Most voters are not real smart. Most politicians work together to find out how to get votes for their party. Now days the truth is usually covered up and lies are used to persuade voters through emotions, because politicians need to incentivise voters to go to polls.
Let us search some truths. America stands for free enterprise. Big Corporations fight to compete against each other usually. Let's look at three different important areas American consumers need. Food, Fuel, Health.
Food providers must use free enterprise. A few big corporations control small parts of the whole, but costs cover a wide spectrum. People with money can get just about anything they want with little concern about the cost. Poor people may have to work hard, but for the most quality food can be bought at reasonable prices.
Fuel/ Energy cost are largely controlled by large monopolies, but there are other options usually. Large oil companies control way to much, but Americans need to move toward better options, not to kill large oil companies, but to offer more competition. Wind and solar are two options for competition. The USA needs to move toward more options to increase competition and improve our energy costs and availability.
What about health? Health providers and big health insurance companies work together to control health cost. Current laws allow large monopolize the health industry. It used to be that human health was a major item to American health, but over the last few decades money has trumped health industry. Medical insurance companies control the state laws and costs. We need do away with these monopolies with free enterprise to make health care better and less expensive.
Many people think that Obama Care is a government take over. But it is not. Like the food industry is controlled by many laws that make food better, new health laws will slowly do away with health monopolies and allow more people to afford health care. If the food industry was controlled by a few large monopolies, there would be millions starving just like there are millions without health insurance.
Right now, the big medical monopolies are controlling the Republicans to save their monopolies. They are raising insurance costs because they ARE monopolies and can do what they want, and they need more money to buy politicians. Democrats are fighting to improve health care and energy costs. Republicans are fighting for companies who give them money.
Americans should be smarter. Christians should remember that money is root of evil. Democrats are fighting for main street, Republicans are fighting for Wall street.
If Republicans were not lying about their goals, the only votes they would be from Wall street.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Which is best? (1) to save lives (2) to save money (3) save both
Which would you think is best?
(1) to save lives
(2) to save money
(3) save both
The new National Healthcare has #1 as it's main goal, and over the next few years it will save billions of dollars. Medical Insurance companies are paying millions to Republicans to fight the new health care which will stop their monopoly of health care cost.
Republicans say that the new health care will be government run. That is a lie. The new laws will enable insurance companies to compete against each other. Over the last 40 years they have worked together to set cost and raise costs as they wished.
Republicans congress people voted to delay the competition for a few years, so it will take a few years to begin saving money. Meanwhile insurance companies are trying to find ways to regain money and power.
(1) to save lives
(2) to save money
(3) save both
The new National Healthcare has #1 as it's main goal, and over the next few years it will save billions of dollars. Medical Insurance companies are paying millions to Republicans to fight the new health care which will stop their monopoly of health care cost.
Republicans say that the new health care will be government run. That is a lie. The new laws will enable insurance companies to compete against each other. Over the last 40 years they have worked together to set cost and raise costs as they wished.
Republicans congress people voted to delay the competition for a few years, so it will take a few years to begin saving money. Meanwhile insurance companies are trying to find ways to regain money and power.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
June 6th, 2010 --- Happy Birthday, Skyler
Wow, you don't look 16 to me. You need to send a new picture.
Hey, bigger, but still very cute.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Wayne and I batting wasps
I can remember lots of stories about Wayne Brown playing together when we were kids.
Today I was in the pool playing with Aven, my dearest granddaughter and a few wasps were coming around to get a drink.
I remembered one time when Wayne and I were probably about ten years old and we were killing wasps that were flying through Wayne's home. We had a couple of those wooden paddles that you bounce a rubber ball on a rubber string. The paddles did not have the balls anymore. They were more like ping pong paddles.
We would run through the house chasing those wasps. Sometimes I would wait at an open door for one to fly in or out, then hit it like a ball as hard as I could. It was like batting at a curve ball.
It seems like we spend most of the day playing hit the wasps. We were not afraid of them. If we got stung, it was just more incentive to kill more. I remember counting them, but I don't know if we were counting as a score against each other or a total wasps killed, but I remember we got to 50. It was a most wonderious, murderous day.
Wayne loved baseball and he followed the Yankees like they were the most important thing around. We played like the wasps were curve balls and we were trying to catch Roger Maris to set a new home run record. That had to be 1961.
--------Wikipedia------------------------
Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who is primarily remembered for hitting 61 home runs for the New York Yankees during the 1961 season. This broke Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs (set in 1927) and set a record that would stand for 37 years.
Today I was in the pool playing with Aven, my dearest granddaughter and a few wasps were coming around to get a drink.
I remembered one time when Wayne and I were probably about ten years old and we were killing wasps that were flying through Wayne's home. We had a couple of those wooden paddles that you bounce a rubber ball on a rubber string. The paddles did not have the balls anymore. They were more like ping pong paddles.
We would run through the house chasing those wasps. Sometimes I would wait at an open door for one to fly in or out, then hit it like a ball as hard as I could. It was like batting at a curve ball.
It seems like we spend most of the day playing hit the wasps. We were not afraid of them. If we got stung, it was just more incentive to kill more. I remember counting them, but I don't know if we were counting as a score against each other or a total wasps killed, but I remember we got to 50. It was a most wonderious, murderous day.
Wayne loved baseball and he followed the Yankees like they were the most important thing around. We played like the wasps were curve balls and we were trying to catch Roger Maris to set a new home run record. That had to be 1961.
--------Wikipedia------------------------
Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who is primarily remembered for hitting 61 home runs for the New York Yankees during the 1961 season. This broke Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs (set in 1927) and set a record that would stand for 37 years.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Stop the Oil Flow in the Gulf
My idea is a large steel screw. The screw would be very long with a very gradual enlargement to the top.
The point would be small and the diameter enlargement would be so gradual as to minimize the flow reduction until it started getting very deep.
At a certain depth the diameter of the screw would equal the hole diameter and flow would begin to be stopped but there would be enough of the screw in the hole to minimize blow past the screw. At a certain point, it would then be needed to start the screw twist to dig deeper and deeper. At the top of the screw there would have to be a bracket in order to screw the screw deep and tight.
When the flow had stopped enough a reinforced concrete cover would be placed around the screw,
It might be better to place a large concrete pad down first with a hole in the center at the oil hole, then the screw could be screwed down to that foundation.
Harrell Geron
Civil Engineer for the USDA
Temple, Tx
The point would be small and the diameter enlargement would be so gradual as to minimize the flow reduction until it started getting very deep.
At a certain depth the diameter of the screw would equal the hole diameter and flow would begin to be stopped but there would be enough of the screw in the hole to minimize blow past the screw. At a certain point, it would then be needed to start the screw twist to dig deeper and deeper. At the top of the screw there would have to be a bracket in order to screw the screw deep and tight.
When the flow had stopped enough a reinforced concrete cover would be placed around the screw,
It might be better to place a large concrete pad down first with a hole in the center at the oil hole, then the screw could be screwed down to that foundation.
