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Health & Fitness

Blog: Women—God Bless 'em! (Part III)

"Love is all around, no need to waste it!" -theme song of the "Mary Tyler Moore Show."

Back in the "good old days" of television (1971-1977) when family shows were just that, "family shows", the fictional associate television producer Mary Richards could "take on a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile" with wise-cracking, outgoing and sardonic Rhoda Morganstern; snobbish neighbor and Mary's often arrogant landlady Phyllis Lindstrom; man-hungry, superficially cheerful Happy Homemaker Sue Ann Nivens; and Georgette Franklin, lispy, ditzy, sweet-natured but slightly naive girlfriend of the dim-witted anchorman, on any given day at the side of our hat-tossing career-girl from Minneapolis, Minnesota...sincere, single and thirty years of age.

(Nothing personal here, MTM devotees, these are words taken directly from Wikipedia, my free encyclopedia...)

In real life, on any given day, the recipients of this Blog's "Tea/CoffeeCupAward" will not recognize themselves by some of the above descriptive phrases; however, the affectionate environment that Mary's best friends created for her in the newsroom and in Mary's bachelor pad, is pretty much what has earned my pals these awards that won't be ballyhooed in Hollywood or the local paper...this Blog mention is pretty much all that they will be getting, the "T/CCA" being very much fictional, too. 

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No matter how hard I'v tried "categorizing" these lovely ladies (most of whom have come into my life in the past fifteen-plus years) I can't...they would fit any niche, you can take them anyplace.

So, let's hit the Action Lanes Bowling Alley in nearby El Monte, one of the oldest settlement towns in Southern California, the End of the Santa Fe Trail for those hardy men, women and children heading out west for a better life and that proverbial pot of gold.  

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Women bowl for lots of reasons:  pot roast recipes, potlucks, Vegas fundraisers, sharing complaints and cures for aches and pains, male companions (yes, I hear that works!) but, mostly, for the mood-changing sometimes raucous laughter that echos throughout the building.  Take it from Jackie Henney of Arcadia, who has seen it all in the more than 30 years she has devoted to forming Senior Leagues.  She gets her Senior League guys and dolls to Las Vegas and back twice a year, checks their meds, room locations, gets them back onto the bus to head home...so deserving!  (She is 88 years, still going strong and now taking names for the next League...I am in awe.) For the record:  One T/CCA

Plus 60 Chat Room caught my fancy in 1998 when time hung heavy on my hands and heart.  Del had passed away in February of 1997, I had caught up with the housework and the computer was just sitting there, not earning its initial cost. 

Choosing the name "Saucynshort" and a password brought me into a Chat World that was a revelation to me at the time.  Looking back I really did fall off that Turnip Truck it seemed at times.  I learned as much about myself as I did about others, to trust and when not to trust, to "back off" and to "lean forward".

"Leaning forward" paid off in the Cyberspace friendships of Nancy Maynard, Barbara Lewis, Evie Kelly and Sandi Crowley Backus, known by their Chat Names:  Doodah, Barlew, Coyote and Sassie.  Scattered all over these United States, upon occasion the Plus 60 Chat Room visited Las Vegas and as many slots as the purse would allow.  Would you believe we are now continuing as Facebook Friends?  For the record:  Four T/CCA's  

Once a week or as Sadie will allow, you can find me at the Live Oak Community Park from 10 a.m. until after lunch, surrounded by other Senior Cafe Volunteers, all of whom speak English with delightful elements of Korea, Cambodia, Burma, China, Vietnam, Mexico...a far cry from "Sooie!" one hears when calling hungry pigs for a meal on an Iowa farm.  These delightful women keep me hightailing during a few hours of service amid fun 'n frolic and a belly-filling lunch of American or Asian, and actually worry about me when too much time has passed since we last met...caring! Would you believe that my helpmate, Sharon Corey, is from Minnesota?   For the record:   One ever-filled Tea/Coffee Pot 

Even when burdened with pressing city duties, Cathy Burroughs and Debbie Ingram of the Temple City Parks and Recreation Department check in on The Volunteers at holiday and other times, (tossing an Appreciation Day for Volunteers every April), just to see how things are going for each of us...caring!  For the record: Two T/CCA's

In spite of her throwing me into the deepest end of the swimming pool at Atlantic's Sunnyside Park one fine summer day and in spite of her not catching me, Birch Street neighbors Marguerite (Tootie) and Eileen (Tiny) Maher are probably the two long-ago teenagers who deserve recognition the most...they pulled me out.  (You can find that Blog under "Fireworks and Friendship"...)  Come to think of it, I owe my Blogging Career to them.  For the record:  Two belated T/CCA's

And the list goes on...teachers would include Alma Beckwith, Civics teacher at Atlantic High School and my home room teacher for four years.  Funny thing about that is I was literally "warned" she was not the easiest of teachers.  Funny thing is she wasn't.  I loved that about her.  An "A" from Alma Beckwith was what I looked for every Report Card.  Even if there were no brothers or the Coca Cola Bottling Works around to give me a penny or a free Coke for every "A" earned as they did at Grant Elementary School.   (The only time I was "besotted" with drink and money.) For the record:  One (very belated) T/CCA

Daughter Dana had a teacher much like my Alma...Ms. Sandra Ragusa, Band Director at Arroyo High School.  Yes, that would be PTA's Marge Ragusa's daughter. Ms. R. settled only for excellence, and that is what Dana loved about her.  

The Arroyo High School Marching Band won championships throughout Southern California; alas, with Dana not as a member of the smart-sounding band, rather in a skimpy sequined uniform as the Head of the Flash Rankers who performed her duties when she heard the authoritative sound of the handsome Drum Major's whistle, striking up the band.  Not once did it rain on their parades.... 

Now living in the Washington, D.C. area, Ms. R. is doing great and excellent things for the kids where she teaches and is now, according to an over-lunch conversation with her Mom, in the process of forming a performing concert orchestra in the Maryland area...and what a flutist she is, even her practicing is simply beautiful.   For the record:  One T/CCA

No matter how little or how long some women are embedded in this life, all defy the ordinary description of friend...count me simply blessed, and that is all there is to it...

For the record:  My life is at that stage where my kids' adult friends are 1) "staggered"... 2) "in awe"... 3) exclaim "OMG!" about my so-called and greatly exaggerated Computer/Blogging/Genealogy skills and... 4) this is especially nice, "I thought she was in her late 60's."

Okay, that last one was from a Facebooker who lives far away in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and I am not about to unforgiving-Skype her anytime soon.

You can bet your cotton-pickin' heart those younguns who foster hope of getting the T/CCA sometime in March of 2014...they're gonna make it after all!

'Til the next time

CG/CW

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