WORDS TO LIVE BY, ACTIONS TO EMULATE....

The Valedictorian of the Prairie View High School graduating class of 2019 began his very engaging address with a quote from Sponge Bob SquarePants.

Only, I didn't write it down thinking that I could easily Google it to find just exactly what was quoted and not rely on my hearing which was even worse because of the acoustics where we sat in the CU Events Center  at Cameron's graduation exercises on May 24th.  When I did Google it, I had NO idea there was such a plethora of quotes from SBSP.  The Internet is full of them!  So, I will just leave that part of my report out and move on to some other great things about this graduation exercise.

The first and most important was that Cameron graduated 7th in her class of almost 500 students!  YEA, CAMERON!  WAY TO GO!

What an impressive graduating class with 92% who DID graduate out of the potential that COULD graduate.

There was a significant number of graduates first in their family to get a high school diploma.  The Valedictorian was one. Tony identified himself as a Mexican-American.  He gave a great speech, was humble in his accomplishments, and talked about his family's sacrifices coming from Mexico determined that he would receive the best education possible. Tony lamented that popular opinion is that people coming to this country are not education-oriented.  That is a myth he said he will work on to eradicate, because the American Dream of believing in someone is still very much alive among his family and friends.

It was noted that 5% of the graduating class are going into some branch of the US military.

Two graduates were totally handicapped and received enthusiastic assistance from the senior class president and several other students to push their wheelchairs across the platform to receive their diplomas.

Two girls were visibly pregnant and two girls were carrying infants that looked just about as big as a doll.  Cute, too.

The student body president had literally counted how many days they had spent together in high school--664 in four years-- and  shared some of his memories of those many days among his classmates.

Their class had the same principle for all four years, and she was "graduating" with them to move to another job on her career path.

This class had also  been the guinea pigs who  learned how to go to school during off hours of the day.  Later they had to get used to a school week of only four days--Tuesday through Friday--when that program was instituted.  What changes they had to accommodate just to get to school!

Thirty-seven year old  Social Studies teacher Kara Bosworth with a Masters in Education told the audience that when people ask her WHY she teaches, she tells them the students are her life. Chosen by the class as teacher of the year, Ms. Bosworth admonished those nearly 500 kids to understand that life requires hard work. "But," she said, "it's worth it!"  Other advice she gave them:  love what you do.  Be passionate about it!  Show compassion and gratitude.  "Fight for what you want, " was her closing statement.   She got thundering applause.

Roberta Thimmig, President of the Board of Education, gave this homely and very needed advice:  "Write a thank you note to those who have helped you along."

Then in speaking directly to the whole audience, she said, "These graduates will determine what history is yet to be written.  Each has to do his/her own writing to determine what their history will be.  I'm asking them to use this guideline: DO NO HARM--to yourself, to others, to the environment.  In fact turn that thought around and DO GOOD!"

And the whole thing was over!

The next day we had a small family gathering at Brice and Judy's home to celebrate Cheyenne's graduation from UC Denver the week before and Cameron's graduation from Prairie View High School.  Good food!  Judy and Cheyenne prepared another of their spectacular feasts.  Homemade pizza.  Fresh cut pineapple--and as a Fillipina believe me Judy KNOWS how to spiral cut a pineapple.  Plus platters of other fresh fruits, as well.  Three giant double crust fruit pies.  Grilled French Bread ham and fancy cheese sandwiches.  Pasta salad, etc. etc. I ate too much.

So, I guess it's a good thing that the next family high school graduations don't happen for another few years.

Momma G has to recover!

COMMENCEMENT DAY!

Cheyenne Nichols graduated from the University of Colorado--Denver last Saturday May 18, 2019,  with a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts from the College of Arts and Media.  The Spring commencement was held outside on the Tivoli Quad, Auraria Campus in downtown Denver.

It was 40 years since Grandpa Ross graduated from the University of Colorado.  Though he "re-began" his university studies at the Denver campus in 1973, he finished his engineering classes on the Boulder campus and completed everything in December 1978 for a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.  Ross' commencement exercises were in May 1979 at Folsom Stadium in Boulder, as I shared recently in a Nichols Kids monthly letter.

