Dear, Retired Friends!!

Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."  And that is the truth!!

Today I met my retired administrator friends for a nice late lunch and visit. We also celebrated Jill's birthday. Every year it is very special to celebrate her birthday. Jill has had two kidney transplants and she is an amazing human being and friend. She has had health issues, but you would never know it with her so positive outlook on everything.

These four ladies were a lifeline for me when I was living in Douglas. They would come to Bisbee for a weekend about three times a year and give me reprieve!  I will always be grateful to them for that.  Their friendship means the world to me. And they are fun!!!

We try to get together as often as possible for lunch and/or a movie.  About every three or four months, we try to do an overnight somewhere.  I have missed the last two, but absolutely won't miss anymore. They are too important.

One of the adventures that we have is meeting at places that are really new to me. Today we met at a restaurant on 40th St. and Camelback in Phoenix. It is one that I have never been to before.  It was so nice and good for me to get out of my "comfort zone so to speak."

We stayed for about an hour and a half after lunch just visiting and catching up  We planned an overnight in January for my birthday.

I can't begin to express how much I care and appreciate these wonderful friends who have helped me maintain my sanity through crazy times!!!

St. Nicholas Day

The year that we lived in Germany, we were able to learn about different traditions.  One of them was St. Nicholas Day, December 6. 

One of the wonderful people who worked on my campaign for the board, has a foreign exchange student from Germany who attends Desert Ridge High.  She is absolutely a darling girl.  

Today she got to stay home from school because of the holiday. She was hungry for German noodles (spaetzle) and I have the machine to make the noodles.   I make them often and they are delicious.

When Angie asked me if I would make them, I asked her if she would like me to make beef stroganoff also as that is my favorite.  I got the "ingredients" on Monday and went over about 3:00.  

I made a loaf of beer bread and "colored" it green for Christmas. They had not had beer bread before and it was a hit.

Anna is absolutely the nicest young lady. She is wise beyond her years.  She amazes me with her outlook on life.

Angie and Chris have two teenage girls of their own so it was a fun dinner.  Chris is such an incredible husband and dad.  He cleaned up the kitchen and that impressed me!

I was so happy to be able to do this for Anna (and Angie)!

 

Lunch with my Tiger Buddy

Today I went to Gilbert El to have lunch with my tiger buddy. She is a fourth grader and asked if she could bring a friend to join us. Of course, that was fine.  Her wonderful teacher let me know what they wanted from McDonald's--cheeseburgers, fries, and a Sprite and a Dr. Pepper.  So I stopped at McDonald's and got their order.

Our weather has been rather warm this fall, but today was actually chilly.  It has been overcast all day.  The Gilbert El campus is absolutely beautiful and there are picnic tables all around the campus. It still was nice to sit outside with the girls.

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to both of the girls. They were excited to have lunch with me, as I was with them.

Tiger Buddies is a program that we started in the early 90's at Gilbert El. It is kind of like a big brother/big sister program. Adults mentor students who need a little extra TLC.

It is nice for me to be able to give back to a kiddo at my old stomping grounds! I love Gilbert El. It was such a big part of my life for the 21 years I was the principal there.  It is always nice to see friends who are still working there!

I am blessed!

Monday, Dec. 4

I have been on such a roll writing on my blog.  I have several articles to post that I have found in the treasure from 858.   However, I didn't get to any today.

I got a message from Judy yesterday (yes on a Sunday) and everything closed on the house in Douglas.  Friday night, I got a call that the alarm had been "alarmed" but I knew that Ken had turned everything off as November 30 so I didn't respond.

I am just hoping that the new family loves 858 as I did.  I know it is final and I am okay with that.  

Ellen Roughan's Obituary in Douglas Dispatch

Every day I go through a box that I brought from Douglas.  I continue to find articles and artifacts.  I found Grandma Roughan's obituary from March, 1949.

