Kella Randolph:
CLASS OF 1964
Long Beach High SchoolClass of 1964
Long beach, MS
McArthur Elementary SchoolClass of 1960
Birmingham, AL
Powell Elementary SchoolClass of 1960
Birmingham, AL
South Highland Elementary SchoolClass of 1960
Birmingham, AL
Vernon SchoolClass of 1960
Vernon, AL
Kella's Story
Life
Another year has come and gone. What a year it was. Shocking! Hurricane Katrina caused me to leave my beloved Mississippi Gulf Coast. Although the house I rented survived the storm, I still got displaced. After struggling to clear tons of debris from the yard and driveway...my house was the last one standing before a thousand foot stretch of rubble. Amazing. Anyway, the usual struggles occured. Blisters on hands, near sunstroke, flagging down soldiers on earth moving equipment and conning them into helping me. Got the place up and running again after about a month. I finally moved back in and then got evicted. Seems that the owner's elderly aunt had lost her house and needed mine to live in. So, nowhere being available on the coast and a mad case of claustrophobia preventing me from living in a FEMA camper..moving day for me.
I moved to the south end of Charlotte, North Carolina. It is no sacrifice. This place is so beautiful. I have become one of those condo ladies. Moved in about a mile down the road from my daughter Cindy and her family. Now I get to spend time with my guy. Reed is my twelve year old grandson, and we hang out on weekends. We watched "Zathura" today and now he wants one of those games! I hope he won't find one if it works like the one in the movie!
I am still working on my version of "the world's greatest novel". Hey, you may never see it in print, but it gives me something to do.
My personal trainer, a full sized replica of Lassie, makes me walk a mile or so every day. His name is Nietzsche, and since I rescued him from the pound, he has been a good buddy. Nietzsche thinks that the hundreds of fat little squirrels in our neighborhood are chew toys. Now he has a new fascination: huge geese live here and they fly over honking loudly twice each day. Drives the dog wild!
I am getting the hang of this retirement thing, and beginning to like it.
Am I bad to actually giggle when we walk past the neighbor's house and her terrier flings himself full force against their storm door (and slides down comically) trying to get to us?
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Oh well, time to develop new interests and refine old ones. Life is precious and filled with many possibilities.
For all of us who have lost something or someone to this year's tragic events, I pray for blessings from God. May time ease the pain and reveal new joys to make your life a fine and wonderful adventure filled with joy and love and contentment.
School
Rah! Rah! Long Beach High School class of 1964.
Craziest memory? My old school in Birmingham, Alabama was pretty easy to navigate. Either you were on the first floor or the second. Not too complicated and everything was close and numbered. Not so with dear old LBHS. All those rows of identical rectangular buildings connected by covered sidewalks. Man! For the first two weeks, I kept going into the wrong end of the building and thus into the wrong classroom. Overheard some poor old frustrated history teacher call me "that ditsy blonde". Tried a little harder to navigate after that. Hey Teach! I made the Dean's List all through college. Ditsy, maybe, dumb, no!
College
I started college after my third child started school. I was almost twice the age of most of my classmates. The days were filled with housework, homework, kids' stuff, husband's stuff and all of that other stuff that goes with being completely overbooked. I must have had boundless energy in those days. I could not do it again, though.
My ANGEL came to help me that first semester. I was studying for a difficult exam, sitting in an empty classroom. She must have heard my deep sighs of "I'm not so sure I can pass this" and taken pity on me.
All I know is that I was on the point of giving up when I felt someone standing near me. Looking to my left on the floor, I saw a pair of orthopedic shoes. Their wearer was a lady who had snowy hair and a very kind face. She put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't give up, Dear. I am graduating in May, and if I can do it, so can you." Then the bell rang. I never again saw that lady. But her words of encouragement stayed with me all through the years. Thank you, Mam, wherever you are.
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