Last Saturday's graduation was an exciting day punctuated with some inclement weather which finally brought the graduation ceremony to an abrupt halt and forced everyone to seek shelter when lightning began to zigzag the overcast sky.  There was some cloud cover when we arrived prior to the 9 a.m. ceremony.  Chilly.  Then the sun came out from behind a VERY dark cloud and illuminated everything so brightly, I was sorry I was without sunglasses.  Plus that little reprieve with hot sun actually warmed up the air.  Not for long!  The wind began to blow, and that very dark cloud began moving our way as it trailed wisps of black fringe obviously spitting rain along its way.

The exercises began with the National Anthem sung a capella by a group named LARK.  One of THE BEST renditions I have ever heard!  There was an INVOCATION!  I was impressed about THAT, too.  Introductions all around of the distinguished guests, the deans, presentations of outstanding contributions, as well as faculty and staff award winners, outstanding students, retiring faculty and staff--WHEW!  There was a lot, including an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters awarded to Jake Jabs, president and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse.  Who says having a pet tiger  and all those TV commercials won't get you some recognition?  Impressive credentials, though, I must say.

Only one speaker after all that.  It was University of Colorado President Bruce D. Benson.  As the president with the longest tenure in the university's history--11 years--he probably could have rattled off a lengthy speech.  Instead it was several pithy quotes of advice about how to get along in the world now that the graduates were commencing their real lives.  He closed with this one, "The harder you work, the luckier you will get."  I applauded the brevity!

There was approximately 45 minutes remaining in the proceedings when the announcement came to get out of there!  Cheyenne's College had just lined up to cross the stage to be handed their diplomas and was probably half through the list of candidates-- BEFORE it was Cheyenne's turn.    Too bad.  We didn't get to see her walk confidently toward the tangible reward of her last four years' efforts.  The graduates were directed to a nearby gymnasium where they finished the program WITHOUT spectators.  By then the rest of the family was huddled in the glass vestibule of the nearby parking garage awaiting Cheyenne's joining us for pictures--without her gown because she had already had to turn it in.  Still there were big happy smiles all around, in spite of the fact our teeth were chattering.

Louis and I arrived a few minutes early that morning, and from texted directions easily found Cameron, Judy, and her brother Edwin.  (Unfortunately, Brice was in the hospital and missed it all). Burgandy got there after we did.  While we were waiting for the processional of graduates to arrive at the quad, I mentioned to Judy that I had graduated from Brigham Young University on May 31, 1968, in Provo on an overcast day much like that day.  But other than that I really didn't remember a thing.

So, with several minutes to go, I Googled  "BYU commencement May 1968" and was soon scrolling through the entire program.  Wow!  Didn't remember that N. Eldon Tanner, then a counselor in the First Presidency conducted the graduation ceremonies at the Field House.  (No Marriott Center at that time.)  Didn't remember Hugh B. Brown was the commencement speaker.  Didn't remember James Cash Penny was awarded an honorary doctorate.  I didn't receive my diploma until the Humanities College Convocation later that day.  English majors had theirs at 5 pm.  And THAT was where I finally graduated from college along with 2,850 other people throughout that day during their own college convocations.

Truthfully, I remember lots more about other people's graduation than I do my own.  I just wanted to be the heck over with it and on my way. Said a hasty goodbye to my parents and left for a month's visit to California to spend some time with my cousin George and his wife Karen in Sacramento.  I think we took off in the dark of night after the graduation.  Happiness was seeing BYU in my rear view mirror!  It meant I was done. Done. DONE.

I would venture to say that the graduates in my May commencement at Brigham Young University were probably predominantly white with a smattering of other ethnicities like Asian, Hispanic, etc.  But at Cheyenne's graduation, white people were definitely in the minority--and I mean students from all over the world!.  Here was a group of people who had probably defied a lot of odds to complete their education.  Individuals who didn't grow up with the expectation that they would be graduating from college--and many, many with advanced degrees which probably took years for them to complete as they worked full-time and took care of families along the way.

And...they were dressed up like it was a special occasion--just like when I graduated.  There was no rowdy, drunken partying along the way as was Ross' graduation in 1979.  These people at Cheyenne's graduation (2,100) respected what they were experiencing and acknowledged that great effort with a show of their best--behavior and appearance.  I was proud of them all, especially Cheyenne!

