Russell Willeman
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
On Monday, February 5, 2006, I attended the funeral of Russell Willeman. The service was nice and full, as friends and family packed in to pay their final respects to this much-loved man. I was not able to make the viewing the day before, but from what I understand, enormous amounts of people paraded through the Littleton & Rue Funeral Home. It was obvious that that nearly the entire town of Springfield had been touched by Russell in some way. He had spent his career as a local high school Art teacher for 25 years. Read the rest of this entry »
Mom, Bob, Ashleigh, and I took a short weekend trek up to visit with Denise, Aaron, and of course, baby Adam last Saturday, January 27. Just before leaving, 
I still fondly recall the gala outdoor luau held at the Valley Forge Sons of the Desert convention in 1986, complete with a pig roast, music, and the warm night air – so it was a little disappointing to find that the Augusta convention Friday night luau would be held indoors in a stuffy banquet room. Not that it wouldn’t have been miserable in the Georgia humidity, but still it was a bit of a letdown. 
Twenty years! That’s the only phrase I could think for the first five minutes that I spent with Eric Hubble on January 27, 2007. That is how long it had been since we had last seen each other – or even communicated. Truth be told, Eric and I spent only about a dozen days of our lives in each other’s presence, but also we exchanged many letters and telephone conversations over the course of just over one year. Unfortunately, as we entered high school in our respective hometowns, we headed off into different directions and simply lost touch over time. 
Continuing our Myrtle Beach trip in the Summer of ’06…After our time at the KISS Coffeehouse and Johnny Rocket’s, Mom took Grandpa back to the condo, while Ashleigh, Briana, and I browsed the shops. After she returned, we continued to walk around Broadway at the Beach until we happened onto Ripley’s Aquarium. Briana had never been there, so she was able to talk me into going in with her while my Mom and Ashleigh shopped.