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Sandra Buckley (Matthews)
Okay Sharon, Add me to the list of "responders" on the Message Forum. Here's the most recent news from he Matthews' household.
Like the rest of you who are writing, we all seem to be busier as retirees than when we all worked and raised our families, and that's some good news ! It means our brains and bodies are still working, albeit with a few creaks and cracks and forgetfullness along the way ! How many of us are either experiencing "age appropriate" (a kind term my eye doctor uses) cataracts or have already had cataract surgery ????? For myself, the cataracts got growing much too quickly last year and I had surgery to get news lens in both eyes.........6 weeks apart. The most simple surgery I have ever had, and now I can pass my driving test without having to wear glasses for seeing in the distance!!
Bill is a diehard golfer, playing at least 3 times a week, and more when he participates in local tournaments on the weekends. He's still waiting to break 80, and I hope he does soon.......before the aging body and arthritic knees gve out on him. Meanwhile, he leaves here this coming Saturday morning, April 20, to spend a week with Terry Noonan and David Brown in Alabama, playing 6 straight days of golf on the Robert Trent Jones Alabama Trails golf courses he designed. Good luck to all of them, as these courses are some of most challenging golf courses in teh USA. Then the second week of May, those same 3 guys will all be meeting up at John Frey's in Ohio for a camping and fishing trip at a State Park about an hur from John's home. I've lost track, but I beleive this is the 6th year they have done a fishing trip, going as far as northern Ontario, Canada, Wisconsin, Lake Erie and Dale Hollow Lake, on the Kentucky/Tennessee border.
The rest of Bill's time is spent as Chairman of the Beaufort County Board of Directors for United Way. This is his 3rd year serving on the Board and his second year as Charman. This part of eastern North Carolina is quite disadvantaged, lots of unemployment and welfare. Bill aso LOVES to read and has a NOOK which is constantly under his nose, when he's home. And then there's the church choir..........I converted hinm to the Methodist Church when we got married, and ever since 1970, beginning in Louisviile, KY at Crescent Hill United Methodist Church, we have sung togeher in all of our church choirs, as we moved around with DuPont.
As for me, I gave up golf last year.........too many lower back problems. I decided I was not ready to go the surgery route (at least not yet) of having fusions and rods and screws from L-3 down to S-1. I still play lots of bridge, in a couples club, in a couples Marathon club, and in a gal's only Maarathon club. I'm a volunteer in a court program for Foster Children, as an outside Advocate for the child, making sure all situations have been researched by the Social Workers before any decision is made by the Court Judge for the primary parent involved. My passion, and most outside volunteer invovment is with the 30+ year old National Alliance on Mental Illness, known by NAMI. There are chapters in EVERY one of the 50 US States, and a total of 35 in North Carolina. I am on the Board for the Pitt County local chapter, but am most involved with the NAMI on Campus chapter at East Carolina University in Greenville, about 20 miles from us. Seventy percent of mental illness symptoms and diagnosis occur between the ages of 16 and 24, so college age students are highly at risk of this gentically passed illness flaring up during their college years. I have been honored by being invited to the National NAMI Convention in San Antonio, TX this coming June 27 through July 1. It should be an exiting and informative opportunity to hear so many great speakers and find other ways to educate and advocate for those challenged by living with a mental illness. Our 41 year old adopted son, Jay, was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia at the age of 15.........a long hard struggle for him and fo those of us who love him so dearly. Meanwhile, we travel quite frequently to Charleston, SC to see our youngest son, Joe, and his lovely wife, Tamrah, and our precious granddaughters Aila,7, and Tatum, 4. They are moving the end of April to the Jacksonville, FL area for a new job opportunity for Joe. It will add an additional 3-4 hours to what was a 6 hour driving trip, so we may start flying south once in awhile. I can barely stand to go more than 2 months without a grankids "fix".
Hope I haven't bored everyone to tears wth all of this "stuff".........Sharon asked us to update what was happening in our lives, so I think I did my part for at least a few months !!!
Blessings to all............Sandy & Bill Matthews
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OK Sharon... I got your email requesting that more of the class members utilize our Message Forum. I'm among the guilty! Between emailing, facebook and telephone texting, I just don't have anything new to message about! However, I'll try.
I don't think he'd mind. He always was a tiny bit chauvinistic... thought women should kneel at the men's feet. (Just kidding... he was a very easy-going chauvinist & I loved him... he mainly just wanted to be waited on... we all know how those old men are!) Anyway, the cracked rib isn't so bad... but the fact that I just came down (again) with a case of bronchitis... coughing while holding your rib cage so it doesn't hurt so much is not an easy thing.
But, I am passionate about gardening...enough to take the pros & cons and still find enjoyment. With 70 rolling around...it is a wake -up call to make the most of each & every day ahead of you. I love to see the sun come up & set in the evening. 
Makes me proud to be a member of the same age group!!! 
