MAYHAW JELLY IS GOOD FOR WHAT AILS YOU

We have two mayhaw trees in our backyard that have produced many gallons of berries through the years.  Mamoo  makes wonderful jelly each year.  The berries drop off the trees in the Spring, and we now have two great grand children (Caleb and Alexis) that come over and help us pick the berries off the ground.  (It is not easy to bend down at our age and pick them up, and the kids seem to like this little job - for a little while).  

This Spring, they came over and the berries were all over the ground.  They loved to see which one could pick up the most berries.  They both picked for about fifteen minutes, and then Alexis called for Paw-Paw and said, "My gizzard is starting to hurt, Paw Paw", and immediately Caleb said,  "So is mine".  So I told them to rest a while, and that was the end of the berry picking until next year.  I hope we have another bumper crop!

ps:  All the kids dearly love mayhaw jelly.

"HOW'S WATERMELON DOING?"

Recently Mamoo and I went shopping at the local Wal-Mart Store nearby.  She suggested that I take my blood-pressure in the Pharmacy Department  and she would meet me there.  

I had just sat down and got "hooked-up" when a very nice, much older black woman came by and said, "Sho wish I could get my son to take his "pressure like dat".  I politely asked her his age.  She said he was over 60, and she added, "I had him rat here on the streets of Baton Rouge rat in front of a fruit market sixty years ago".  I asked her, "Did you name him apple or orange?"  She said, "No suh, I kinda likes da name "WATERMELON".

ps:  My blood pressure was 107/60  by the time I stopped laughing!

TUESDAYS ARE SPECIAL

 

Each Tuesday morning at 9:00 am, our Church offers a "MEN'S COFFEE" group meeting, where biscuits and sausage are provided along with a brief bible study.  The leader of this group is usually one of the Associate Pastors of our Church.

At the same time, there is also a group of women who meet in another room  to knit prayer shawls for "shut-in" members of the Church, as well as for other members of the community.

Mamoo and I enjoy this fellowship with our friends and find the time spent here as very interesting.  

There are usually a group of 12 - 15 men in our group -  most of whom have retired (still young).  Not all the men are members of our Church.  The knitters number about 30 ladies.  

I find it most enjoyable to visit with my "young" friends, and we usually solve  "all the problems of the world" each week before our short devotional begins.  The party is over at 10:00 am and we look forward to the following Tuesday morning.

SON-IN-LAW WILLIS DELONY

Willis is presently the Barineau Professor of Keyboard Studies and Professor of Jazz Studies at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.  Prior to his appointment in August of 2000 he taught for fourteen years on the music faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University where he received the university's President's Award for Excellence in Artistic Activity.  He is also the recipient of an Artist Fellowship by the Louisiana Division of the Arts in recognition of his achievements in classical and jazz performance. 

Two CD's, "World A Comin" - "Classical  and Jazz Connections", both are now in international distribution.  In a FANFARE magazine review of 'A New World A'Comin", Peter Burwasser writes:  "(Delony) plays with gusto and finesse, and with an especially nimble rhythmic sensibility, a proper combination of attributes for jazz, or any other kind of music-making,  for that matter."  Previous  album credits include a recording of sonatas by Samuel Barber and Sergei Prokofiev,  also on the Centaur label,  and a jazz album entitled "Civilized Conversations", featuring Delony and  bassist Bill Grimes (E & D. White Professor of Jazz Studies at L. S. U.)  He is featured in collaboration with bassoonist William Ludwig on the recent recording  "Rhapsody in Bassoon", on the Mark Records label which features the world premiere recording of Andre Previn's "Sonata for Bassoon and Piano".

