William (Bill) Gray:  

Updated 9/23/2011 My Life (18 to Present) Let's see, what about me and what I have been up to for the past 34 years, (43 years now)? I'm not sure I was even there! Didn't Scotty beam me here or was it somewhere else? Oh yeah, now I see it coming in--foggily. There, I moved the foil a little and put my arms out at right angles--here it comes now. First and foremost: To all my friends and acquaintances at Bella Vista; I truly appreciate your friendship in that last year of school. You all made a difference in my life and made 1967-68 the best year I ever had during my 13 years in primary education. When school got out June 6th of 1968 (let's hear it for summer!), I had a list of plans and potential places to go and things to do, should I take my aunt and uncle up on their offer and move to Diamond Bar to attend CBC (now CBU) in Riverside, or Biola if I wanted. Or maybe my aunt in Texas who offered to send me to Baylor for up to six years fully paid? After thinking it over for many weeks I thought I could go to school next semester because I just finished school and wanted to work and make some money first. Back to my first plan, move out and head to my Moms house south of Fresno. So I very very reluctantly and with a heavy heart sadly said good-by, (as it turned out for the last time), to my very best friend ever and true love of my life Lynda. This is not to say that I did not have any other friends at Bella Vista because I did indeed have many, like Janice, Judy, Sherri, Bill, Gary, Shirley, Larry (my best friend from Twin Lakes), Nancy, and many others that I have now reconnected with at the reunions. But as things went back then I never told Lynda how I truly felt about her. I thought I would have lots of time to do so; it was one of those things that I felt I knew that she knew that I knew that we knew but the words were never said. I have learned that if you don't speak up and say what is near dear and of the most importance to you; you will truly lose out forever. I moved from Fair Oaks to my mothers home in Hanford and two days later found a job, (paid $0.72/Hr. minus room and board), pumping gas, washing dishes, prepping food and chasing bears, (we always let them have the food first), at Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. This job left me out of communication with everyone, (Lynda, my mother, my dad and everyone else), I know for the entire summer. I didn't even have transportation until late August when I returned home, but worst of all for me was that I lost complete contact with Lynda. At the end of the summer season, down the mountain I went right back to Hanford and found a job pumping more gas ($0.35 a gallon) and fixing cars for Beacon Oil Co. in Lemoore. That winter, a friend and co-worker of mine who was from Lemoore Naval Air Station talked me into a little travel time to visit his home in Pennsylvania. We had laid plans to open a truck stop on Highway I70 when he got out of the service. So, we loaded up his wife and son and sent them on their way. In late December, Jerry and I headed out from Central California to Charleroi Pennsylvania. What a nice time of the year to head east--we drove in snow from Flagstaff Arizona to Pennsylvania, but made the trip in just 32 hours. The winters were just a little to warm and dry for me in the east so I quickly returned to cold and wet Central California where four years of rain had fallen in three months. What a surprise it was to step off the plane in Visalia at 56 degrees and it felt colder than when I left Pittsburgh at -6. In February of 1969, I joined the United States Air Force. I just knew that good old Uncle Sam was going to want me in the Army soon and I had better things to do than crawl around in the mud, and yep I had no sooner arrived in Texas for Basic when I received a letter with the now famous words "Greetings and Salutation from the President of The United States". Well I beat out the draft board on this one. Anyway as I was standing by to head to Texas for Basic Training, some of my friends took me with them to Porterville to go roller skating. Well, that first night I meet a young lady, (kept hearing a little voice telling me to look to my left, not that I hear voices often. So I finally did look to my left and I heard "that will now be your wife, go meet her" so I did), funny how we seemed to hit it right off okay and wound being engaged just before my deployment time in May. We married on August 23rd of 1969 after I had completed Basic Training. I came down with an Asthma attack at Lackland AFB and was given a medical discharge much to my dismay. When I got home...Expand for more