Harrell Geron
Civil Engineer for the USDA
Temple, Tx
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Margie......... request for thoughts or memories
This is a special request for your memories of Margie. I know it would be hard to write a long message, so it you can write a specific idea or memory I will include it in a collage of bits and pieces, and let me know if you want your name included.
send to ragknot@gmail.com
I will begin assembling them as they arrive and post them and re-edit as more arrive.
send to ragknot@gmail.com
I will begin assembling them as they arrive and post them and re-edit as more arrive.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thank God for Margie
Thank God for my sister, Margie she is loved by so many. Her family consists of her husband Mohammed, daughter Diana and son Adam. Also brothers Harrell Joe, David and sister Carolyn, and so many aunts, uncles and cousins. I thank God she is resting in heaven.
Services will be at Cate Spencer 403 Locust Sweetwater at 2 pm Sat. May 15. Everyone is invited to David & Carmen’s home to eat & visit later at 602 East Ave B, Sweetwater thank you all so much.
David Geron
Services will be at Cate Spencer 403 Locust Sweetwater at 2 pm Sat. May 15. Everyone is invited to David & Carmen’s home to eat & visit later at 602 East Ave B, Sweetwater thank you all so much.
David Geron
Margie......... Feb 22, 1950 - May 12, 2010
From Mohamed Zaky, Margie's husband
Here is a brief history of my family. I have to write a book to write it in more details. Please add it to the ‘Three Couples’ story.
My birth name is 'Mohamed Saeed Hussein Zaki'. I was born in Cairo, Egypt on 10/17/1951 to my father Saeed Hussein Zaki (he worked as a Medical Assistant for just few years then graduated from college as a Social Worker and worked in the government Youth Department until he retired) and my mother Tahia Mahmoud Hassan (a housewife nicknamed by her grandkids as Tooty). My older sister Magda was born on 12/1949, then another sister Iman (Mamy) born on 6/1955 and brother Ehab (Happy) born on 4/1964.
I graduated from Military Technical College in Cairo on 6/16/1974 as a first lieutent officer and an Electronic Engineer. I worked for the Egyptian Air Force at the Main Air Force Depot in Cairo. In 1978 I started my Computer Software career. Then on Memorial Day of 1982 I arrived at US with a group from the Egyptian Air Force to study and work on the Air Force Computer Automation project. First we worked at Washington D.C. metropolitan area for one month. Then we moved to Dallas to continue our education and work.
On July 1982 I met my wife Margarett Annetta Zaky (Margie) for the first time. She was the assistant manager of the apartment complex we moved to in North Dallas. At the end of the month Margie and I became good friends. Margie was previously married in 1969, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1979.
The Egyptian work team decided to move back to the D.C. area to complete the work assignment. Margie and I were in love and decided to get married on Valentine’s Day 2/14/1983. Therefore I got my green card with my name as ‘Mohamed Said Zaky’. At that time I was considered absent without leave from the Egyptian Air Force.
I started looking for a job right after we got married. Margie quit her apartment management job in April 1983 because we thought I will find a job very soon. By October 1983 when I was still looking for a job Margie had to go back to work. Then I got my first break with a Computer Consulting company from Kansas City. They found me a contract for hire in Hartford, Connecticut. In January 1984 Margie quit her job and we moved to Connecticut to start my first American job. On my first day of work Margie found that she is pregnant with our first child. On 9/25/1984 Diana Renee was born in Manchester, Connecticut. My parents came and visited us in Connecticut just few weeks after Diana was born. At that time I found that the Egyptian military already court marshaled me in my absence and issued the standard military punishment three years in the officer prison.
In 9/1985 I found a job in Dallas and we moved back to Garland, Texas for six months then in 4/1986 to The Colony, Texas where we still live. My son Adam Brian was born on 12/19/1987 just three months after I became a U.S. citizen in 9/1987. In summer of 1988 we travelled to Athens, Greece and visited with my parents, sisters and brother and their families. In 1991 we vacationed in southern California and Disneyland and in Miami Beach, Florida. Then in 1995 we vacationed in Orlando and Disney World.
My father Saeed got the Alzheimer disease in his early seventies and due to a wrong prescription in 1995 he got into a comma for three months before he died. My older sister Magda also got the cancer disease right after my father death. Margie’s father Harrell passed away in November 1997.
In 1998 after the school was out we’ve decided to visit my relatives in Egypt. Due to my old military status I was captured by the Egyptian authorities in Cairo Airport in front of my family. Margie and the kids spent 25 days in Cairo with my sisters and brother then came back to Dallas. I spent 20 months in that military prison and tried all different avenues to get my freedom without any success. My sister Magda died in August 1999 while I was still in prison. During that time Margie just lived on our little savings and borrowed money from relatives. Also my son Adam started his social withdrawal. Margie started to take Adam to Psychiatrists and Psychologists.
In January of 2000 I returned home and got my job back right away. During 2002 the kids and I started noticing Margie’s memory problems. At that time Margie went to a Neurologist, did the brain MRI and found no problems. In January 2003 my mother passed away in her sleep.
In 2003 Diana graduated from High School with great honors and joined North Texas University with a full scholarship. Adam’s social problems started to get even worse when he went to the regular High School in 2002. In 2003 the High School had to transfer Adam to the District Learning Center for more controlled treatment environment which failed to help him. In 2004 I transferred him to a Special Education school in Dallas where he graduated from in July 2006. During that period Adam was still going to Psychiatrists and Psychologists to help him finish school and prepare for his future. All of these visits plus the Special Education school failed in his treatment and once he finished the High School he couldn’t communicate with anyone except his parents. Therefore he stayed home permanently and started getting the disability Medicaid assistance. I take care of all of his needs.
In December of 2007 Diana graduated from College as a Graphic Designer. Lottie, David, Carmen, Christie and Josh attended Diana’s graduation. Diana moved from Denton, Texas to Carrollton, Texas where she still lives.
Margie’s memory problems got worth and worth between 2002 and 2004. In 2005 all doctors who examined her already determined that she got a very early age Alzheimer disease. In 2007 Margie got to the final stage of the disease stage 7 and we were forced to place her in a nursing home because of the continuous need for medical assistance. Now Margie lives in Pilot Point Care Center in Pilot Point, Texas. She can’t talk anymore and her arms and her legs are almost paralyzed. She is always either in bed or in the wheelchair. It is very hard to tell if she can remember any of her family members. She has a feeding tube and a colostomy bag. She always breathes from her mouth because she already forgot how to breathe from her nose. I visit her every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and I wash her cloths. Her kids visit her on the last Sunday of every month. I constantly pray for her permanent cure.
Diana finally found a job on September 2008 as a Graphic Designer at a company called Funimation in Flower Mound, Texas. But because of the economy problems her company let her go in January 2009. Then they hired her back in October 2009 where she is currently works.
Currently I work at Bank of America for the Technology team in Addison, Texas where I’ve been working since 1994.
Thanks
Mohamed Zaky
Here is a brief history of my family. I have to write a book to write it in more details. Please add it to the ‘Three Couples’ story.
My birth name is 'Mohamed Saeed Hussein Zaki'. I was born in Cairo, Egypt on 10/17/1951 to my father Saeed Hussein Zaki (he worked as a Medical Assistant for just few years then graduated from college as a Social Worker and worked in the government Youth Department until he retired) and my mother Tahia Mahmoud Hassan (a housewife nicknamed by her grandkids as Tooty). My older sister Magda was born on 12/1949, then another sister Iman (Mamy) born on 6/1955 and brother Ehab (Happy) born on 4/1964.