During recent concert seasons, Delony has appeared as piano soloist or conductor with American orchestras in Wichita, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toronto, Madison (Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra), Spartanburg (South Carolina), Rochester, Omaha, Nashville, Fort Worth, New Orleans (Louisiana Philharmonic),  Shreveport,  the Sun River Fesatival Orchestra in Bend, OR, and the Florida Orchestra (Tampa).  He has appeared recently as guest soloist with the Columbus (GA) Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Louisiana Sinfonietta and, in a 2002 Asian tour, the Shanghai Symphony.  In July 2006 he performed a solo recital in Offenburg, Germany as part of the Kreuzgangkonzerte series, performing a solo recital program entitled Jazz Meets Mozart.  In November, 2006 he traveled to Paris for an appearance as solo recitalist on the La Main d'Or concert series.  An experienced jazz arranger, Delony's scores have been performed by orchestras throughout the U.S. and Canada.  His work as pianist, arranger and conductor is currently featured in Club Swing and Stay Tuned, the popular orchestral shows featuring the Minneapolis-based vocal group Five by Design.  He is conductor/pianist on the CD recording of Club Swing, which was released in January 2002.

AND HIS BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT IS THE LOVE AND CARE HE SHOWS FOR OUR DAUGHTER AND THEIR FAMILY OF 31 YEARS!

ELIZABETTA

It was the summer of 1992.  It was time for our annual summer trip to Europe, so we flew into London to do some sightseeing as usual.  In London, we just love to  find a big park somewhere near  our hotel and sit in the shade to picnic and just "people watch".  We found a nice shady place in Hyde Park and rented 2  lawn chairs to relax for a while.

There were not too many people walking around that day but in the distance we noticed a group of six young people all holding hands, just skipping along in unison toward us.  They seemed like a very happy and carefree group, just laughing and singing and enjoying the beautiful day in the park.  They seemed to be teenagers.

As they approached us, the young girl on the end of the line, with the biggest smile and the most beautiful dark blue eyes I had ever seen waved at us and said something that sounded like "BUON GIORNO".   I could not help but wave right back at them with a big American greeting like:  "Hello, there".  They then came right up to us and the smiling one asked, "You are American?".  We both said, "Yes".  They all gathered around us, all smiling and trying to speak English at the same time.

The smiling one said, "We are all from Italy and are in London studying English for the summer.  Will you please send me a picture postcard from America?"  Such a wonderful request!  I hurriedly found a piece of scrap paper and she carefully printed "Elizabetta Digiampaolo,  Melegnano, Italy along with her home address.  She carefully folded it up and then with a very serious look said, "Please do not forget us".  Then they were gone, skipping along and waving goodbye to us.  We watched them till they were out of sight.

When we returned home I found several picture post-cards of America and sent them to the Italian address on the little piece of paper.  We then started to exchange letters and became pen-pals.  We are now "e-mail pals" and much more.  

We have been fortunate enough to visit Italy several times since then and of course a visit to Melegnano (a suburb of Milan) each time to visit Betty and her Mama and Papa (neither speaks English), and also her younger brother, Gianni (who was studying English at his school).

PERSONAL MEMORIES OF W W II ERA

1939 (12 Years old)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt re-elected (Second Term).

Germany (under Adolph Hitler) invades and conquers Poland, Czechoslovakia, invades France, Belgium, bombs London, starts Battle of Britain.

Italy(under Mussolini) joins Hitler.  Invades Ethiopia and North Africa. (Haile Sellassi was emperor of Ethiopia)

1940 (13 yrs old)

U. S. National Guard sent to Alaska.  U. S. Army starts maneuvers in Arkansas and Louisiana.

Draft started. (all males over 18 must register)

1941 (14 yrs old)

William Durrett, Virginia's older brother was drafted and served with the U. S. Combat Engineers.  He served four straight years in the South Pacific, including Saipan, Tarawa, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and Hawaii.

Germany continues its conquest of Europe and North Africa.   U. S. sends planes to England to assist in Battle of Britain.  Germany pushes French and English troops all the way to the North Sea at Dunkirk, France.  Britain sends every boat available to rescue as many as possible.

