As many of you know by now, my precious Momma
passed away on Tuesday, May 25th. I will
speak more of her later in the NEWSLETTER.
from
Debbie Borres Desmond in Nederland
Got back from our cruise.
Never did see classmate
Joe Gongora
and his family. We had a nice couple for
our supper table mates. They were from the
Philippines and one of our waiters
was from the same area where she was raised.
They had fun talking. He brought us extra
lobster without us asking. We got an extra
shrimp dish to share, also. We did a lot
of walking. Had a great time.
from
Vicki Brunow
in La Veta, CO
I may have turned 60 in May, but I run everyday
and will run in the Bolder,
Boulder which is a 10K on Memorial Day in
Boulder,
CO. I even won a medal in the last 5K I
ran so I guess I'm not over the hill just yet.
After all this running, I will be in PA most of
June to try and move my parents into a safe
environment, (assisted living), but my father is
determined to die in the house where I grew up.
Wish me luck in this situation. Thanks for
the good job you and Mike do on the website.
from
Robbie Greig
in Port Arthur
Please post this for me
for all of our classmates that are interested in
experiencing the
Monceaux's
tradition. A small
carryout restaurant called
MOMOS
at 4010B
Main St. in
Groves has opened. It's the same Monceaux
menu we were raised on. Excellent, as
always. To expedite your order, phone
(409)678-1202.
from
Glenn McGee
in Duncan, OK.
Yes, I am still in the promise
land of
Duncan,
OK. Soooo much better than the
Houston traffic!!! We have had our fair
share of bad weather. I guess most
everyone knows about the ice storm in December.
We were stranded in po-dunk hotel about 60 miles
from home on Christmas eve. But, at least we
were safe and not in a ditch! We also have
had tornadoes close, but nothing here, thank
God. A couple of weeks ago, just before
our church service at 6:50 pm, we had solid hail
that went from a nickel size to a quarter size
for 10-15 minutes. It was amazing. Just a
reminder to everyone for the crazy trying times:
say in prayer and hold on to the Promises of
God.
from
Jeanette
Constantine in Groves
I was wondering if
Shari Louvier
has gotten enough recipes for her recipe book?
from
Keith Tamplin
(actually his new wife wrote in) in Huxley, TX
Keith is newly married to Rhonda Smith as of
April 23rd and everyone is doing great. He
is an insurance agent for Shelby County and
Rhonda is a former Newspaper Publisher and
Editor.
from
Cherlyn Hebert
in Houston
I love the birthday list idea that
Fred McCarty
suggested and Mike implimented on the website.
I noticed that no news has been printed in the
NEWS ON THE
HOMEFRONT lately.
What's going on with your parents?
from
Diane Richmond
Miller in Silsbee
Sure enjoyed the extra participation from the
classmates in the last website update and
NEWSLETTER. That's great, but I really
missed the "News from the Homefront" section.
How are things with your parents?
**********************************************************************
To answer a couple of classmates' inquiries
about the lack of this section in the last
two NEWSLETTER editions, I will say that my
MOM was immensely improving and was feeling
so much stronger that I didn't have a lot to
say about them. That is why finding
her dead in her bed on Tuesday morning, May
25th, was a shock. I went to visit for
the day and noticed that Dad was watching tv
by himself. He said that Mom was
"sleeping in". I peeped around the
corner and noticed that she "seemed" to be
doing just that. For the next 30
minutes, I visited with Dad and fixed their
medications for the week. I checked on
her again, this time going to the other side
of the bed where she was facing the wall and
that is when I found that she had died
during the night. My siblings and I
had always wondered what Dad would do if he
ever found her deceased. Would he know
to go next door? We knew he couldn't
call anyone since he doesn't know to dial
the phone. Mom's prayers were
answered. She NEVER wanted to get
diabetes like her other siblings and
parents. She had a horror of having to
be put in a nursing home. She worried
that she might be in a hospital with life
support and hear us tell the doctors to
unplug the wires. She also worried about
what would happen to Dad. How were we
going to take care of him? Well, he
lives with me during the week and my sister
on the weekends. We will try this and
see how it plays out. All those
worries for YEARS for naught! She told
me the week before she died that she hoped,
when the time came, that she would pass away
in her sleep like her Mom did.
Finally, her prayers were answered.
Rest in Peace, Mom.
(Many of you have mentioned how you felt
like you knew my parents by reading about
them in this section. Thank you for
all the kind words.)
***********************************************************************
Tribute to Mom from her Children
(written and read by me at the funeral)
I hope that this tribute will let Mom's
grandchildren and great-grandchildren learn more
about her life and why we love her so much.
How do we start a tribute to our mother?
She was our first teacher, our conscience, our
heart!