Hard work may indeed make it seem like it was nothing but luck.

BUT EMBRACE BOTH....


PS  Pictures to be added later.

DON'T GET OLD !!!

My parents were 43 when I was born.  So, it didn't take too long into my life before they were dozing in their chairs, falling asleep when I was talking to them, and going to bed early.  My dad used to snooze a lot while he was reading the paper in his big chair in the dining room of our house in Rawlins.  My mother would fall asleep in the car as soon as it started to move.  

Truthfully, it was kind of irritating.  Especially when we would go up to Rawlins for a visit when the kids were little.  I would be excited to be with my mom and talk with her and ask her about patterns and material or some culinary thing or just....talk.  And, I would be talking at her because her eyes would be glazed and drooping.  Soon she would say she had to go to bed because she was tired.

Then after Grandpa and Grandma Huggins died, I moved into a different part of my own life.  By the time we had finished living away from Arvada, though I had always been somewhat of an early riser and could still burn the candle at both ends, I suddenly found myself rising even earlier as I first took Harold and Brice to early morning Seminary, and then began teaching Seminary. My eyes commenced to close as soon as I sat down--anywhere! 

When I went to Book Club every month--and you KNOW how much I enjoyed that--I usually slept through the middle part of the discussion, waking just in time for the treats.  The B.R.O.A.D.S. finally just gave me a blanket at the beginning of our monthly meeting and let me sleep.

The Denver Temple had opened by that time so I often went when a group of sisters from the ward would drive down together.  One time on the way home Sue Schilling told me she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do for me during the session that day.  We were sitting on the front row, and as I fell asleep I kept leaning farther and farther forward until I nearly fell out of the seat.   She wondered, should she wake me?  Should she put her arm out and catch my fall?  Should she ignore me and see what would happen?  

Harold would sometimes call me from BYU at midnight because life was hopping there, and during the conversation he would often say, "Mom, Mom!  You're fading!"   Indeed I was.

I would close the blinds in my office at Data National during my lunch hour so I could take a little nap.  One time one of the other workers went to Janean Call who was our HR person and told her she thought I was dead.  Janean asked her why she thought that.  Well, I was sitting in my desk chair with my head back and my eyes closed and mouth open.  Janean just told her, "Gwennie, it's called TIRED!"

I would fall asleep at our evening meetings at Super PC Memory, but Rick Schaefer always cut me some slack because he knew I got up every morning at 3:40 a.m. and went on a walk before I had a morning devotional, got ready for work and took my kids to Seminary prior to sitting at my desk and  dialing that phone at precisely 7:30 a.m.  He overlooked stuff like that for anybody who made an effort to exercise.

When I traveled for business, I would be sound asleep long before the door to the aircraft closed and the safety demo was on tap.  In fact, the B.R.O.A.D.S. were worried for me to start working for United knowing how my eyes closed so easily once I sat down.

Once I went to work at United I learned how to keep awake on the jump seat, but in the gate room--that was a different story.  One day a young woman who was on our base crew asked me why every time I sat down, I would go to sleep.  I told her I had been tired for years.

I used to fall asleep while writing in my journal.  Still do.  Even texting or emailing I fall asleep and sometimes accidentally click a key on my phone, which manages to erase the whole message forcing me to begin anew.  That becomes a chore the second time around.

As soon as the car begins to move and I am the passenger, I fall asleep. I have become my mother. Louis has just gotten into the habit of saying, "Why don't you just put the seat back and make yourself comfortable."

Today when we got home from Church just after 11 a.m., I ate a quick sandwich and hurried up to the computer.  Pristine hours stretched before me, and I envisioned I would get so much accomplished on the projects I wanted to complete.

My scripture study was first, but I kept falling asleep while I was writing in my Come Follow Me journal--the pen making its way across the page in a squiggle.  At least I wasn't writing on the computer like I was not too long ago and woke up several minutes later with a broken neck to see 12 PAGES of lower case "d" on the document I was writing!  It is hard to keep my eyes open whenever, wherever.  Today was no exception.