I graduated from Military Technical College in Cairo on 6/16/1974 as a first lieutent officer and an Electronic Engineer. I worked for the Egyptian Air Force at the Main Air Force Depot in Cairo. In 1978 I started my Computer Software career. Then on Memorial Day of 1982 I arrived at US with a group from the Egyptian Air Force to study and work on the Air Force Computer Automation project. First we worked at Washington D.C. metropolitan area for one month. Then we moved to Dallas to continue our education and work.
On July 1982 I met my wife Margarett Annetta Zaky (Margie) for the first time. She was the assistant manager of the apartment complex we moved to in North Dallas. At the end of the month Margie and I became good friends. Margie was previously married in 1969, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1979.
The Egyptian work team decided to move back to the D.C. area to complete the work assignment. Margie and I were in love and decided to get married on Valentine’s Day 2/14/1983. Therefore I got my green card with my name as ‘Mohamed Said Zaky’. At that time I was considered absent without leave from the Egyptian Air Force.
I started looking for a job right after we got married. Margie quit her apartment management job in April 1983 because we thought I will find a job very soon. By October 1983 when I was still looking for a job Margie had to go back to work. Then I got my first break with a Computer Consulting company from Kansas City. They found me a contract for hire in Hartford, Connecticut. In January 1984 Margie quit her job and we moved to Connecticut to start my first American job. On my first day of work Margie found that she is pregnant with our first child. On 9/25/1984 Diana Renee was born in Manchester, Connecticut. My parents came and visited us in Connecticut just few weeks after Diana was born. At that time I found that the Egyptian military already court marshaled me in my absence and issued the standard military punishment three years in the officer prison.
In 9/1985 I found a job in Dallas and we moved back to Garland, Texas for six months then in 4/1986 to The Colony, Texas where we still live. My son Adam Brian was born on 12/19/1987 just three months after I became a U.S. citizen in 9/1987. In summer of 1988 we travelled to Athens, Greece and visited with my parents, sisters and brother and their families. In 1991 we vacationed in southern California and Disneyland and in Miami Beach, Florida. Then in 1995 we vacationed in Orlando and Disney World.
My father Saeed got the Alzheimer disease in his early seventies and due to a wrong prescription in 1995 he got into a comma for three months before he died. My older sister Magda also got the cancer disease right after my father death. Margie’s father Harrell passed away in November 1997.
In 1998 after the school was out we’ve decided to visit my relatives in Egypt. Due to my old military status I was captured by the Egyptian authorities in Cairo Airport in front of my family. Margie and the kids spent 25 days in Cairo with my sisters and brother then came back to Dallas. I spent 20 months in that military prison and tried all different avenues to get my freedom without any success. My sister Magda died in August 1999 while I was still in prison. During that time Margie just lived on our little savings and borrowed money from relatives. Also my son Adam started his social withdrawal. Margie started to take Adam to Psychiatrists and Psychologists.
In January of 2000 I returned home and got my job back right away. During 2002 the kids and I started noticing Margie’s memory problems. At that time Margie went to a Neurologist, did the brain MRI and found no problems. In January 2003 my mother passed away in her sleep.
In 2003 Diana graduated from High School with great honors and joined North Texas University with a full scholarship. Adam’s social problems started to get even worse when he went to the regular High School in 2002. In 2003 the High School had to transfer Adam to the District Learning Center for more controlled treatment environment which failed to help him. In 2004 I transferred him to a Special Education school in Dallas where he graduated from in July 2006. During that period Adam was still going to Psychiatrists and Psychologists to help him finish school and prepare for his future. All of these visits plus the Special Education school failed in his treatment and once he finished the High School he couldn’t communicate with anyone except his parents. Therefore he stayed home permanently and started getting the disability Medicaid assistance. I take care of all of his needs.
In December of 2007 Diana graduated from College as a Graphic Designer. Lottie, David, Carmen, Christie and Josh attended Diana’s graduation. Diana moved from Denton, Texas to Carrollton, Texas where she still lives.
Margie’s memory problems got worth and worth between 2002 and 2004. In 2005 all doctors who examined her already determined that she got a very early age Alzheimer disease. In 2007 Margie got to the final stage of the disease stage 7 and we were forced to place her in a nursing home because of the continuous need for medical assistance. Now Margie lives in Pilot Point Care Center in Pilot Point, Texas. She can’t talk anymore and her arms and her legs are almost paralyzed. She is always either in bed or in the wheelchair. It is very hard to tell if she can remember any of her family members. She has a feeding tube and a colostomy bag. She always breathes from her mouth because she already forgot how to breathe from her nose. I visit her every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and I wash her cloths. Her kids visit her on the last Sunday of every month. I constantly pray for her permanent cure.
Diana finally found a job on September 2008 as a Graphic Designer at a company called Funimation in Flower Mound, Texas. But because of the economy problems her company let her go in January 2009. Then they hired her back in October 2009 where she is currently works.
Currently I work at Bank of America for the Technology team in Addison, Texas where I’ve been working since 1994.
Thanks
Mohamed Zaky
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Charlie and Bob
This is a true story.
Most names have been changed to protect, etc. But it happened a very long time ago. I have told this story only once to a close friend of mine, Don Gilmore. Don can tell you the proper names when you see him. (He died several years ago.)
Once upon a time, we knew a married couple named Ed and Charlie. Charlie was the mother of three children and the wife of Ed. But soon Ed divorced Charlie for another woman, and he leaves this story, but he left Charlie in terrible condition. Charlie's mother and father lived close to her and helped with the kids, but they both were soon gone also due to a fire in their home. Luckily Charlie's oldest son escaped the fire. The others kids were staying with Charlie.
Times were tough for Charlie, until she met a truck driver that came through town every couple of weeks. His name was Bob.
As time passed, Bob came to town more and more often, until he finally moved in with Charlie. Things were finally looking up for Charlie. But Bob refused to marry to Charlie. They visited us regularly. Many times they would go for a long walk down the road and would come back with the smell of weed.
This went on for about a year, and Bob finally told me that he was going to marry Charlie. And before long they did get married. I was happy for Bob and Charlie and they were both happy to be together.
Bob had stopped driving a truck all over the USA and settled into a local job driving milk trucks from local dairies to various milk companies.
Things went well, until we got a phone call from Charlie telling us that Bob had been driving a gasoline truck and it had exploded. All that was ever found of Bob was a small handful of bone fragments. Sad times were back for Charlie.
The story now turns from Charlie in a very weird way.
One early Saturday morning, the sheriff showed up. He said he needed to question me about a murder. I said I would help if possible, but I knew nothing about a murder. He said that a witness had seen me and my wife visiting a grave at a small cemetery just down the road. The witness had watched us return to our home so he assumed it was Penny and me.
I told him that we sometime go for a walk that goes by the cemetery but we never visited any graves there. I asked who's grave are you asking about? He told me that it only said "Baby XXXX". ( I don't think I should reveal the name.)
I asked the sheriff, "The murder was of a baby?" And he said, “Probably, but they needed more information before the body was exhumed. He said the cemetery caretaker had called him about a grave that was not in the record books. The police assumed that someone was murdered and the body hidden in the old cemetery, where by sheer luck the caretaker noted the new grave and reported it.
