Mara was and will always be in my heart,
and I know there are so many, many who feel the same way.
She was beautiful and always will be, and had a heart to match.
She was funny, and had a great laugh.
She raised a great family and did her best
to provide a home and love for all.
I will miss her and I am looking forward to seeing her again.
And It will not be hard for us to find her.
We just need to look up and we will see her,
shining so brightly and
showing us the way
as she always did.
Peace and Love,
Dave K.
❤️🙏🌈
Fifty-two years ago I was finishing up tenth grade. Things are bit foggy about that year. We had the teacher strike. Did Mr. Tate stick around after that? I think he did.
I remember kid’s wearing letters on their sweaters or jackets. Usually they were jocks*. I did inherit my older brothers sweater from Haston Middle School. Clean white sweater (he seldom wore it) with a letter “B” on it for band. (He was one badass clarinet player!)
If I had a white school sweater it would have a “B” on it for Budweiser which would match my Budweiser belt buckle and the empty Budweiser can I carried to class. (I would fill the can with water to try and rehydrate my brain from all the drinking the night before.)
But I digress.
I read the memories posted by the others thanking Mr. Tate for his service, his humor, his being a great guy…
I don’t remember him being a great guy. But that’s not his fault. Looking back, I can see he was a great guy. I saw him as the man who wanted me to run, jump, swim. And I didn’t want to do those things. I just didn’t want to be there, in gym or in school. And I kind of resented I had to take gym in the first place.
So this is 2026. I am still alive today. I lifted weights yesterday. Try to do that three days a week and go for walks on the other days, often to the ocean. (It’s good thing the Pacific is only a mile away. If I tried to do that from Dearborn Heights I would be dead before I got to Ann Arbor.) I do tai chi, eat a healthy vegetarian diet with some eggs once in a while.
I am retired and have time to think about things.
Did Robert Conrad really do his own stunts on Wild Wild West?
What is the opera Falstaff about?
Why are humans still having wars?
Did Carlos Castaneda really see through the eyes of eagle in the sky when he was high on peyote?
Was Green Acres as funny as I remember? (I think it was.)
Why didn’t I listen to Mr. Tate fifty-three years ago?
To answer that last one, I know I can’t go back in time, but if I could, I hope I would have put down that beer and picked up some weights, a tennis racquet, or put on some decent running shoes (if they existed back then) and hit the track.
The good news is I did manage to put down that Bud over thirty years ago and I’m still trying to keep my mind and body and spirit healthy. But I never got a chance to thank Mr. Tate for trying to put me on the right path so long ago. So if there’s a heaven, Mr. Tate is there and I hope he reads this.
-dave
*jocks.
As I typed that word…j-o-c-k…for the first time ever I wonder if that was offensive? I mean, I heard kids were called jocks. And when I used it to describe athletes, I didn’t think it was an insult. There were jocks, and freaks or veiners and…did we have geeks? What were the super smart kids called? We didn’t use nerds…
I just found this website about slang terms of the 1970s.
https://inthe70s.com/generated/terms.shtml
PS. And if I ever called you a jock, I apologize.
Peace.
Hi, Bob! Hope you are well and happy. See you at the reunion in September!
Happy belated Birthday Sharyn. Hope you're doing well.
So sorry to hear. In high School she was a sweet person and I'm sure she will be missed.
Posted on: Sep 24, 2018 at 12:46 PM
i posted a memory for Mark Reid but this site isn't set up to send notifications when you post on someone else's site. I don't know html well enough so it could take a lot of new code and links to make that happen and I don't want to create more work. I'm glad this site is here and I recommend sending in a few bucks to support it. (I believe I had to send a check. Perhaps there could be a link to send in donations to for support?) Anyway, here is what I wrote about Mark Reid:
On this quiet Sunday morning my mind has drifted to Mark Reid. I don’t know of anyone who did not like him and appreciate his sense of humor. He was a funny guy.
One of my best memories was in…I think it was 8thgrade. (Hey, it’s been a while.) We had to debate the pros and cons of smoking pot. I was given the honor of extolling its virtues and he had to demonize it.
On the morning of the debate I stopped outside the Dearborn Drive-in, out front where the sign was, and amongst the shrubs and whatever was growing there, smoked a joint with some friends. (I thought at the time it would give me insight and bolster my argument. It didn’t.)
I don’t remember the outcome of the debate. (Hey, I was high, what can I say?) But a few years later Mark and I would be sharing a joint at some party or other and I’m glad I got to know him and appreciate his love of Monty Python and more.
Peace.
Posted on: Aug 15, 2024 at 10:16 AM
Hey there, Roy! Nice to see your picture. Hope you are well and happy. :-)
Posted on: Apr 23, 2024 at 7:18 AM
Congratulations on your retirement, Rick! Enjoy.
Rachel, So sorry to hear of your loss.