For reasons unknown I woke up early this morning thinking about Gary Tilory. He was a bit of a scoundrel in Singing Hills during my junior high years. Did I imagine he later lived in Burkburnett, Texas? So I got out of bed and pulled out our 20th Reunion 1983 Class Directory  ... the one that allowed us to post a blurb about our lives at that point. Sure enough in '83 Gary was a Supervisor for Southwestern Bell and living in Burkburnett.

"Burk", as my family called it, was a podunk town near the Red River and Oklahoma border. My Uncle and Aunt owned the hardware store there and I spent many wonderful summers with them as a boy. In 1954 the "business district" was a single street, two blocks long that included an ice house, theater, bank, cafe, beauty shop, Hatch's Hardware, some other small establishments and a grain silo at the end of Main Street. It was difficult to comprehend that 30 years later someone from Dallas (Tilory) would choose to settle there.

I made some coffee and continued to page through the 1983 Directory. It pleased me to see so many of us had become "educators". Many had traveled and worked in foreign countries. There were quite a few who out of ambition, or perhaps necessity, had their own businesses. Some had as many as four children, some had very young children late in life, some had chosen to not have kids. By 1983 you could tell many had changed partners. A few were widowed. Some had never married.

1983 was an interesting junction in life for our group. As I read on a bit of sadness set in. Now with the benefit of another 33 years having passed, we know how some of our peers lumbered forward in time toward a variety of predestined discontents. Circumstances conspired. Our parents aged and suffered. We watched our children thrive and/or veer way off track. We wonder if we are the author of our own accidents?

And so I sip more coffee and ponder how it is that I made it to age 71 and so many others did not? Back in 1983 it seemed we were invincible. Now the unthinkable feels more like the inevitable. I feel undeserving but at the same time, amazingly thankful. Is it naive to treasure this old directory and my SOC yearbooks? Are they not central to the roots of my past?

Happy Belated Birthday, Sharon Reeves! 

Dear Friends of my mother, Ginger Hearn;

For those that do not know, Ginger is currently at Hillside Medical Lodge in Gatesville Texas struggling with the cancer, a broken hip, and broken pelvic bone. She will be staying here as long as she survives. I recently visited her for a week and she has not been well, but we had a good visit and was glad to spend what time I could with her. If you would like to visit her, and she is awake when you do, she would love the visit and kind support of getting her drinks, foot rubs, and back scratches. The info for Hillside is:

Hillside Medical Lodge
101 S 34th St, Gatesville, TX 76528
254-865-7575

My name has been legally changed three years ago, so any questions or concerns can be sent to my email at: athena.del.aenor@gmail.com

I will post any final updates on my mom’s page here when that time comes. Take care and visit my mother if you can. Thank you so much for being her friend.

It is with sorrow that I report the passing of our friend, Ginger Hearn, SOC class of '63. She went peacefully from this life surrounded by the new friends she made In Gatesville, TX during her last years. There will be no service, as she chose to be cremated. Because of her life-long love of music, remembrance gifts can be made to -

First Baptist Church Music Dept. 
In Memory of Ginger Hearn 
912 E. Main St. 
Gatesville, TX 76528