I told the Sheriff that I had known a couple named XXXX, but Bob had been killed in a truck explosion over a year ago, but Bob and Charlie had no baby.
Penny entered the room to see who I was talking to. The Sherriff asked Penny if she knew anything about a grave with the name Baby XXXX.
Penny's eyes grew big and her chin dropped. She began to get very excited and I knew she knew something. She began to explain that the grave was not a grave but just a mound with a headstone.
She told us that Charlie had told Bob that she was pregnant. When she could not keep up the story after the marriage she decided she would have to tell Bob that she lost the baby.. Bob was gone for a couple of weeks driving across the USA for extra money, and she decided that she would tell Bob that the baby died while he was on the road. She stopped at a place that made headstones and told them that her baby died and she didn't have any money for a headstone. She cried and cried and finally they made a head stone for her with no records and no payment.
Charlie had gone to the cemetery and made a mound and placed the headstone there. Suddenly I realized why almost every week end they would come to visit and take that long walk by the cemetery. I could see them sitting by the grave mourning the baby. Poor Bob died after thinking he had lost a child.
The Sheriff said he had never heard such a weird story. It was so weird, he said, it had to be true. He said he had confidence that no one would care about his digging up the grave just so he could wrap up the case. He said if more info was needed he would be back in a short while.
I was worried about Charlie, would she be charged with a crime? I guess the Sheriff felt like me. He did not want to bother Charlie with additional worry. We never saw the Sherriff again, but we see Charlie often, but I could never tell her about the sheriff's visit. But Penny probably did.
Most names have been changed to protect, etc. But it happened a very long time ago. I have told this story only once to a close friend of mine, Don Gilmore. Don can tell you the proper names when you see him. (He died several years ago.)
Once upon a time, we knew a married couple named Ed and Charlie. Charlie was the mother of three children and the wife of Ed. But soon Ed divorced Charlie for another woman, and he leaves this story, but he left Charlie in terrible condition. Charlie's mother and father lived close to her and helped with the kids, but they both were soon gone also due to a fire in their home. Luckily Charlie's oldest son escaped the fire. The others kids were staying with Charlie.
Times were tough for Charlie, until she met a truck driver that came through town every couple of weeks. His name was Bob.
As time passed, Bob came to town more and more often, until he finally moved in with Charlie. Things were finally looking up for Charlie. But Bob refused to marry to Charlie. They visited us regularly. Many times they would go for a long walk down the road and would come back with the smell of weed.
This went on for about a year, and Bob finally told me that he was going to marry Charlie. And before long they did get married. I was happy for Bob and Charlie and they were both happy to be together.
Bob had stopped driving a truck all over the USA and settled into a local job driving milk trucks from local dairies to various milk companies.
Things went well, until we got a phone call from Charlie telling us that Bob had been driving a gasoline truck and it had exploded. All that was ever found of Bob was a small handful of bone fragments. Sad times were back for Charlie.
The story now turns from Charlie in a very weird way.
One early Saturday morning, the sheriff showed up. He said he needed to question me about a murder. I said I would help if possible, but I knew nothing about a murder. He said that a witness had seen me and my wife visiting a grave at a small cemetery just down the road. The witness had watched us return to our home so he assumed it was Penny and me.
I told him that we sometime go for a walk that goes by the cemetery but we never visited any graves there. I asked who's grave are you asking about? He told me that it only said "Baby XXXX". ( I don't think I should reveal the name.)
I asked the sheriff, "The murder was of a baby?" And he said, “Probably, but they needed more information before the body was exhumed. He said the cemetery caretaker had called him about a grave that was not in the record books. The police assumed that someone was murdered and the body hidden in the old cemetery, where by sheer luck the caretaker noted the new grave and reported it.
I told the Sheriff that I had known a couple named XXXX, but Bob had been killed in a truck explosion over a year ago, but Bob and Charlie had no baby.
Penny entered the room to see who I was talking to. The Sherriff asked Penny if she knew anything about a grave with the name Baby XXXX.
Penny's eyes grew big and her chin dropped. She began to get very excited and I knew she knew something. She began to explain that the grave was not a grave but just a mound with a headstone.
She told us that Charlie had told Bob that she was pregnant. When she could not keep up the story after the marriage she decided she would have to tell Bob that she lost the baby.. Bob was gone for a couple of weeks driving across the USA for extra money, and she decided that she would tell Bob that the baby died while he was on the road. She stopped at a place that made headstones and told them that her baby died and she didn't have any money for a headstone. She cried and cried and finally they made a head stone for her with no records and no payment.
Charlie had gone to the cemetery and made a mound and placed the headstone there. Suddenly I realized why almost every week end they would come to visit and take that long walk by the cemetery. I could see them sitting by the grave mourning the baby. Poor Bob died after thinking he had lost a child.
The Sheriff said he had never heard such a weird story. It was so weird, he said, it had to be true. He said he had confidence that no one would care about his digging up the grave just so he could wrap up the case. He said if more info was needed he would be back in a short while.
I was worried about Charlie, would she be charged with a crime? I guess the Sheriff felt like me. He did not want to bother Charlie with additional worry. We never saw the Sherriff again, but we see Charlie often, but I could never tell her about the sheriff's visit. But Penny probably did.
In Memory of Billy Mark Geron - March 26, 1957 - May 5, 1962 As remembered by David Geron.
The date was May 5th, 1962. It was a beautiful day. The skies were blue. I was ten years old, Harrell Joe was thirteen, and Billy was five years old. Margie had spent the weekend with Grandma and Granddaddy Geron. Billy and I were playing like we were having a picnic. The table was an old TV. We were eating butterfinger bars. Harrell Joe came in the room and we discussed that it was almost time to get the milk cows.
Then Billy suggested we surprise Daddy by getting the milk cows without him telling us to. We decided to take a shortcut to the cows through a cotton field. Billy was on the top of a terrace. I was on the bottom of the terrace. Harrell Joe was between 20-30 feet across from Billy.
Then, all of a sudden, lightning struck and time stopped. I don’t know how much time passed once I woke up. I raised up and saw Billy with his clothes on fire. I looked towards Harrell Joe. He was running to Billy. He threw dirt on Billy’s body to try to put out the flames. He told me to go get mom and dad. I started running to the house, but Dad knew something was wrong. He met me halfway with Mom in the car. We picked up Billy and mother gave him mouth to mouth.
We started driving towards Colorado City. We got to the end of the Dorn Road and Dad told Harrell Joe to get out. There was a house on the corner that he thought had a phone. He told him to call emergency because he was afraid we didn’t have enough gas in the car to make it. Dad started slowing down at the corner and Harrell Joe jumped from the car while we were still going. Dad told Mom, "I didn’t mean for him to jump." We looked in the back and Harrell Joe was rolling on the road, but he was ok. Mom said let’s go and continued to give Billy mouth to mouth. We went to Colorado City. Billy was pronounced dead.