Mom had a very hard childhood. She was the
baby of 6 children and the family moved often,
(or as she would say, "when the rent was due").
Her mother abandoned them when our mom was only
4 years old. Soon after, a step-mother
entered the picture and her life seemed to take
a turn for the worse, if that was possible.
Her older siblings were her guardian angels and
she never forgot it. They helped guide her
and loved her when she really needed a mother's
love. She took house cleaning jobs and was
forced to quit school before she graduated to
help with expenses. This was what she told
us was her biggest regret in life.
June, 1938....Mom's 16th birthday party given by
friends. Across the room....22 year old
Prince Charming spots her and announces to his
friends standing nearby, "Hands off. That
one is mine!" and the rest is history!
Obviously, the attraction must have been mutual
because two years later in 1940, our parents
married at St. Mary's Catholic Church while one
of the attendees was overheard to say, "It won't
last!" Seems that they proved her
wrong since the union lasted for 69 1/2 years.
They were blessed with three children over the
next 10 years.
Growing up, our "stay-at-home" mom cooked,
cleaned, took in ironings for extra income, and
sewed our clothes. She was a hard worker.
In the course of one school day, she was known
to move all the furniture in a bedroom, paint
the walls, hang the pictures back up, and move
the furniture back before we returned home.
She cleaned endless ducks, cooked gumbo, and
made sure we went to Catechism, Saturday
confession, and weekly mass at St. Joseph.
After we graduated from high school, Mom began
to spread her wings and join the workforce.
She worked at Three Sisters, Gibsons, and her
favorite....in the shoe department at Dryden's.
This extra income also helped during the strikes
at Gulf Oil every two years. Rice, rice,
and more rice! After Dad's retirement in
1980, Mom also retired and started volunteering
as a Pink Lady at St. Mary's and at the
Hospitality House. She and Dad joined the
"spa" and also the YMCA where they met many dear
friends.
Mom wasn't always a chipper person, though.
She kinda had that "half empty glass" attitude.
She was also a chronic WORRIER! If
something was wrong, we didn't have to waste our
time worrying about it. She worried enough
for all of us. In fact, we called her a
"What if'er". "What if it rains next
Sunday when we are in church and we forgot our
umbrella?" "What if a hurricane is in the
Gulf and we have to evacuate and you are out of
town?" (Of course, she had a right to that
one since it really happened. But, that's
another story.)
Mom had another character "flaw". She was
a big-time Penny Pincher! She was known to
make a return trip to a grocery store five miles
away that over-charged her 3 cents on the milk.
But, she would just say she wasn't cheap, just
frugal. We called her "tight"! She
always came back with the retort, "I was raised
in the Depression." We then would remind
her that she wasn't raised with air conditioning
but she used it now. But, when it came to
sharing or helping out one of us when in need,
get out of her way. She never hesitated.
Over the course of the years, Mom became
"another mother" to many of her nieces and
nephews. They loved her dearly and trusted
her. Of course, their problems gave her
some more worries! She continued to visit
and call them until the day she died.
Our mother wasn't all gloom and doom. Not
by a long shot. She had some great times
over the years. Going dancing on Saturday
nights was a big treat for her and Dad and their
friends. They often came over after the
dance and had a big gumbo. Some of her
other pastimes included cooking, sewing, baking
cakes, playing cards, (especially Solitare),
reading until all hours of the night, watching
the Astros baseball games, traveling to
Louisiana to spend time with relatives, and of
course rooting for the Dallas Cowboys!
Another big event for her and Dad was going to
the casinos. In fact, for her 85th
birthday she requested a trip to Las Vegas.
They had not been there since 1974. Boy,
had things changed.
Mom liked to collect plates to hang on the wall,
loved beautiful figurines and what-nots.
She covered all the walls with family pictures
and planted roses and day lilies in the flower
beds with help from Dad, of course. But,
what brought her the most pleasure and hours of
enjoyment over her life-time was rereading the
greeting card collection that she began in 1940.
Yes, she saved EVERY one of them that she
received for 70 years. In fact, for a
surprise, we sent out secret letters to friends
and family members requesting a card shower for
her 85th birthday in 2007. She received
107 birthday greeting cards! The postman
didn't know what hit him.
Mom's heart stopped beating for the last time
the morning of May 25th, 2010 but she began to
die in body and spirit beginning in July, 2007.
That is when she began to have major health
issues. Because of this and Dad's
dementia, we moved our parents from their
beloved home in Lakeview and had them move to
Bridge City to be near at least two of their
children. Feeling dependent for the first
time took a toll on her spirit. In the
next three years, they moved five times, endured
two major hurricanes with extended evacuations,
and lost all their possessions in 6 foot of
saltwater due to Hurricane Ike.
