SCENE IN PASSING
MARIE WHITEHEAD herald@mediactr.com
We wrap up the month of June with this issue, thus, ending the first half of 2007.

This day of writing is sad for me. Last week the family and friends of Debbie Struhall paid their final tribute to a valiant soul. She struggled with cancer for several years. Her parents, Billie Ruth and Calvin Jinkins, are my generation. With them, I watched this beautiful, shy child grow up. And then she married Jamie, the son of Gerry Struhall, the daughter of Abner and Affie Webb. Gerry graduated from RHS and after years of teaching returned to Rusk.

It is difficult to know which is worse. To lose a loved one suddenly, or to watch over them painful minute by painful minute for months, even years on end. These questions are generations old. Each generation seeks its own answer.

Those of us who knew and loved Blair Lavell were shocked last week to receive the news of his death. He loved the Texas State Railroad and served it for 26 years as shop superintendent. He retired from TSR in 2002 and moved to Maryland. As you might have guessed, he took up railroading again. In Maryland he assisted with the model railroad exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pa. and had recently become a member of the Rising Sun Historical Commission, for which he helped organize the artifacts in preparation for the recent opening of the Rising Sun Historical Museum. Blair was a special friend of my best friend, the Better Half. They had bushels of laughs between them. The memories they left behind are living examples, no pun intended, of "how to" live until you die.

I find in my declining years, comforting words for myself in music. One of these lines is, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow..." My heart aches for all who ache from the grief of letting go. My special friend, Maria, lost her mom, Connie Dearman. They shared a loving mother-daughter relationship. I wish I could tell her that time will heal her broken heart. But I know better. My dear mama has been gone nine years and eight weeks. But I can offer a small bit of hope. I haven't gotten over it, but I did get through it.

It was great news at the end of last week for some of our neighbors. Herbert Bell has decided to come back to town after living in the blissful countryside near Banks Store. He is residing at Lexington Place, formerly Oak Park, on Bagley Road. In his early years as a citizen, he and his dear wife Jenny, lived at Ponta. They had a store there. At our house he came to be known, with humor, as the "mayor of Ponta." He finally left there and headed for Rusk. Well, he's back in Rusk again. And you don't have to make an appointment to say "howdy." Welcome home would be nice, though.

A recent newcomer, Charles Davis and wife Joni, live on Barron Street. They have been welcomed to the fellowship of First United Methodist Church and they love music. And they're very good at it. In fact, he is the band director at Lon Morris College. Joni is a holder of degrees in nursing and is associated with Birmingham Health Care. I said all this to let you know that Charles has a serious health problem. He is on the approved list to receive a transplant. How patiently could I wait for such an event, if I were in his shoes? He is a shining example to all of us on "how to" do that. I stand in awe of their patience.

Elmer Kennedy is back in the land of good vision and big smiles. After a several day period of recuperation, Barbara's spouse is all recovered and has a good report from eye surgery. He also had a trying time learning to practice patience. But he won.

My favorite joke on that is this: "Some of us are here to have our patience tried. Others are just here to do the trying."

Keep smiling?