Published: November 02, 2009 10:13 pm      

SIMPSON: Do you remember these?

Remember that I told you in plenty of time to vote early. If you still haven’t, I have just three words for you on that subject, “Do it now!” Don’t tell me that the time change has you all out of sorts. I agree, but some things just need to be decided.

Now, on with my binge of remembering yesteryear. I heard recently on television some women talking about how they rolled their hair around orange juice cans when they were young. Listen, that was modern compared to what some of us did back in “the day.” We used the metal ends of Bright ‘n Early Coffee packages for our curly dos.

Remembering this bit of trivia makes me think of how quickly the years have flown by. When I was a child, I thought summer was longer than fall, winter, and spring put together. And now I can’t get a good hold on an entire decade, let alone a year. I wish Father Time would show some mercy and slow down a bit. I would like to take a deep breath, wouldn’t you?

I remember where I was when President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Yes, don’t you remember? I told you earlier that Mother was washing clothes in the old wringer machine and punching the heavier garments with a sawed-off broom handle while we cried and cried because the president was dead.

And I will never forget when President John F. Kennedy was shot. I was teaching English at Irving High School and had just entered the teacher’s lounge (workroom?) when someone told me. I thought it was just a cruel joke until the speaker system came on, and the principal made the announcement. The rest of the day and the days following were like a dark dream from which the country and I prayed to awake.

These catastrophes are just as clear in my mind as if they had happened yesterday. No. Clearer. To see what happened yesterday, I have to look on my calendar. My short-term memory has, in the words of old timers, “gone a’ beggin’”!

I still remember many things about Corsicana like the old First National Bank when the big clock that is out at Pioneer Village stood there on Beaton Street. And I still refer to the Chase Bank building as the “new bank.” I get mixed up sometimes trying to reach a certain location because the Warehouse Theatre building used to be the Safeway Grocery Store, and Texas Cash Pawn was Piggly Wiggly.

I remember going to Sam Houston School when it was Corsicana Junior High School, and Drane when it was CHS. Yea, Tigers! I guess I’ll always remember the old Carnegie Library, the old YMCA and K. Wolens gold stamps. I like to think back when Mr. Ray Waller was president of Navarro College and when Kay Russell was in the senior play.

I attended a homecoming pep rally at Dawson High School recently. It was spectacular, and it brought back memories of when we used to march up and down the halls of CHS chanting, “Yea, Corsicana; Beat Temple!”

Some of my favorite memories are of Miss Mabel Mabry, Miss Erma Weidmann, the Holseys, the Kibers, the Stewarts, Gertrude Russell, and Mr. R.A. Armistead, our fearless leader at CHS.

I’m so glad I read what Irvin Samuels wrote about his memories of Corsicana because his comments and descriptions helped me put mine into perspective. I liked Col. Frisby’s columns about Hubbard and Mack Crawford’s “fond memories of Blooming Grove.” And I’m sure you know that I certainly remember well when the Daily Sun was located up by the post office.

The Bible is full of words that encourage us to remember times past, especially those times when God has bent down close to encourage us when we were afraid and to warn us when we have crossed a line that we shouldn’t have. How thankful we should be for the people who have helped our country to survive the Great Depression, the wars and upheavals of various kinds.

Let’s remember the wonderful promises of God that we can stand on and be assured that they will not fail. Many events may cause change in our lifetime, but one thing is sure. God will be with us through it all if we truly believe.

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Gelene Simpson is a Daily Sun columnist.

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