The doctor said he never felt a thing. He said his death was painless. Later that evening, I remember my uncles and aunts coming to visit. They sat on the front porch and everybody was asking me what happened. I tried to explain that Billy had told me that he wanted to go see Granddad Young. He said they were the best of friends and he asked me "If I climb up the tree in front of the house, do you think lightning would kill me and I could see Granddad?" He had known about lightning because our house was on a hill and lightning had struck several times destroying our TV. I said yes, but I didn’t want him to do that because he would see Granddad later.
After Billy’s death, my mother was never the same. The only thing that gave her happiness was the day Carolyn was born, March 15th, 1963. This was the first time I remember her smiling again.
Then Billy suggested we surprise Daddy by getting the milk cows without him telling us to. We decided to take a shortcut to the cows through a cotton field. Billy was on the top of a terrace. I was on the bottom of the terrace. Harrell Joe was between 20-30 feet across from Billy.
Then, all of a sudden, lightning struck and time stopped. I don’t know how much time passed once I woke up. I raised up and saw Billy with his clothes on fire. I looked towards Harrell Joe. He was running to Billy. He threw dirt on Billy’s body to try to put out the flames. He told me to go get mom and dad. I started running to the house, but Dad knew something was wrong. He met me halfway with Mom in the car. We picked up Billy and mother gave him mouth to mouth.
We started driving towards Colorado City. We got to the end of the Dorn Road and Dad told Harrell Joe to get out. There was a house on the corner that he thought had a phone. He told him to call emergency because he was afraid we didn’t have enough gas in the car to make it. Dad started slowing down at the corner and Harrell Joe jumped from the car while we were still going. Dad told Mom, "I didn’t mean for him to jump." We looked in the back and Harrell Joe was rolling on the road, but he was ok. Mom said let’s go and continued to give Billy mouth to mouth. We went to Colorado City. Billy was pronounced dead.
The doctor said he never felt a thing. He said his death was painless. Later that evening, I remember my uncles and aunts coming to visit. They sat on the front porch and everybody was asking me what happened. I tried to explain that Billy had told me that he wanted to go see Granddad Young. He said they were the best of friends and he asked me "If I climb up the tree in front of the house, do you think lightning would kill me and I could see Granddad?" He had known about lightning because our house was on a hill and lightning had struck several times destroying our TV. I said yes, but I didn’t want him to do that because he would see Granddad later.
After Billy’s death, my mother was never the same. The only thing that gave her happiness was the day Carolyn was born, March 15th, 1963. This was the first time I remember her smiling again.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
My memories of May 5, 1962 -Harrell Geron
After my Grand dad passed away (Joseph Bruno Young had died in January) Mother told me that just before he passed away, he told her he was sorry about the accident, but we should not worry because that was one accident that could not be prevented. Mom worried and tried to figure out what kind of accident could not be prevented.
The night before May 5th, I was troubled by a nightmare where a red veil was dropped in front of eyes. I could see a bright light and hear yelling, but I could not tell what was going on. I woke up trembling and had trouble going back to sleep. But I did fall asleep and would not know for hours what the trouble would be. I was 13 years old, but the dream scared me like I was a baby.
I remember Saturday morning playing with Billy in the back yard. I had see the Mr. Wizard show and he had shown how to make a pump with a pair of plastic bottles and a marble. The marble would acts a flow control to let water in and stop it from back flow while you squeezed one bottle and the pump would force water thru a hole, kind of like a water gun. I shot water straight up into the air, and it gushed big time and got me an Billy wet. Being only 5 years old he ran away crying. I told him to not be a cry baby. We played with the water and had fun but we both got in a little for getting all wet.
Later that day, we saw a rain cloud coming. David and I were supposed to bring home the milk cows at night so they could be milked in the morning. Usually they were in the back pasture with lots of trees and weeds, and a long, long trip both ways. But that day, dad had placed the cows in the front field to graze where there were few weeds and no trees. We could clearly see the cows less than a half a mile away. Our house was on a hill top and the cows were down the hill. Billy wanted to go with us, since it looked like an easy trip.
It was to early in the day, but it looked like rain so we decided to get the cows and let Billy come. I don't know the time of day, but it seems like it might have only been 4 pm, but we were excited and wanted to get the cows anyway.
I remember that I was walking in front, but I don't know exactly where Billy and David were behind me, probably not more than 20 feet. We had just left the grassed area and entered the plowed field and terraces.
The next thing I knew, the red veil had fallen over me once again, but I did not hear any yelling. I was laying on the ground, but unhurt. I got my eyes opened and looked around to figure out where the bright light had came from. I knew the red veil was my shut eyelids during the flash. I saw Billy on the ground, and heard David yelling. Billy's clothes were on fire, and I rushed to him and pitched some plowed dirt on him and started putting the fire out, I rolled him over and the put out the last flames. By that time David had stopped yelling. Later I learned the lightning had burned his arm pretty bad.
I picked up Billy and started toward the house. I think David ran ahead of me to get Dad. I don't know how long I had been passed out, and I don't remember how far I carried Billy, but Dad soon met me and got Billy. We rushed to the near by road where Mom was waiting in the car. Dad must have heard the lightning and come running because were were not close to the house yet.
We lived about 3 miles from the Dorn Road intersection with Interstate 20, and maybe 10 miles or more from Colorado City, Tx. We knew the old people at the intersection to Interstate 20. I said that they had a phone, and if I could call ahead, the hospital could be ready and waiting for Billy to arrive. I was so excited and scared I jumped from our car before it stopped. I rolled ground, but was unhurt once again.
I rushed to the house of the old people and watched the car turn onto the interstate.
I told the old lady what was happening and she called the Colorado City Hospital. She put me in a recliner chair and put a damp rag on my head. She said I was in shock... I did not know what she meant. But I didn't think I was shocked because David and Billy were hit by the lighting shock, not me.
I don't know what happened after that, so maybe I was in shock. The next memories I have are at the funeral home. Billy was dressed in a back cowboy "dressed" outfit he had gotten for his birthday just a few weeks before. There was a concrete ledge around the funeral home yard. It was only, maybe 18 inches high. I walked that ledge back and fourth for hours. I don't know if that was the next day or not. I remember telling mom, that a dream should have told me to stay away from the rain clouds.
One other thing I remember after getting back home from the hospital, there had been no rain, and it fact there were no clouds anywhere. I was told the clouds had quickly disappeared that had been to only bolt of lighting. David and I were much taller than Billy. Billy must have been on the top of the terrace.
The dream still bothered me, and mom finally took me to an old lady from the Westbrook Baptist Church. I don't know her name, but she had lots of faith in God, and she talked to me for a long time... better than any doctor and help me get thru the guilt I felt from not knowing what was going to happen. She told me and mom that this was an accident that could not be prevented, and that it was God that took Billy. In fact, this is was not an accident. It was the only time she knew of where God reach out himself and took a person directly with no warning at all.
That make me feel better and whoever that old lady was, I thank God for her.
To Mom, Dad, and David, Thank you very much for helping me through that terrible time. I remember once telling Dad that I heard time heals all wounds. He told me that was only a saying, but it was not true. Almost 50 years later, I have to say Dad was right.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Conversation from David
David: I was born on my Daddy's 30th birthday. My earliest memory is Douglas Street.
In Sweetwater Mom was scared of a storm. She put Billy in a five gallon bucket and took me buy the hand to walk to Grand Daddy Young's house.