I had no idea when I used to wonder why my parents couldn't keep their eyes open all the time that the same thing would happen to me.  I just didn't understand then how life has a way of wearing a person down physically, mentally, and emotionally as the years go by.  Since a real nap is just not in the cards most of the time, I'm guessing a body "takes five" when it can.  That's what mine does.  I surmise the alternative is...  

Don't get old !!!

ALL ABOARD...!

Royal Gorge Railroad

Excursion Train

A few weeks before Brittany came with Ro and Pippa for a visit in April, Louis started thinking about fun things we could do while they were here.  One of the activities he suggested was to ride the train in the Royal Gorge.  I didn't even know there was a train.  We'd been to the bridge over the Gorge a couple of times, but that was about it.  Then Louis found out that the excursion train was seasonal and didn't even begin to operate until the end of April--after the Wilsons returned to Portland.

Louis brought it up again when we started talking about what  mini vacation we were going to take for our anniversary this month.  I actually had some vacation days beginning the 11th, so we thought about Savannah, Montreal, or Oakland where we could go to the open house for the newly refurbished temple.  I suggested Oakland because that is where Louis served his mission.  We leaned toward that choice as Louis expressed an interest in seeing the mission home and some of the areas where he served, as well as the  temple now ready for rededication.

Alas, United's planes to San Francisco (United no longer has gates at Oakland) were already full for the middle of May.  So, we started over.  Savannah, Montreal...…  Louis also suggested a "stay-cation" in Denver like we did a few years ago.  But, I thought I wanted to "go" somewhere--until the last few weeks of flying were so overpacked and full of weather delays that a road trip sounded lots better to me.

Why not Grand Junction?  And then I said I didn't think I wanted to drive even that far.  We'd already gone to Cheyenne once.  Didn't want to do that a second time.  That's when Louis brought up the idea of the Royal Gorge Excursion Train again.  He was really enthusiastic about it.  I was kind of ho-hum, but it was only about three hours (plus) away.  Why not?  There are also some places around Colorado Springs that we could pretend to be tourists.   Like Pikes Peak, for one.  And Manitou Springs has a Christmas shop.  Right up my alley....

It was a beautiful morning when we left home about 8 am for Cañon City.  We stopped for snacks at 7/11 and went to the drive-through at McDonald's for orange juice and breakfast sandwiches to fuel our way.  Great discussion in the car about this week's Come Follow Me since there was a fair amount of time to develop the topics, and no distractions.  Spring in that part of Colorado was definitely two weeks ahead of us here in Johnstown.  All the trees were full-blown green with leaves, as were gardens, shrubs, and even the wayside undergrowth which was already hearty and lush.  And the day was pleasantly warm in the low 80's.  Life doesn't get much better than that!

Seemed like no time at all that we were driving into the attractive railyard with lovely landscaping and fresh white pea gravel ballast covering the boarding area by the tracks instead of a cement platform .  We had made online reservations for the 12:30 pm afternoon excursion.  That day it was a good choice to be out riding in the best part of the afternoon.


Louis waited in a long line to purchase the tickets in the restored depot/gift shop which sported a vintage Santa Fe railroad sign, but the signage printed on the engine and cars was just like the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad's script.

The  Royal Gorge Railroad  which began in 1999 has been refurbished to it's 1950's excellence with added air conditioning.  It sported a Dining car, a Club Car, a Vista Dome car enclosed in glass, coach cars, and an open-air observation car. The long line of cars had a diesel engine on both ends. 

Boarding the SPURBUCK coach car

We chose to sit in one of the coach cars because of the high backed seats and big windows.  Sounded roomy and comfortable.  Our car was situated about mid-train with Spurbuck stenciled on the side.  We had passed the Zebulon Pike car and the Theodore Roosevelt car, so I was kind of disappointed we got the non-descript one.  (A Spur Buck is a Mule Deer with spurs on its antlers.)  Plopped down into seats 3 and 4 which were facing seats 1 and 2.  We were about the tail end to board, so we were hoping no one would come and sit across from us.  Then Louis realized that we were supposed to be in 1107 seats 3 and 4, not 1119 seats 3 and 4.  Got up and wandered down the aisle to our ticketed seats.  Crowded in that part of the car and there were people already sitting in seats 1 and 2.  Nonchalantly wandered back up to the end of the car and sat down again.  Felt like the passengers on United--taking any seat we wanted and hoping no one would come and claim their rightful seats.  Luck was on our side--no one came by the time the conductor yelled "All Aboard....!" as he pulled up the stairs.  With a toot of the horn, we were on our way as soon as the red signal turned to green.

