Diary Diddle - July 4

July 4 - 1970
Tonight I had another date with Clayton.  We went and saw "Paint Your Wagon".  Joanie and Bruce wanted to see it so we rode with them.  After the movie we came home and had some homemade ice cream.  After we finished, Clayton and I went on the porch for awhile.  All we did was talk and hold hands.  When it came time for him to leave he gave me a big kiss right on the mouth.  It was really quite an experience.
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Note:  So this was my first real kiss  and it was from Clayton and I was almost 17 years old.  Isn't that sweet?

July 5 - 1970
This morning all of us including Clayton went to Tifton for Fourth of July reunion.  Most of the morning Clayton and I just sat on the tractor holding hands.  Later in the afternoon we all went and played softball at Aunt Rachel's'.

July 8 - 1970
Today Mom, Dad, Uncle Dave and Aunt Erma and family went to Florida by way of St. Augustine and Gainesville.  Clayton wanted to take me out Friday night, but since it's Dad's last night we won't. 
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Note:  This is when Dad was leaving for Vietnam.

July 9, 1970
Tonight around 6:00 Mr. Bill came. 

July 10, 1970
This afternoon I made Dad a goodbye cake and it wound up being an awful looking thing.  Dad gave me a blessing this afternoon and I wound up bawling.  Tonight the Cooper's, Wilkerson's and Solomon's came over and brought some ice cream and goodies over for a little party.  Wally Allen called me from Live Oak for a date tomorrow but we put on the roadshows.  We just finished having a little party for Dad in his room.

July 11, 1970
This morning at 4:45 we got up to see Dad leave.  We had a prayer before he left and when Dad finished everyone was crying even Uncle Dave.  It just seems unreal still.  We had family prayer tonight.

July 12 - 1970
There were gobs of people at Sacrament Meeting tonight.  Before it started, Ken called me in the Branch President's office and told me that I had been chose by the branch presidency to be Youth of the Year.  Then he had to write down a lot of my qualifications.  It would be so neat to win it in the mission.

Diary Diddle - June 6

Saturday 1970 -
The Misses Ford's had dinner with Mr. Bill, Carol and us tonight.  I got my report card today and made the Honor Roll again.  Clayton wanted to take me to the movie tonight.

Diary Diddle - June 5

Friday - 1970

Mr. Bill and Carol came down this afternoon and bought me a red folding umbrella.  Tonite was graduation and Mr. Bill and Dad took some pictures of me in my cap and gown.  I was so smiley when I got my diploma.  Mr. Bill showed some movies he had taken when I was in the 4th grade and they were so funny.
(See also Monday, June 16, 2008 My Graduation blog about more graduation details.  See also Wednesday, January 23, 2008 about Mr. Bill .
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Note:  The movies that Mr. Bill showed was taken at a Pioneer Day celebration while we lived in Japan.  We kids were dressed in period clothing and we had turned our little red wagon into a pioneer wagon.

My senior class picture.

Diary Diddle - May 24

1969 - Jimmy and Daddy went to a Ranger Camp today and when they got home, we went to the beach.  It was real nice and the water was just great.  We're going to the Guynn's tomorrow.
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Note:  Wow, I don't ever remember Dad taking us to the beach.  I don't remember him ever being into that type of activity. 
The Guynn's were our friends in Japan who moved to Panama City Beach, Florida after they came back from Japan.  (See blog entitled "National Train Day")

Sunday 1970 - This afternoon, we went to see Mom in the hospital.  She sure didn't look well.  We girls sat in the waiting room for Aunt Rachel to bring Jimmy back.  Tonight was the Primary play.  Dad went to Madison and took the girls with him.  I took Clayton home tonight cause his parents were gone somewhere.  Solomon family gave me some p.j.s for graduation today and Mr. Bill called me tonight to tell me he was coming for graduation.
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Note:  I think this was when Mom was having gall bladder surgery.  Dad was a District Councilman and I have no idea where Jimmy had been.  Mr. Bill was a family friend since I was about 9 years old.  You can read about him in earlier blogs.

