RP: Merry Christmas to BOB JONES -- and Here Is Why:

RE-PRINTED from here: http://theweathercontinues.blogspot.mx/2014/12/merry-christmas-to-bob-jones-and-here.html

>>> AN EMAIL EXCHANGE, THIS MORNING:


I assume you are doing Christmas -- and perhaps some can't understand this but I am (as well as Hanukkah and Yule Fest -- Kwanzaa, a new invention, hasn't seemed to have caught on).

First, I agree with a slightly modified quote of my 7th grade nun, Mother Mary Austin of Pennsylvania: "A word FROM the Wise is sufficient." I feel connected enough to you that there are times for wordiness and other times of just touching base, but I think this would be an appropriate time to tell you that since we have reconnected nearly 1.5 years ago, when I am thinking of how what I am writing is being heard by my audience, YOU are for whom I usually write. You were always a TOTAL smart-ass, and unafraid of ridicule!!!

And of course with a name like "Bob Jones" -- which is your REAL name -- it is so generic that (almost) no one could track you down, but this leads me to a problem of UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES that I just became aware of from "Marma Duke". You see, even though he and I did several things to insure his identity could not be recognized (he first came to Mexico many years ago and acted in a few films here, one of which I possess), and I have known him ONLY through three different aliases, and in fact in Chacala, he went by one of them, never disclosing his actual name to anyone except his employer, I suppose -- if one must do that in Mexico.

But last night, I dug out my file of about 68 English speakers in Chacala, and sent my first posting of yesterday, http://theweathercontinues.blogspot.mx/2014/12/i-trust-that-barack-hussein-obama-is.html, to them. Only by Marma Duke's note this morning do I realize that at least some of them will know who he is -- if not WHERE or UNDER WHICH ALIAS (his alias with me could be different, for all I know), so I DO understand that he got nervous.

Also, I have not used that list much since I moved from Chacala to my current location Feb. 1 2013, but when I DID, I always got two or three irate responses telling me either I AM the Devil -- or to go TO the Devil, and since NOT ONE has responded this time, I know I have now not just hit the Heart of Corruption in Puerto Vallarta, but the same in Chacala, so hitting both targets successfully now -- and they are the only TWO places I've lived here since moving back -- I really AM finished my humanitarian work in Mexico, and in time for this year's Holiday Festivals.

I imagine you will see your Mom and sister, so please pass them my love and greetings. It was your Mom's Brooklyn (Bronx?) accent that got me to love those, and she always called you "Bobby" -- LOL!!!, and her mother, who was visiting when I flew out in 1969 to take Marlowe Schaeffer to high school prom, and who introduced me to the glories of fresh-cooked spinach with only butter, salt, and pepper. Growing up I mostly knew frozen vegetables, some canned, and a few fresh, but those mostly from our garden, like tomatoes, corn, peas, butter beans, etc.

This was also when I learned that you are completely straight (without even disturbing your sleep, although I got NONE hoping for something to happen) -- and we have had no problem with that since.



>>> ADDED: Has anyone else noticed??? I completely forgot to mention sending my greetings to Bob's wife and daughter!!! 

WHAT is the world COMING TO???

And I will pass your greetings to my own family -- and they will ALL love to hear that your daughter is best friends with Mike Malikowski's daughter!!! When we lived in Pennsylvania -- BOTH times -- Christmas ALWAYS meant an evening at the Malikowskis' house playing Charades, and even those at least 16 were allowed a beer or two.

God blesses us all in our family, friends, and connections -- weird as so many of them (and us), are!!!

HAPPY FESTIVUS!!!

Scott

On Tue, Dec 23, 2014 at 9:18 PM, Bob Jones wrote:

Scott, have a happy Holiday, Wishing you the best with your family

Ed Malikowski

Edward Malikowski and his wife Genevieve (Genny or Ginny), were my parents' best friends for many years. Ed served as the Athletic Director of the West Chester, Pennsylvania school system 1967 - 1972, as well as serving as the Director of the Sun Oil Company (my father's employer), recreational facilities and Day Camp in Marcus Hook, which my siblings and I participated in for several years.

This photo is from an appreciation of Ed by a former student from even BEFORE he began working for the West Chester school system. And unfortunately, Ginny passed in 2008.

>>> BUT HERE IS THE STORY I HAVE WAITED TOO LONG TO TELL ABOUT ED MALIKOWSKI:


On the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot, nearly all black students and a handful of whites -- including me -- could not complete the school day in class, so we gathered in B. Reed Henderson High School's auditorium, with people taking turns on stage to talk about how they felt. 

I specifically only remember Lonnie Melton, a black girl of light skin and freckles who had always been a lot of fun to me, getting up and saying we needed to form a club of us all to work for Social Justice, which should be the L.O.N. Club for "Lovers of Negroes", but as she also pointed out, her name was LONnie, so we would need to love her too -- LOL!!!

But that day, the school trusted us so much that ONLY one faculty member was present, sitting a few rows behind me -- and that was Ed Malikowski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLjDhY74Uik

And he's published a book as well: http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Hero-Malikowski-Unforeseen-Pennsylvania/dp/B0088L68JU

Scott

And believe it or not, this has ALWAYS been my mother's fave Christmas song -- HA!!!

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