Our seats were on the Arkansas River side.  This was our lucky day!  We got to see all the rafters and boaters shooting the rapids as we chugged along on our 24 mile round trip through the Royal Gorge's granite cliffs reaching straight up on both sides of the river bed.  The river isn't deep, but I have heard the rapids are pretty gnarly.  A couple of places it looked like it might be just a bit of a squeeze to get through the narrow opening of turbulent water flanked by huge granite boulders. 

I was glad it was a sunny day.  Didn't look so foreboding with sunlight and blue sky at the top of the sheer rock walls of the giant ravine we were in.  We also rode under the famous hanging bridge which is still in use.

DOZING!!  Old eyes can't stay open

 Louis was eager to go to the open observation car with several other passengers, but I opted to sit with my feet up on the opposite seat and close my eyes for a minute or two.  Later, Louis reported that one rafter actually fell off and was having kind of a tough time getting back on the raft.  Whoops!  Dozing, so I missed that little excitement

When we got to the end of the line at Parkdale, Colorado, there was a 15 minute break while the engineer walked through all the cars the entire length of the train and readied himself to take us back to Cañon City, driving the engine that had started the trip at the rear of the train.  Because of the empty seats across from us, we scooted over there.  That way we still got to face forward  and see the river side of the train once again as we rode.  

The whole trip took about two hours.  It was fun!  Louis told me he had driven extra enough the week before that we could splurge on our little vacation, so we ordered lunch on the train during the return trip.  He had a turkey club sandwich with lemonade and I had a HUGE--too big for one person in a tin pan serving dish--order of nachos.  Our server brought it to us on lap trays.  It was actually as good as the brochure hyped it would be.  And prepared right there on the train.  The people who opted for the dining car had a full lunch included in the price of their ticket. We didn't eat in the diner or order food from the Club Car very often--like NEVER--when I was little, so eating a meal on the train was a treat.  It was this time, too.

The employees looked to be a combination of college kids, who were the stewards and servers, and retired people doing the driving and managing the train.  I think they had actually been real railroad employees during their lifetimes.  All were friendly and helpful, seemingly having a good time doing something that looked kind of fun.  

It wasn't until we were getting off the train that Louis said, "I have a confession to make.  This is the first time I have ever ridden on a passenger train!"  I was surprised.  "Did you like it?" I asked.  "I loved it!" he said.  "Then it was worth it. You're happy.  I'm happy."

I truly enjoyed the little excursion trip, mostly because it brought back a lot of great memories of all the years I rode the train.  But I thought it was too bad Louis had never had the opportunity to ride a train when it was in its heyday more than half a century ago.  Railroads were  an illustrious and great part of America's history.  

Last week was the sesquicentennial of the Golden Spike ceremony joining the Union Pacific Railroad with the Central Pacific Railroad at Promentory Point in Utah.  I remember the big deal for the 100th anniversary in 1969, and those special locomotives--the 6900's--to commemorate the occasion.  Railroad is in my blood, and I still experience strong tugs at my heart strings when I feel the pounding power of those giant turbine engines or hear the blast of the horn as it signals a train is on the move.

Here's another interesting fact.  The Royal Gorge ride is one of the eight best  heritage railroad excursions in the United States according to Trains Magazine.  I boned up on some other history tidbits, too, like the war between the Santa Fe Railroad and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway who fought over the rights to use the tracks that had been laid through the gorge.  Like straight out of a Western movie.  People even got shot!

And this last little observation:  I could have sworn that we used to spell Cañon City with the "y" instead of the tilde over the "n" which signifies a nasal sound.  Now most signs in the town are Cañon or just plain Canon.  Well, whaddayaknow!  And to write this blog entry, I even learned HOW to make that little tilde diacritical mark on the computer.  Now if I can only remember the code to do it!

In all, a pretty decent 18th....