Skip to main content

Flashback Friday 2004-2014

Continuing in the series, today we see various pictures of the Mary Davis Home before I left its hallowed halls and clanging doors.   



My trusty pickup, a 1996 Ford Ranger sits on guard for a quick noon hour trip home or home for good at 4:30.  This is an amazing truck, actually.  Bought it new and it still is serving its function admirably.  A run-in with a public Grocery pylon, and a fender bender by the current Mrs. Blythe in Atlanta, Blue has incurred some tough encounters lately.  She is dented and unsightly here and there, but, hey, ain't we all?  She has just recently turned over 100,000 miles and I suspect is good for another hundred K.  

It's kind of funny because through all those winter snows and salt her back end was real rusted out and a service station down here said it should be junked and taken off the road, and by the way we have a pick up you can buy right here.  I luckily said no, went to a place here and asked if they could fix the problem, and they did.  She is still on the road.   


When I first started and before we built on to the original structure, this was the all purpose room.  This was where kids spent their free time, and ate.  There were tables in this area and couches and TV in the carpeted area.  We added on thus creating the hallway on the right that went down to the new rec area, rooms and gym.  



This is Katy in the kitchen.  Katy served many functions for us through the years and performed them all well.  I mentioned in an earlier post her adeptness at malaprops  and usually had us in stitches.  Funny and sweet, she was essential to us all.


This is my buddy Pat Johnson.  I forget which grandkid this is but she doesn't look too happy with whoever is shaking her hand.  I can't put into words adequately what Pat has meant to me through the decades.  I stay with her when I am up North and she is a gracious and generous hostess.  She has, and continues to play a large role in my life, and for that I am forever indebted.   


This is the front office area.  On the left is Randy's office and the next door down was Becky's.  Pat's is at the far left at the end of the hallway and to the right of the wooden closet door is the break room.  My office was right behind the photographer. 

It seems like yesterday - it seems like a lifetime ago.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flashback Friday - Cold Case - Part One

53 years ago today, Gordon "Peel" Duncan walked into the dark post office in Seaton Illinois and was brutally assaulted by an individual or individuals.  He died two days later.  The murder was never solved.     Gordon Duncan was one of the publishers of the Seaton Independent, a weekly newspaper in town that started in the late 1800's and stopped publishing in the 60's.     We  boys were just young children when this took place, but we have been fascinated by it ever since.  The imagination of kids, I suppose or maybe the fact that it was unsolved.  Regardless, this was a big deal in our little lives.  For our parents it tended to shatter the idea that Seaton, our town, was safe.  That it could fend off the forces of evil in the world, that in our little universe we would be impervious to harm was gone forever.  For us kids I don't suppose we were old enough to know real fear.  Fear for us was not getting our list ...
2 comments
Read more