Age and increased ill health, (both mentally and
physically), helped to draw our parents closer
together. They became more of a team since
each needed the other for daily chores.
They were never apart in the last few months.
Dad checked on Mom constantly and when she was
feeling poorly and needed to take a nap, he
would feel her head to see if it was hot,
"checking for fever", he said.
Mom's heart might have stopped but she has
taught us heart! She taught us by example
to respect others and especially ourselves, to
try to reach higher and use hard, honest work to
get there. She taught us to honor our
family and friends. She wasn't impressed
by wealth or fame but wanted us to strive to be
better and enjoy life as it came at us.
Her pleasure was when she would hear about our
vacations or get-aways. She felt like we
needed the rest away from worries.
(Remember, she would take over the worrying for
us!)
At the end of her earthly life, her thoughts
were always about us and our families, and above
all, her spouse, her Prince Charming of 69 1/2
years!
You did a good job, Momma. We thank you
for being the best role model that we could ever
ask for. We love you. God gave us
the best when he chose you for us. But, as
Dad said, as he patted your cold lifeless hand
the day your heart gave out, "You left too soon!
You left too soon!" He is right. Not
87 years, not even 187 years. We all still
need Mothers in our lives. They are our
hearts.
Love you more than you can ever know,
Gerry,
Danny Boy, and Linda Sue
PS Mom, do us a favor. Don't worry,
be happy. Let God take care of the worries
now.
***********************************************************************
Gail Wilson's
husband will be returning
to Afganistan soon. He is undergoing more
combat training. His address at this time
to show him our support and appreciation is:
Lt. Col Felker, Ross
602 TRG, Det 6 (A26-P)
Bldg 6038, Doughboy Loop
Fort Dix, NJ 08640
Gail could use your support, also. Here is
her address:
Gail Wilson Felker
1124 Normandy St.
Barksdale AFB, LA 71110
from
Jeanette
Constantine Morgan in
Groves
My sister, Ellen, passed away on Feb. 18, 2009.
We, as a family, have decided to do something
special in her memory to keep her wonderful
loving spirit in the hearts and minds of
everyone in years to come. We decided to
start the
Ellen Pitts Memorial Foundation.
With the money raised, we will give a yearly
scholarship to a worthy PN-G graduate. In
doing so, we will be helping further someone's
education. Ellen loved and supported PN-G
High School where she, her husband, and both of
her children graduated. An account has
been set up at NECHES FEDERAL CREDIT UNION.
The account # is 36903. We would
appreciate any donations to help us reach our
goal so that her name will live on forever.
Remember, by doing so, you will also help
further a deserving students' education.
If you are able to make a donation, please
contact me so that I can thank you personally.
Jeanette Constantine Morgan
3901 Pure Atlantic Rd.
Groves, TX 77619
(409)548-0768
june-bug@mail.com
(update from
Linda Carlsen
Chapman concerning
her husband's health)
I am glad to report that after returning from
Duke University with my husband initially having
stage four lung cancer, he is 99% clear of
cancer after one year! Thanks for all your
thoughts and prayers.
In all my craziness and forgetfulness during the
last trying week, I have forgotten some
information that was passed along to me at Mom's
wake service. One of my classmates, can't
remember who at this point, told me about
someone they wanted me to add to the
SUPPORT list. I think it was her
"brother". Please forgive me, but you will
need to contact me with this information AGAIN
and I will include it in the next edition. I do
apologize.
***********************************************************************
I received the following note from
Gary Hammond:
I went to the graveside service for James'
mother. The service was very nice.
James' nephew, a Baptist minister, performed a
beautiful service. Mrs. Hubert was a
special lady, one that impacted my life in such
a good way.
I added my "new" address since I have been
getting cards delivered to my old "evacuation
address". Thank you so much for the
support given to me and my whole family.
***********************************************************************
The last few days have been exhausting. I
am not telling you anything that many of you
don't know. So many classmates have gone
through this process and, of course now I can
understand it first hand. I wish I
didn't. Thanks for all the phone calls, visits
to the services, food, flowers and plants,
cards, and above all.....HUGS! The support
shown have helped me through this sad time.
By helping relieve some of my stress, you have
helped me console my dad. His
many sentences have been, "Why didn't she wait
for me?", "Why did she want to leave?", "I
thought I would be the one to go first.",
etc. His thing now is, "If I become too much
trouble, I want you to put me in an OLD FOLKS
HOME." Pretty hard on a 94 year old.
Actually, pretty hard on the 60 year old, too!
Happy 88th Birthday June 6, Momma. I'm
sure heaven will throw a big bash for you and
James' mom arriving on the SAME DAY! Two
of his newest angels!!!