mailladyrt1
 
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AARP Member
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Background
Name: Pam
Birthday: April 22
Gender: Female
Religion: Christian/Protestant
Location:
West Virginia
United States
School:
West Virginia University, Mountain State University
Work:
banking (loved the job, hated being inside all the time)
worked in a Goodyear rubber plant in production for a while
drove school bus for 7 years
now the United States Postal Service as a Rural Carrier..love it!!
Hometown(s):
Southside, WV
Morgantown WV
Parkersburg, WV
Huntington, WV, Point Pleasant, WV ....I don't get out much!
Quote:
It's not what happens to you in life....it is how you react to it. My Dad
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Interests:
Gardening, horseback riding, reading, college football, especially the West Virginia Mountaineers!
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Traveling with Aunt Rosie

My Aunt Rosie was very special to me.  She was one of Dad's older sisters and I loved her dearly.  She made everything fun.  And she took my sister and I lots of places and we got to do lots of things that we probably would not otherwise experienced.   I have always given her credit for my knowledge of West Virginia geography.  She and my uncle, before he passed away in 1967,  would take us on weekend excursions through our home state.  When we got older, after Uncle Morris was gone, we even went to the Ohio State Fair!  It was such a treat for us. 

 

We visited the southern part of the state where the coalfields are.  We went to the Becky Exhibition Mine that showed us exactly how that coal was mined, riding the cars into the mine.  They took us to the outdoor dramas, Honey in the Rock and the Hatfield's and McCoy's at Grandview State Park.  We visited Harpers Ferry in the very eastern part of WV.  Look closely at a map of WV, the eastern panhandle is shaped like a dinosaur's head!  Harpers Ferry is at  the very tip of its head.  Those places and practically everything in between.  I have such fond memories of those trips.  Along with making wonderful memories, we were learning something all the time.  I became very good at reading the map and figuring how far to the next destination.   We would pack picnics and stop at the road side rests that were so common back then.  They almost always had an awesome view of the West Virginia mountains or would be right beside a beautiful meandering river with lots of  big flat rocks to walk on. 

 

When we were older, I was maybe 12, she took my sister Georgianna who was 14, and our cousins Jim and Gordie who were both about 17 to the Ohio State Fair.  Wow.  We had never seen anything like it in our lives!    It just seemed to go on forever.  And on the fairgrounds, somewhere near the middle, I think, was a huge red cardinal.  It was maybe 20-25 feet high and that was the spot to meet with friends and family.  ...ok, you go there, we are going here, we'll meet you back here at X oclock!..      Such great memories of loved ones, who sadly have already gone, except my sister and I .   Aunt Rosie died in 1990 at the age of 70...complications from diabetes.  Both cousins are gone, too.  Gordie was killed in an auto accident on his way to my house on Christmas Day, 1995.  He was 47.  And Jim died suddenly at the age of 56 from an anurism.   Both were Vietnam veterans, both in active duty at the same time when I was in junior high and high school...both like big brothers I never had and both gone way too soon.    But sister and I have those memories to hold on to.

 

Those were the simpler times.  When a weekend car ride was the adventure of a lifetime.  When a summer fair was the highlight of your year.  When the most important thing in life was spending time with Aunt Rosie.  When the ride was the adventure.  When you actually looked forward to going back to school to tell everyone what you had done...because, of course, there were no cell phones, computers, and all the instant contact that goes with that.  You just had to keep re-living those memories in your head until you actually SAW someone to tell them to.....and they became so much sweeter.  Yes, those were simpler times....

Added: August 3, 2009
Views: 78 | Comments: 0 | Bookmarks: 0
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willynilly17
willynilly17 says:

Hey kiddo- how's it going??
Bon
Posted: October 9, 2009 9:37PM EDT
mailladyrt1
mailladyrt1 says:

Doing good, Bonnie. How is yourself? I am just trying to find a routine!! Things are (maybe) starting to fall together....I am off today and Monday is a holiday, so I have a three day weekend! That is a very good thing! i joined your new group....hoping to begin spending more time online....we shall see!! How are you, girl? Hope things are going well. take care, pam
Posted: October 10, 2009 8:25PM EDT
daisydoyle
daisydoyle says:

Hi, Pam
Our trees are starting to change here in the Chicago area....some already have. It's always bittersweet for me, the fall season. It is so beautiful, especially right now with the harvest moon glowing so brightly. But the darkness and gloom to come makes me want to go into hibernation. But then the cold, crisp, sunny days of January, with a freshly fallen snow sparkling like diamonds, are wonderful, too!
Posted: October 5, 2009 11:18AM EDT
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