The passing of a great man, who touched many lives

Wow! You were truly blessed to have been touched so deeply by a TRUE educator. I envy you for having been able to take what sounds like a great elective course on top of your regular history class.

I mourn with you.

a reply to: Spader
It was a great course that many of the schools in the county offered (and still offers, and it seems to have soared in popularity). I think those "specialty elective" courses are a great idea. So much has to be covered in general world/America history classes that teachers only get to teach it all in a very superficial manner. It's not the teacher's fault. But imagine having a whole 9 weeks to devote to just one time period or subject? My school also offered a course called "American Mosaic" where we learned about a lot of the stuff you usually just briefly mention in regular history. And I took a World Religions class, which was something that always interested me. I took a couple art classes, but those weren't really as interesting or impactful (for me. I realize that many people would much rather take an art course than extra history) as the 2 aforementioned classes.

I was blessed with several teachers that had a profound affect on me.

another article, that speaks of the love everyone had for him

a reply to: chelsdh



I was raised by my Grandfather a WW2 vet he had been in the navy on the Russian convoys a lot and went through hell , The amount of times he was torpedoed and still survived is amazing considering no one stopped for you back then , decades later he was still having nightmares about it , it was not unusual to hear him screaming in his sleep and we would wake him up and tears would be streaming down his face because of all the people he had seen killed , it was only when i grew up that i realised the hell he had been through in that war .

Turns out all those stories he used to tell turned out to be true i looked into many of them , All the little sayings he used to depart on me are still with me to this day especially this one .

Football/soccer ,politics and religion are for the feeble minded , yip he was a wise man

a reply to: stonerwilliam

I wish I knew more about my Grandpa's service. I came across their wedding album once, and it was so strange. They looked so young and happy (the happy was the strange part). Those are the only photos I ever saw of him in uniform. I would so like to get my hands on those pictures now. My maternal grandfather also served in the Pacific, but he died when my mother was young, so there is no chance of hearing of his experiences. The only bit I ever got was from his first wife, my Meme. She told me that Mason was on a ship that was kamikazed and he was haunted by the memories of watching his crew mates burn/melt to death. She told me he was on the USS Kansas, but I think she must have been mistaken, as that ship was decommissioned in 1923.

Glad you were able to learn some sound advice from your Grandfather.

Condolences and lovely post. Yeah, many people had the privilege of a good or great teacher. As we are creatures of information, it could be argued that there is nothing as important ... outside of basic life support, anyway.

My own experience thanks many teachers, but as far as someone called a "teacher," my high school had one who was broken, alcoholic and miserable, yet imparted lasting wisdom with the most important concept in human interactions... the "definition of terms."

Every death obliterates a whole universe... or so it seems.

Every death obliterates a whole universe... or so it seems.

a reply to: Baddogma

That is really profound. Thank you for sharing.

a reply to: chelsdh

Those guys went through hell yet i recall not one of over a dozen war vets was a hard drinker , i only saw my grandfather drunk twice in my life and PTSD was not a word back then , it was while working in oil rig construction yards and being inside them while people were outside working that i realised what it was like for my grandfather and that was without bullets ,bombs and torpedoes exploding .

They were a different breed back then , the young now take away their smart phones and they will cry

a reply to: stonerwilliam
My Grandpa apparently did have a drinking problem, but I never saw it first hand. Just heard about how my Grandma changed the locks on him one night while he was out on a bender. Then he later tried to convince my dad to give up the booze. He didn't succeed, but I appreciate that he tried.

But you are correct, we are a different people now.

a reply to: chelsdh

Those who are not known by all to be the greatest most likely are.

a reply to: chelsdh

I had old guys around me and one had fought in the Boer war and earlier i remember him laughing at the WW2 GUYS FOR HOW EASY THEY HAD IT he liked his brandy but i never saw any one drunk ever when i was telling my mother one day not so long ago about one time my grandfather had a few mates about for a drink one saturday when i was about 5 the first thing she pulled me up on was -WHAT MY FATHER DRINKING ,

What they were talking about was woo woo stuff and i was behind the sofa taking it all in , he was talking about the Philadelphia experiment and men in between the decks ! he was in the navy until 1947 and this was told to him by a American service man back then this was in 1970- that i heard it long before the internet and my grand father hated the tv it was on for the news at night for about 30 minutes then off

a reply to: carsforkids

I received a text message this morning from a friend I had in high school, whom I rarely talk to (just cause life is busy, no hard feelings). He wanted to make sure I was aware of Mr. B's passing. I also found several articles written about him, and found out the current principal (who attended when I was there) is wanting to plan a memorial for him at the school! It makes my heart so happy. I imagine it'll be much like the climactic scene in Mr. Holland's Opus!

a reply to: chelsdh

You are a sweetheart.

a reply to: carsforkids

Awe.... thank you😊