent me word this week that he is an expectant father with "junior" due to arrive in August. Talk about bouncing back! You Go Boy!!! This baby will keep you young at heart. Mary Lynn Pinkett's message asked that friends hold her up in prayer as a recent medical exam has fostered some concern. So join us on Sunday evenings if you so desire.
A few weeks back I shared with you a visit I had with Mrs. Virginia Umsted Castleberry and know that many of you have contacted her since. Last week I ran into Kathy Glasgow, our art teacher who was in her first year of teaching in 1969-70. She is now married to Bill Worthen, director of the Arkansas Territorial Restoration, and living in Little Rock. She and I reminisced during a banquet where her husband was recognized as Non Profit Executive of the Year by Arkansas Business magazine. Her teaching career was short lived due in no small part to the outstanding artists in the Class of 1970. Some of those fellow artists that should take a bow are Scott Baker, Billy Don Summers, John Brownd, Ricky Harris, Kenny Thaxton, Phil Sanders, Roy Dale Pigg, and the late Keith Huey. I, too, will stand with honor with that group. The girls (Ann Gardner, Gail Thaxton, Diane Madison, Susan Page, Brenda Talley and the late Becky Scroggs) were sweethearts and certainly did not contribute to any frustrations in the classroom that Mrs. Glasgow may have endured (he said while restraining a hearty guffaw).
After seeing Mrs. Glasgow, I remembered Scott Baker telling me that he visited with Mrs. Ima Jean Paige, noted typing and bookkeeping teacher at NHS, not long ago. Inspired, I picked up the phone and called Mrs. Paige this morning. We had a delightful conversation and several laughs about antics in her classroom thirty years ago. She asked about several of you and, in response, I conveyed a few tall tales in telling her you had all grown up and were doing fine. Please note that I said "grown up" and not grown "old." I even told her that Mickey Doyle, one of her challenges as a teacher, is doing wonderfully well. She seemed amused and pleased. I plan to go by for a visit with her and Mr. Billy Dean Paige (the famed proprietor of Jack's Dairy Cup when we were cruising Malcolm Avenue) in Little Rock in the near future.
Mrs. Paige was one of my favorite teachers because she was firm, but fair. She also always had somewhat of a devilish grin on her face that let me know she enjoyed her students. And if it were not for her, I may not have learned to type. So I raise my glass of fine single malt scotch to Mrs. Paige and all my other fine teachers from my days in the Newport schools. Cheers! And thanks!
Sippin' on a little scotch and listening to good tunes from the '60s also are a part of the "trick" of not growing old. Ain't (sorry Mrs. Umsted and Mrs. Carr) it amazing that the Beatles have a top selling album out today thirty years after they were last in the studio together? And their movie "A Hard Day's Night" has been re-released to theatres this month. Get back, JoeJoe. Go home. Get back, get back to where you once belonged (from "Get Back" on the Beatles last album "Let It Be" released in 1970). The sights and sounds of our youth do not disappear. We just have this tendency to hide them away. Music speaks to me every now and then, so I guess I'll just "get back to where I once belonged" roaming the streets paved with memories generated from thoughts of you.
Remember "the trick." Each time you talk with an "old" classmate or a teacher from long ago, you can open a "new season" in your life. Anytime you start to feel a little "long in the tooth," open an old chapter in your book of life and read it again with a fresh perspective. I guarantee those friendships found in those "old chapters" will have new meaning and bring everlasting rewards. As previously reminded, the Greyhound littermates of 1970 are "embarking" (a pun intended) upon our 50th year of playing the game of life. So "sit right down and write someone a letter," pick up a telephone and call a long time friend separated by time and distance, or, better yet, scribble out an email to me with your "hunt and peckin'" skills. I'm not hard to find, just listen for the laughter (or just tap the reply key and let me hear from you). Don't forget that the "the trick" to which Casey Stengel referred can be mastered by reaching out to those youthful relationships we built long ago and by bringing other "stray" puppies into the fold as we skip through life.
I'm Miles from Nowhere (and Forever Young) ... guess I'll take my time!
joe
PS - In the next Miles' Files, I plan to walk down one of those streets paved in memories. If you have the email address of any "young Greypup" who you think would enjoy the walk, send it to me. We now have 60 addresses for 1970 littermates and 57 addresses for other "dogs of yore." I like running in a big pack.
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