December 7:  Japan bombs Pearl Harbor without warning.  Sinks many U. S. Navy ships, kills thousands of innocent civilians.

December 8:  President Roosevelt delivers his "day of infamy" speech.  Congress declares war on Japan and Germany.

1942 (15 yrs old)

Germany occupies all of France and Belgium, continues Battle of Britain.

U. S. sends Marines and Infantry forces to South Pacific Ocean to fight Japan on Islands of Saipan, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Phillipines, and New Zealand.  Rationing of food, clothing, gas, tires, sugar, and even toothpaste.  In order to buy a new tube of toothpaste, you had to turn in the old tube (it contained lead).  Collection of all waste metal was encouraged in order to make more  ammunition.  Many U. S. Navy ships under construction along the Gulf Coast.

My oldest brother enlisted in U. S. Army after four years as a cook in U. S. Navy.

1943 (16 yrs old)

War in Europe and North Africa drags on.  U. S. troops invade Italy and Sicily.  Thousands of U. S. Navy, Coast Guard and Marines and Infantry continue to recapture Islands in the South Pacific.  Under Admiral David Nimitz, there were heavy losses of  Japanese as well as Americans.

1944 (17 yrs old)

War continues both in Europe and South Pacific.  U. S. continues to build troop strength in England (under General Eisenhower) in preparation for D-Day invasion into France. 

June 6, 1944 was to be the largest concentration of any invasion force in the history of the world.  Thousands of ships, all loaded with British troops, U. S. Infantry, Marines, and Coast Guard arrived before dawn on the coast at Le Havre, France  to meet the German forces that were waiting for them with machine guns and cannons right on the coast.  Thousands of men and hundreds of ships were lost under blistering fire by the time the invasion was completed.  By noon that day, the German defense had been removed and the Allied Forces had come ashore.  Even to this day, I can almost hear the radio reports of the "BOOM-BOOM of the German artillery guns shooting down on our troops.  At the same time, American forces were well into Italy, and attacked Germany from the south.  A friend of ours, Frank Reitzell, was on active duty in Italy at the time.

Our troops marched all the way across France and into Berlin, Germany by December.  My two brothers,Wren and Malcolm, arrived in France after the invasion.  They both participated in the Battle of the Bulge against the Germans in the Fall of 1944.

1945  (18 yrs old)

Germany surrendered to the Allied forces in June, 1945 at a school house in Reims, France.  President Roosevelt died in office.  Vice President Harry Truman ordered the atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan, in order to end the war in the Pacific.  Japan surrendered.

William Durrett (Virginia's brother) was discharged from U. S. Army

I graduated from El Dorado High School on May 25, 1945.  I was drafted into the U. S. Army Infantry on June 4, to serve for the duration of the war, plus 6 months.  I was sent to Camp Fannin, Texas for 18 weeks of Infantry training.  Our battalion was selected to march in a huge parade for Admiral Chester Nimitz in Dallas during this time. After 18 weeks of training, I was sent to Camp Pickett, Virginia to prepare for occupation duty in Europe.

In April, 1946, I unexpectedly received orders to report to L. S. U. to teach Military tactics  in the R. O. T. C. Department.    I was so excited that when I called my mother to tell her this great news, we both just started crying over the phone!

Received honorable discharge in September, 1948.

CANDY MAN

While selling World's Finest Chocolate to a small mostly black Church in Baton Rouge, the leader of the Sunday School Class was highly successful for his Church.  After several years, he came to me and said, "Mistuh Gene, I ain't no longer with that Church, but I now have a Church of my own.  Can my Church sell that chocolate candy right here in Baton Rouge?"

I told him, "Certainly, when do you want to start?"  He replied, "Rat now"!  He would preach on Sunday and sell chocolate every other day to offices, stores, friends, and every other prospect that he could find.  He was highly successful, and now calls himself "CANDY MAN".  His church seems to be prospering, too.