As a 9 year old kid in Elk City, OK in 1950, I met Tim Holt, Fuzzy Knight & Randolph Scott who were some of my favorite cowboy movie stars that made personal appearances at a local movie theatre. And, during our town's 50th. anniversary in 1951 I met & shook hands with Jess Willard who had been the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, 1915-1919. He lived in my hometown during the early days & helped lay the bricks that paved Broadway St. and are still there and "in use" now in 2006! Moving ahead several years and after I had moved to PA...my wife & I saw Richard M. Nixon as he arrived by helicopter and dined at the then-famous Bookbinder's Restaurant in Philadelphia one evening while we were eating dinner there also. Then later, during the mid-1970's, we saw "The Duke" John Wayne in New York City getting out of his limousine and greeting the gathering crowd at Rockefeller Center. Guess that's about it... LarryD

wow. sniff. You know Bill, I lost my mother about nine years ago now, and it was the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I remember when she was lying in the hospital bed, undergoing chemo that was a total waste of time, but we had to try, and family and friends always filled that room. They were laughing, and joking, and singing, and reminiscing. And I was PISSED. I was FURIOUS. How can these people be so happy when my mother is laying there dying!! I hated them. My own mother was having a wonderful time, and I couldn't understand because all I wanted to do was throw myself on her chest and just bawl my head off (jeez, I'm bawling as I write this). I just didn't get it. I even didn't speak to my mother's sister for a long time because she made some joke, at my mother's expense, that my mother found very funny, but I didn't. Anyway, fast forward to a few years later, and DUH, I got it. Luckily for me, I never DID throw myself on my mother and bawl (until after she was gone and before they took her away). I never let anyone know how angry I was, except my then fiance, who understood. He tried to make me understand of course, but I just couldn't. I was too wrapped up in ME and my pain. But I see it now. And it warms my heart to know that my mother's last days were made so happy and carefree, and just darnright SILLY. That she laughed so hard she cried with that stupid IV in her. That she didn't let the fact that she knew she was dying ruin her last three months (as I let it ruin mine). It's wonderful that some people recognize this before it's too late and do celebrate the life before it's gone. I learned this lesson the hard way. I'm so happy you were able to enjoy your mother's last days. I hope others will listen to this message, it is a beautiful one. Death is just a part of life, we need to get past our selfish reaction to it (justified and understandable though it may be) and remember the person who's dying and celebrate the time we had with them, before they're gone. Ivette

Lynn we are in a very similar place about our house - it's too big for us at this stage of our lives. We use most of the square footage in some way - because it's there - but could easily manage with half ! Our youngest will be graduating from college next May and HOPEFULLY will be employed and able to support himself but who knows? Our older son works for the forest service but those gov't jobs are shakey, to say the least, so we always want to have a place where they can land if needed. So.... we keep the big old house - for now. Stuff? I reached a saturation point many years ago and continually work to pare down. But it's back to that big house thing again - I'm not going to live in empty rooms so there's still far more STUFF than I actually need. When my mom died and I helped my dad move into an apartment, tons of family stuff came my way. Eleven years later when my dad died, the rest of it came to me. We've all talked about this before - the pull of family items and how hard it is to get rid of some things. But it has to be done so over the years I've pared down to the things that have the most meaning and passed the rest on in one way or another. I have dreams (nightmares?) about moving into a small home and having boxes and furniture stacked everywhere because I didn't sort and get rid of enough before moving!! Gifts? I could write a book. Christmas at my in-laws used to make me physically ill with the insane buying and giving of cr@p. It doesn't matter to me a bit how much time is put into the shopping and wrapping, or what the item is. When someone (namely my MIL) is purchasing *stuff* because of a date on a calendar and is obsessed with getting the same # of packages for each person, because that's "just what you do for Xmas" I want no part of it. We'd been married only a short time when I told my DH that I was opting out. He was totally on board. It was a sore spot with everyone in his family for many years but we held firm. We just stopped buying. Our kids would get everything they needed and some of what they wanted all through the year at a time when it made sense to get the item, not an enormous pile o' stuff, all on one day, much of it to be returned, exchanged or donated. And that returning/exchanging all fell to me, of course. A few years of that and we started just donating everything, in the boxes, tags still on. Give me a quiet day, with my family cooking together, laughing and going for a long walk...... THAT'S the gift I want.

I remember in the old elementary school, the boys bathroom was down in the basement and was sort of scary and once shortly after getting a new watch as a present, I took it off there to wash my hands and left it on the edge of the sink. When I went back to find it, it was gone. :-( Another time on the marble stairs leading up to the main hall of the elementary, two friends were having a contest to see who could jump down to most stairs. Starting at 3 steps from the bottom and jumping to the bottom, and then 4 steps, and then 5 steps, then 6. I was just about to ask to join the contest, because it didn't look that hard and I thought I could win. But with the next jump one of the boys slipped and landed on the steps with his arm beneath him, and got up screaming and crying and holding his arm which looked like it had two extra elbows. I also remember walking to visit a friend for the first time who only lived about a block further then the school (which was six blocks from my house) and being nervous about being able to find my way home. Although I'm now really questioning whether that would have been the old elementary school, which was first grade, or some time later. Anyway when I was looking for a picture of the school online, I saw campaign signs saying that that friend was running for head of city council (at whatever time the google street view truck was there)