My Graduation

With all the graduations taking place in the last few weeks, I decided to bite the bullet and tell a little something about my own graduation. I can describe it in three words "I HATED IT"! But, one of the greatest things about my graduation was that Mr. Bill and his wife, Carol, came from South Carolina to attend my graduation.

I may have said it in an earlier blog, but it bears repeating...I hated high school. I went to two high schools since Dad was in the Air Force - one in Niceville, Florida (Eglin AFB) and Valdosta, Georgia (Moody AFB). I never got to know anyone real well so I had no high school friends. I was the poster child of "Wall Flowers". I was invisible, I doubt anyone would remember me. I was never so happy to see my night of graduation come so that I could move on to bigger and better things beyond high school and Valdosta, Georgia. And I did...I got friends, I went places, people definitely got to know who I was and I wasn't shy anymore!

Mr. Bill

Who was Mr. Bill? First of all, he's the guy sitting on the left-hand side of the picture. He was Bill Harrison a young man who as I remember was about 23 years old and was assigned to your Granddaddy's Air Force squadron when we were living at Yokota AB, Japan in 1961. He was a nice Christian guy and he wound up being our babysitter on many occasions. I was only about 9 years old and not old enough to babysit even though I was the oldest. Granddaddy was in the hospital at Tachikawa AB experiencing severe back problems and was there for several months - yes months, around seven if I remember correctly. The hospital was quite a distance away and naturally Grandmother wanted to go visit and spend as much time with him as she could. Since we had only been in country for about five months and not members of the Church at that time, Grandmother didn't know a lot of people, Mr. Bill either volunteered or was volunteered to babysit. He was great! He would help us with our homework; he would feed us our meals; he would take us to the movie. Mr. Bill loved to take pictures and developed his own and one day invited me to go to the base Hobby Shop and where he taught me how to develop pictures using a darkroom. What a great time we used to have doing that.

I could never describe who he was exactly. He wasn't like a big brother, he wasn't like an uncle - he was just Mr. Bill and even as I grew much older, he was still Mr. Bill. One day it came time for Mr. Bill to rotate back stateside and I remember us taking him to the airport thinking I'd never see him again. I loved Mr. Bill. He was always so much fun to have around and I was so upset to see him go.

As it worked out, Mr. Bill was sent to Japan once again and so he was back in our lives. The next time someone left, it was us. But, he showed up again when we were living at Eglin AFB, Florida near Ft. Walton Beach. I remember him showing up one time with a purple dune buggy and he took us to the beach and we rode up and down sand dunes for as long as he could stand it. Every time we saw Mr. Bill he always had some new and exciting car or piece of equipment. You never knew what to expect from him.

When I graduated from high school in Valdosta, guess who showed up again? Yep, Mr. Bill. He came for my graduation. Of course by this time he'd married and had children. He used to tell me that since he couldn't marry me (since I was way too young), he did the best that he could and married a wonderful woman named Carol. No matter what, I knew I could always count on Mr. Bill if I needed him and it didn't matter where he was.

One day many years ago, sometime in the 80's, maybe 90's, I was sitting at home when I got a phone call that Mr. Bill had died. I remember it was around July 4th and I knew I had to be at his funeral. (And you know how much I hate funerals)! So, without hesitation, your grandmother and I packed our bags and headed to Spartanburg, South Carolina to attend his funeral. I remember standing at the casket taking my last look at the man I had loved for the majority of my life. And, even though I was now a much older person with a child of my own, he was still and will always be Mr. Bill. Carol was standing next to me holding my hands and was telling me how much he'd love me and my family. Up until that point, I had known Mr. Bill longer than anyone outside of my family. He was the biggest non-family constant in my life and I did feel a loss at his passing. I remember the following Christmas that Carol wrote me a wonderful letter about Mr. Bill. I saved it somewhere because it was so special and hope to run across it sometime and share it with you too. So, that's the story of Mr. Bill.