We lived on a house near Longworth. We had a water cistern on the back porch. Mom got water to bathe from the cistern. I was finding frogs in each bucket. I didn't want to wash with water.
Harrell: We borrowed water from town for drinking. We had the cistern tested, and it failed the safety test.
David: Same location Daddy had some fighting chicken's. One red roster always tried to attack me and Billy. I found that throwing rocks scared the chickens
So one day the chicken got me and Billy stuck in a corner. I picked up a brick and walked towards the chicken. The chicken walked back as I walked forward so I thought of a plan. The next day i told Billy lets go to the pig pen.
I took a brick with me we went to the pig pen. I told Billy let’s wait for the chicken. As the chicken approached I held up the brick as I walked forward. He walked back. He walked under the electric fence and the boar pig and ate him up.
Harrell: I remember the huge boar and the chickens. That was the 3rd farm near Longworth. The owner of the farm had a gas station on Sweetwater’s main street right downtown. His name was Mr. Smalley. He had a horse in the pasture. If we could corral him we could ride him. We rode him many times.
David: I never told Dad what happened to his prized roster but he found the feathers and he said that was one mean chicken but he was stupid to get in the a pig pen
Harrell: David? What do you remember about the day Billy was killed? I know it is very sad story. You don’t have to tell it. I will tell what I remember if you want me to.
In Sweetwater Mom was scared of a storm. She put Billy in a five gallon bucket and took me buy the hand to walk to Grand Daddy Young's house.
We lived on a house near Longworth. We had a water cistern on the back porch. Mom got water to bathe from the cistern. I was finding frogs in each bucket. I didn't want to wash with water.
Harrell: We borrowed water from town for drinking. We had the cistern tested, and it failed the safety test.
David: Same location Daddy had some fighting chicken's. One red roster always tried to attack me and Billy. I found that throwing rocks scared the chickens
So one day the chicken got me and Billy stuck in a corner. I picked up a brick and walked towards the chicken. The chicken walked back as I walked forward so I thought of a plan. The next day i told Billy lets go to the pig pen.
I took a brick with me we went to the pig pen. I told Billy let’s wait for the chicken. As the chicken approached I held up the brick as I walked forward. He walked back. He walked under the electric fence and the boar pig and ate him up.
Harrell: I remember the huge boar and the chickens. That was the 3rd farm near Longworth. The owner of the farm had a gas station on Sweetwater’s main street right downtown. His name was Mr. Smalley. He had a horse in the pasture. If we could corral him we could ride him. We rode him many times.
David: I never told Dad what happened to his prized roster but he found the feathers and he said that was one mean chicken but he was stupid to get in the a pig pen
Harrell: David? What do you remember about the day Billy was killed? I know it is very sad story. You don’t have to tell it. I will tell what I remember if you want me to.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Help update the info in the Three Couples -Lottie
I have posted a document David sent me from Aunt Lottie about when she and a bother and sister got married and moved to Oregon in 1948.
The trip to Oregon yielded more results than expected. Namely me, and two of my cousins, Lynda and Wayne. Wayne wasn't born till they returned to Texas. I am guessing the trip must have lasted the better part of a year.
Please read The Three Couples at Ragknot@blogspot.com if you are interested. I want to get this updated to include the families and children of the The Couples at least. And if possible please add more of Lottie's brother's and sisters. Add your own Chapter if you can. This is a good beginning, but I could tell Lottie was running out of wind near the end.
For those who don't know, Lottie was one of the youngest of a dozen brothers and sisters.
Please forward to other members of your family. I need all the help I can get.
The trip to Oregon yielded more results than expected. Namely me, and two of my cousins, Lynda and Wayne. Wayne wasn't born till they returned to Texas. I am guessing the trip must have lasted the better part of a year.
Please read The Three Couples at Ragknot@blogspot.com if you are interested. I want to get this updated to include the families and children of the The Couples at least. And if possible please add more of Lottie's brother's and sisters. Add your own Chapter if you can. This is a good beginning, but I could tell Lottie was running out of wind near the end.
For those who don't know, Lottie was one of the youngest of a dozen brothers and sisters.
Please forward to other members of your family. I need all the help I can get.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Three Couples
This is a short document my aunt wrote about herself, her sister and brother. It begins over 60 years ago, when they got married and moved to Oregon, around 1948. I wish I could format this better. I am inviting my cousins to edit and update. Add notes about your family, birthdays, where you lived and anything else you want. I will keep everyone who wants to help updated and repost this as progress is made. (Request a document via email, update it and email back)
/ Harrell Joe
Ragknot@gmail.com
The Three Couples
By: Lottie Brown
In Loving Memory
Charles “Sonny” Brown (Lottie’s Husband)
Harrell & Evelyn Geron (Evelyn was Lottie’s sister)
Billy Mark Geron (Fourth son of Evelyn, killed by lightning at the age of six)
Harvey & Myrtle Young (Harvey was Lottie’s brother)
Typed by David K. Geron and David Josh Geron, March 6, 2010
Edited by Harrell Joe Geron
On October 5, 1948 Three Couples of the Young family left Roscoe, Texas to seek a better opportunity for making a living.
One couple was in a pick-up truck with some kitchen appliances and some household goods in the back with a tarp over a wooden frame covering it. A bed was as atop other belongings. The other two couples were traveling in a sedan with earthly goods packed in and mattress over these in the back seat for bedding. California was our destination. Evelyn and Harrell Geron were leaving a drought-stricken crop of cotton in Mitchell County on a rented farm with high hopes for an improved livelihood to provide more for the child she was finally bearing after six years of marriage. Harvey D. and Myrtle were also expecting a child. They had only been married a couple of years. He had worked Oil Field related jobs around Abilene. Lottie and Sonny (Charles) Brown had only been married five months.
The first night we camped and made open fires and cooked simple meals near Albuquerque, New Mexico. By the second night we were near Flagstaff, Arizona. When we got to Salinas, California, we stopped at a Post Office to find the location of our sister's address. None of us had telephones.
A distinguished gentleman leaving the post office (which was already closed for the day) was kind enough to explain how to get to the area the address indicated and offer some efforts. We found Verna Ruth and Carl's house. It was a partially completed house in the sand hills north in a community called Prundale. After a few days a tent was secured and parts of our ''stuff'' was unloaded. Evelyn's butane cook stove was set up and food items inside the tent with mattresses on top of other boxes of clothes, etc. Harvey D. and Myrtle slept in the back seat of the car, Evelyn, Harrell, and Sonny and me sharing the tent. . The weather was damp compared to dry West Texas and there were sand fleas which attacked our flesh and seemed to relish Harvey's body or blood. He suffered their bites after a few days with little rest he and Myrtle decided to take another move and went to another sister’s place in Oregon.
