Gary Williams:
CLASS OF 1974
Tunstall High SchoolClass of 1974
Dry fork, VA
Colorado State University - BusinessClass of 1982
Ft. collins, CO
University of Virginia - CommerceClass of 1978
Charlottesville, VA
Bonner Middle SchoolClass of 1971
Danville, VA
Coates Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Danville, VA
Gary's Story
My life in a nutshell...
The first girl I ever fell in love with was Darnell Arnoult who was my next door neighbor. She was the first gal I ever kissed and I guess I was every bit of 7 years old. She moved away to another town but we kept in touch. She was also the first gal I took on a date upon getting my drivers license (rather lengthy drive). , Got a heart breaking letter one day that she was getting married. That was crushing as I always figured we would marry one day.
About a year after graduating from Tunstall High just outside of Danville, my high school flame, Melanie Simpson, (now Melanie Cockram) and I broke up. I was 19 at the time, and started dating a 15 year old beauty that stole my heart - Robyn Doss)…..yeah I robbed the cradle. Anyways, Melanie met her husband to be (Danny Cockram) at DCC and got married in Dec, 1977 (that marriage drew a tear from me too) and they settled in Danville, VA. and had two children Kelsey Cockram (now Kelsey Shelton) of Danville and Dustin Cockram of Danville. Robyn and I dated and lived together (in VA, New York City, Colorado and NC) for just short of 8 years before getting married. We married and then divorced after about 1 year of marriage! Go figure. Despite that, Robyn and I have kept in touch through the years and neither of us have any ill feelings toward one another. After Robyn and I split, I dated multiple women (way too many one-night-stands....probably should have installed a revolving door at my place) and eventually married my dream gal, Gina. We got married after dating for 13 years and after I broke off two engagements (one whereby I essentially left her at the altar. Shame on me as she didn’t deserve that to happen and I at the time was not deserving of such a wonderful and sweet gal. She and her parents told me that if I broke our engagement a 3rd time that was going to be it! Anyway, I got through the marriage ceremony and glad we tied the knot. Gina keeps me ...Expand for more
out of trouble and sets me straight when I need it. As Paul McCartney sings in Maybe I'm Amazed, "she rights me when I'm wrong, yea maybe I'm amazed." She is a devout Christian and makes it clear to me that God is number 1 in her life and I’m in 2nd place. That’s the way it’s suppose to be and I’m fine with that. To the best of my knowledge she is the only gal I’ve ever dated with a strong faith ...I admire that in her and she’s made me a better man with a stronger faith myself.
Life is good but as Jagger sings "It's a drag getting old"....as from time to time I find myself longing to relive my high school days ...yeah the Glory Years just one more time. Hey I’ve even grown my hair back long as I no longer have to reflect the conservative image of a well mannered business man.
My wife and I are now retired (each of us having retired at age 61) and we go back and forth from Kernersville, NC (Permanent residence) to our vacation cabin in the mountains of Carroll County VA., near Meadows of Dan, Mabry Mill, Primland Luxury Resort, and Chateau Morrisette Winery. We spend roughly half our time in North Carolina and half our time in Virginia . My only regret is not having retired at around age 55. We were sufficiently established to have done that but we just didn’t for whatever reason. If I had children I would advise them to get a good education, start saving and investing early in life and get the heck out of the workforce in their 50’s (40’s if they can swing it) and start living their life’s dreams...as now we all know life is short...too short.
We have fixed up a 2nd cabin and have opened it for vacation rentals. Go to VRBO and type in Dugspur, VA for your destination and scroll through the rentals until you see one listed as “Couple’s Romantic Mountain River Cabin w/ Rustic Queen Bed that’s Knotty & Nice.” If you wish to vacation in a super neat cabin, then you have found the right spot.
Happy and playful times to all.
GW
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