Ellen Roughan,

96, Pioneer Arizonan, Dies

Mrs. Ellen Roughan, 96, 537 Thirteenth street, died Saturday at 8:50 a.m. in a Douglas hospital.

Mrs. Roughan, known as "Grandma" to everyone, was born in County Mayo, Ireland to John and Catherine Neafsay, Aug. 24, 1852. She came to the United States in 1879 and was married to Matthew J. Roughan, Dec. 19, 1880 at Easton, Penn.  Three children were born to the union, two of which survive.

The Roughans moved to the Arizona territory in 1903 and settled in Bisbee. In 1905 they moved to Sulphur Springs valley where the lived until the death of Mr. Roughan in 1912.

"Grandma" Roughan was a practical nurse and during her 96 years delivered many of the sons and daughters of our present day Douglas. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Edward A. Scott of 858 Fourteenth street, and Mrs. Anne Parmer of 537 Thirteenth street; 10 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

Rosary will be recited Monday at 8 p.m. at the home of Mrs. Scott.  The Requiem high mass will be sung at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at Immaculate Conception church. The Rev. John Doran will officiate.

The body of Mrs. Roughan will be burried beside her husband and son in Evergreen cemetery in Lowell.

Brown-page is in charge of funeral arrangements.

GPS Town Halls

This morning I had the privilege to once again facilitate a Gilbert Public Schools Town Hall.   I think this is the fourth one we have done.  It is a new concept and will take some time to get the word out there.  I am hoping we can record them so that people can watch them who couldn't be there.

Today's was on athletics and music.  The panel was made up of a parent, three students and teachers and administrators. It was amazing.

The young man who spoke is a football player who said he is first a student. He has an athletic scholarship to Stanford, which speaks volumes about his talent and his academics.  The two young ladies on the panel were amazing.  One talked about being such an introvert and then getting into drama and coming out of her shell.  She has a scholarship to NAU and will be majoring in a biomedical field.  However, she still wants to do acting.

The other young lady is the granddaughter of one of my most amazing IA's at Gilbert El.  She is an honors student and an athlete at Gilbert High.  She tore her ACL in August and is in the process of recovery.  She also will be going to NAU.

Nick Cornell, coach and teacher at Campo Verde spoke about the importance of coaches and it being more than a sport.  It was to mold  young people into becoming productive adults.  Nick was our GPS teacher of the year this past year.  I have known him for sometime and he is "a class act" in every sense of the word.

Jenny Nichols, who taught at Gilbert El, talked about the importance of music as did Lee Meschino from Islands.  I have had the privilege of knowing these two amazing teachers for many years.

I am so proud that GPS has still funded the arts and continues to see the importance of the "whole" child.  That has always been my vision.   

I love the role that I am playing now.  And I love the direction our district is headed in.  It is an honor!!!

Powerful Words from a Holocaust Survivor!

Be an UPSTANDER NOT A BYSTANDER!  These were the words from Oscar, a Holocaust survivor, to the students at Desert Ridge Junior High. 

He told them about respect and having respect for everyone, including your enemies. 

Oscar was born in Germany and was seven years old in 1932 when Hitler's rise started. He spoke about his normal childhood with friends and school and how all of a sudden everything changed.  

He told about how his family moved to Poland and he learned Polish and then Germany invaded Poland and everything changed.  He shared what happened when he had to start wearing the Star of David and how his tranquil life changed as bullies went after them.  The powerful part to me was how he shared about the "bystanders" just watching and not getting involved and that bystanders are the worst.

It was an amazing 90 minutes.  The kids were listening and were very touched.  It was obvious.

The year that we lived in Germany in the late 70's, I was able to visit Dachau, which was a concentration camp near Munich.  It was so sad and disturbing. I actually could feel the evil there. It is hard to explain what that felt like. The only other time I felt evil at a place was when I went into the drug tunnel in Douglas in the early 90's.  Both were evil in very different ways.  It is mind blowing to me that something like this could have ever occurred.