Temporarily before we and Evelyn and Harrell also headed to Oregon on November 1. . Harvey had gotten a job driving a truck on a maintenance project where Clarence (brother-in-law),our sister's husband worked but the Winter weather caused a ''shut down'' of it. He and Myrtle were living beside Valeta and Clarence in a mobile home where they continued to live as long as they were in Oregon (to my knowledge). . Valeta and Clarence were renting a large (32' X 16') Tent with half of it floored. They had already bought a lot near it where they later built a house of their own. The unfloored half became a bed room for Evelyn & Harrell & Sonny & me as well. Thanksgiving brought J.B. and Grace with our parents (Joseph Bruno and Ollie Young) to visit at this tent location. By this time I was vomiting and nauseated constantly due to pregnancy. Before Christmas Evelyn & Harrell purchased a lot and Sonny and I put up a 9 'X 9' tent on their lot and they in time put up a house with outside walls, enough to live in. Most families had wood burning heat since wood is plentiful however the butane for Evelyn's apartment range was very expensive. Sonny and I bought a two burner kerosene cook stove for our tent. No electricity until February for Evelyn & Harrell.
When Evelyn’s labor pains began, Harrell took Evelyn in a row boat across the river to St Joseph Hospital where Harrell Joe Geron was born. Jan 21, 1949. On February, 19, 1949 Lynda Young was born to Harvey D and Mrytle Young.
In 1950 joining lots was purchased by Harrell & Sonny on Tonkawa Street in Sweetwater, a coin was tossed as who got the corner lot, Sonny did. While they were working & going to school each built a 2 room house on the property. Margie Geron was born in 1950 to Evelyn and Harrell. After the school was completed they rented a building and put in business for making car seat covers in Winters, Texas. The town was a oil town with housing scare. They commented on week-ends home for a time then Sonny withdrew from partnership & Evelyn moved into the back part of the business, they sold house in Sweetwater. From there i'm not sure of families history.
Harvey and Myrtle came back but I'm not aware of their years until they were back & Harvey was working at U.S.G. sometime later. Patsy Ruth was born November 25, 1950 Cathy Jean was born December 14, 1957e ach at Sweetwater. . Harrell & Evelyn had a a shop in Portales, New Mexico at some point then farmed near Muleshoe. Evelyn worked in town at one time there. Sonny worked for Blair's Upholstery shop, then Texas Electric then we moved to Odessa, he worked as a carpenter until the Polio epidemic they scared us, so we returned to Sweetwater. On December 16, 1951 Sonny went to work at Lone Star Cement. Doris was born in August 1952. We added 2 rooms to the house on Tonkawa & sold it and moved to Maryneal a while for 3 years, rented land joining U.S.G. and moved to to a little house near the Rocket drive-in theater. Then after Sonny quit Cement Plant due to lung problems he expected were related to cement dust. He worked at Tye Air Base a few months. In early 1957 Harrell rented a farm
Fourteen miles from Snyder, Harrell and Sonny bought a Ferguson tractor and we moved back to partner with them. We knew it was just a one year deal. By this time we had 4 cows, one was from our daddy's herd we valued, a registered jersey. The crops were good; however a storm when cotton was mature caused a lot of damage. Billy was born that year. . We moved to a rented Haney farm near Roscoe in 1958. Sonny worked at gins during harvest then bought farm South of Champion in 1960. Elaine was born in 1960 and Jeana in 1961. Each of the children graduated from Highland High School. Wayne married Danna Oglesby in December 1969. . In the early 1950's (Evelyn and Harrell farmed near Longworth a few years. I'm not sure when) Evelyn & Harrell bought a house at 2012 Douglas. Then moved to a farm (Sidney Johnson's) (spoken of above) David was born in 1953 in Sweetwater Billy in 1956 in Snyder. I'm not sure if Evelyn & Harrell moved to Sweetwater or Roscoe from Snyder. He worked at Lone Star Cement Plant, I think some at Webb Air Base. They bought a farm on the Dorn Road. Harrell Joe and Margie graduated from Westbrook High School.
Note to add:
Before I, (Harrell Joe) started school, we lived in Sweetwater in a home next door to Sonny and Lottie, somewhere in the South East of Sweetwater. We also lived in Roscoe for a time. While I was In the first grade, we lived on Douglas Street in Sweetwater. We moved to a farm North of Sweetwater, then to Muleshoe, then to Snyder then back to Sweetwater again, then to Westbrook when I was in the sixth grade. When we lived in Synder, it was a huge stone house an Harrell and Evelyn lived downstairs and Sonny and Lottie lived upstairs.
Evelyn passed away in May, 1969 Billy Mark was struck by lightning May 5, 1962.
Harvey and Myrtle had a house in Sweetwater, just one block west of Tonkawa Street, (Hiawatha Street). Patsy and Cathy was born in Sweetwater. Harvey moved with the USG paint plant to Euless. He passed away there and later Myrtle as well.
Lynda and Patsy both married there. Patsy divorced, is in living in Lubbock. Lynda had a son, divorced & married Kent and moved to California; Cathy followed where she married and lives now, Grass Valley. Lynda's son Craig.
Evelyn's children
Harrell Joe married Penny and live in Little River, Texas, They have five children, Evelyn (Eve) born July 19, 1972 in Dumas Tx, (mother was Pat). William Greenway (Bill) father was Brad, Christy Greenway (died of MS), Harrell Junior (Joey) Sept 4, 1986 and Lela Feb 6, 1987
Margaret Annette who married Mohammed Zaky
David Keith married to Carmen with four children David Adam, April Dawn, Christina Maria and David Josh
Carolyn Jane married to Randy Dean in Ingram, Texas and has four children Josh, Bo, Lacy, and Randi.
From Mohamed Zaky, Margie's husband
Harrell Joe,
First I really didn’t know about Penny’s daughter death until I saw your blog. Please pass my sorrows to Penny and Bill for their great loss.
Here is a brief history of my family. I have to write a book to write it in more details. Please add it to the ‘Three Couples’ story.
My birth name is 'Mohamed Saeed Hussein Zaki'. I was born in Cairo, Egypt on 10/17/1951 to my father Saeed Hussein Zaki (he worked as a Medical Assistant for just few years then graduated from college as a Social Worker and worked in the government Youth Department until he retired) and my mother Tahia Mahmoud Hassan (a housewife nicknamed by her grandkids as Tooty). My older sister Magda was born on 12/1949, then another sister Iman (Mamy) born on 6/1955 and brother Ehab (Happy) born on 4/1964.
I graduated from Military Technical College in Cairo on 6/16/1974 as a first lieutent officer and an Electronic Engineer. I worked for the Egyptian Air Force at the Main Air Force Depot in Cairo. In 1978 I started my Computer Software career. Then on Memorial Day of 1982 I arrived at US with a group from the Egyptian Air Force to study and work on the Air Force Computer Automation project. First we worked at Washington D.C. metropolitan area for one month. Then we moved to Dallas to continue our education and work.
On July 1982 I met my wife Margarett Annetta Zaky (Margie) for the first time. She was the assistant manager of the apartment complex we moved to in North Dallas. At the end of the month Margie and I became good friends. Margie was previously married in 1969, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1979.
The Egyptian work team decided to move back to the D.C. area to complete the work assignment. Margie and I were in love and decided to get married on Valentine’s Day 2/14/1983. Therefore I got my green card with my name as ‘Mohamed Said Zaky’. At that time I was considered absent without leave from the Egyptian Air Force.
