Smiling about Just Plain Nostalgia

I'm thinking about some old times with a SMILE this morning.  As one who has an uncanny and probably strange ability to remember certain birthdays of a lot of people over the years, my mind zeroed in this week to two very special birthdays. 

One, of course, was my daughter-in-law Debbie's the day before yesterday.  She turned 33, and we celebrated with Willie down at Trinity with their wonderful almond crusted chicken salad.  Always a good choice.  

This is the first year I've been able to celebrate with Debbie on her birthday.  Later, they came by to borrow the pickup for Willie's gift to her----a new dresser.  

The other birthday etched in my mind forever is Nancy Holm Carlisle's, and it's a big birthday for her today.  She graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1979, so if you do the math, you'll know her age today.  She looks exactly like she did in high school.

But the years have sped by.  She's been married to Kelly for a long, long time, and I believe two of her children are in college.

I used to tease Nancy and her four sisters that they were the "Holm-ly" sisters.  Far from it---all beautiful, talented women, and I worked with each of them in some way during their high school years.

A more apt term would be the "Love-ly" sisters.  Their mom Janel, a longtime RN here in Sandpoint,  was in the room at Bonner General Hospital the day Annie was born.   Needless to say, my association with this family is made up of a multitude of wonderful memories.

Nancy was a member of the Ponderettes Drill Team throughout high school.  And thinking of her birthday brought forth a lot of smiling images from nine years of advising the Ponderettes.  That was a job I never sought----one of those given you when you're a rookie teacher.  

I knew nothing about marching, costuming or designing drills in 1969, but I learned a lot over the years, thanks to the drill team girls and often their parents,  who helped out.  We had our high moments and our lows, but my memories at this time are so sweet.  

With the high moments and the low moments came a lot of fun and many lifelong friendships with marchers and their families.  For example, there was the year Jan Meneely, Joan Hawkins and Marilyn Chambers went along as chaperones when the Ponderettes performed in the Wenatchee Apple Blossom Parade.

 The three did not know each other at the time but have remained good friends ever since.

And, there was the spring of 1977,  five weeks after Willie,  was born when 30-plus young ladies passed the little guy back and forth on the bus off and on for five hours all the way to Wenatchee---even fed him a sucker.  

He lived through it all but also put up quite a squeal once we reached our destination.  While the girls dined inside the restaurant, I sat out on the curb with a crying baby.

We put on those fantastic variety shows where kids would come out of the woodwork and wow the audiences with some unbelievable talent.

And, one year,  there was the Miss Ellaneous pageant where contestants like Miss Shapen, Miss Adventure, Miss Quito and even Miss Ing, Miss Spell performed their respective talents and showed their poise.

Miss Ing won by the way. She wasn't there, but her escort was.

So, dear Nancy's 50th has revived a lot of pleasant memories this morning.  

And, with the Ponderettes in mind, I'll leave all readers with the one bit of guidance this poorly prepared drill team adviser confidently issued to her marchers several times every single day for those nine years of drill team practices and performances:  SMILE  !!

One Reason to Smile for sure:  The ZAGS start their season tonight.  GO ZAGS!!!