I started looking for a job right after we got married. Margie quit her apartment management job in April 1983 because we thought I will find a job very soon. By October 1983 when I was still looking for a job Margie had to go back to work. Then I got my first break with a Computer Consulting company from Kansas City. They found me a contract for hire in Hartford, Connecticut. In January 1984 Margie quit her job and we moved to Connecticut to start my first American job. On my first day of work Margie found that she is pregnant with our first child. On 9/25/1984 Diana Renee was born in Manchester, Connecticut. My parents came and visited us in Connecticut just few weeks after Diana was born. At that time I found that the Egyptian military already court marshaled me in my absence and issued the standard military punishment three years in the officer prison.
In 9/1985 I found a job in Dallas and we moved back to Garland, Texas for six months then in 4/1986 to The Colony, Texas where we still live. My son Adam Brian was born on 12/19/1987 just three months after I became a U.S. citizen in 9/1987. In summer of 1988 we travelled to Athens, Greece and visited with my parents, sisters and brother and their families. In 1991 we vacationed in southern California and Disneyland and in Miami Beach, Florida. Then in 1995 we vacationed in Orlando and Disney World.
My father Saeed got the Alzheimer disease in his early seventies and due to a wrong prescription in 1995 he got into a comma for three months before he died. My older sister Magda also got the cancer disease right after my father death. Margie’s father Harrell passed away in November 1997.
In 1998 after the school was out we’ve decided to visit my relatives in Egypt. Due to my old military status I was captured by the Egyptian authorities in Cairo Airport in front of my family. Margie and the kids spent 25 days in Cairo with my sisters and brother then came back to Dallas. I spent 20 months in that military prison and tried all different avenues to get my freedom without any success. My sister Magda died in August 1999 while I was still in prison. During that time Margie just lived on our little savings and borrowed money from relatives. Also my son Adam started his social withdrawal. Margie started to take Adam to Psychiatrists and Psychologists.
In January of 2000 I returned home and got my job back right away. During 2002 the kids and I started noticing Margie’s memory problems. At that time Margie went to a Neurologist, did the brain MRI and found no problems. In January 2003 my mother passed away in her sleep.
In 2003 Diana graduated from High School with great honors and joined North Texas University with a full scholarship. Adam’s social problems started to get even worse when he went to the regular High School in 2002. In 2003 the High School had to transfer Adam to the District Learning Center for more controlled treatment environment which failed to help him. In 2004 I transferred him to a Special Education school in Dallas where he graduated from in July 2006. During that period Adam was still going to Psychiatrists and Psychologists to help him finish school and prepare for his future. All of these visits plus the Special Education school failed in his treatment and once he finished the High School he couldn’t communicate with anyone except his parents. Therefore he stayed home permanently and started getting the disability Medicaid assistance. I take care of all of his needs.
In December of 2007 Diana graduated from College as a Graphic Designer. Lottie, David, Carmen, Christie and Josh attended Diana’s graduation. Diana moved from Denton, Texas to Carrollton, Texas where she still lives.
Margie’s memory problems got worth and worth between 2002 and 2004. In 2005 all doctors who examined her already determined that she got a very early age Alzheimer disease. In 2007 Margie got to the final stage of the disease stage 7 and we were forced to place her in a nursing home because of the continuous need for medical assistance. Now Margie lives in Pilot Point Care Center in Pilot Point, Texas. She can’t talk anymore and her arms and her legs are almost paralyzed. She is always either in bed or in the wheelchair. It is very hard to tell if she can remember any of her family members. She has a feeding tube and a colostomy bag. She always breathes from her mouth because she already forgot how to breathe from her nose. I visit her every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and I wash her cloths. Her kids visit her on the last Sunday of every month. I constantly pray for her permanent cure.
Diana finally found a job on September 2008 as a Graphic Designer at a company called Funimation in Flower Mound, Texas. But because of the economy problems her company let her go in January 2009. Then they hired her back in October 2009 where she is currently works.
Currently I work at Bank of America for the Technology team in Addison, Texas where I’ve been working since 1994.
Thanks
Mohamed Zaky
/ Harrell Joe
Ragknot@gmail.com
The Three Couples
By: Lottie Brown
In Loving Memory
Charles “Sonny” Brown (Lottie’s Husband)
Harrell & Evelyn Geron (Evelyn was Lottie’s sister)
Billy Mark Geron (Fourth son of Evelyn, killed by lightning at the age of six)
Harvey & Myrtle Young (Harvey was Lottie’s brother)
Typed by David K. Geron and David Josh Geron, March 6, 2010
Edited by Harrell Joe Geron
On October 5, 1948 Three Couples of the Young family left Roscoe, Texas to seek a better opportunity for making a living.
One couple was in a pick-up truck with some kitchen appliances and some household goods in the back with a tarp over a wooden frame covering it. A bed was as atop other belongings. The other two couples were traveling in a sedan with earthly goods packed in and mattress over these in the back seat for bedding. California was our destination. Evelyn and Harrell Geron were leaving a drought-stricken crop of cotton in Mitchell County on a rented farm with high hopes for an improved livelihood to provide more for the child she was finally bearing after six years of marriage. Harvey D. and Myrtle were also expecting a child. They had only been married a couple of years. He had worked Oil Field related jobs around Abilene. Lottie and Sonny (Charles) Brown had only been married five months.
The first night we camped and made open fires and cooked simple meals near Albuquerque, New Mexico. By the second night we were near Flagstaff, Arizona. When we got to Salinas, California, we stopped at a Post Office to find the location of our sister's address. None of us had telephones.
A distinguished gentleman leaving the post office (which was already closed for the day) was kind enough to explain how to get to the area the address indicated and offer some efforts. We found Verna Ruth and Carl's house. It was a partially completed house in the sand hills north in a community called Prundale. After a few days a tent was secured and parts of our ''stuff'' was unloaded. Evelyn's butane cook stove was set up and food items inside the tent with mattresses on top of other boxes of clothes, etc. Harvey D. and Myrtle slept in the back seat of the car, Evelyn, Harrell, and Sonny and me sharing the tent. . The weather was damp compared to dry West Texas and there were sand fleas which attacked our flesh and seemed to relish Harvey's body or blood. He suffered their bites after a few days with little rest he and Myrtle decided to take another move and went to another sister’s place in Oregon.
Temporarily before we and Evelyn and Harrell also headed to Oregon on November 1. . Harvey had gotten a job driving a truck on a maintenance project where Clarence (brother-in-law),our sister's husband worked but the Winter weather caused a ''shut down'' of it. He and Myrtle were living beside Valeta and Clarence in a mobile home where they continued to live as long as they were in Oregon (to my knowledge). . Valeta and Clarence were renting a large (32' X 16') Tent with half of it floored. They had already bought a lot near it where they later built a house of their own. The unfloored half became a bed room for Evelyn & Harrell & Sonny & me as well. Thanksgiving brought J.B. and Grace with our parents (Joseph Bruno and Ollie Young) to visit at this tent location. By this time I was vomiting and nauseated constantly due to pregnancy. Before Christmas Evelyn & Harrell purchased a lot and Sonny and I put up a 9 'X 9' tent on their lot and they in time put up a house with outside walls, enough to live in. Most families had wood burning heat since wood is plentiful however the butane for Evelyn's apartment range was very expensive. Sonny and I bought a two burner kerosene cook stove for our tent. No electricity until February for Evelyn & Harrell.
When Evelyn’s labor pains began, Harrell took Evelyn in a row boat across the river to St Joseph Hospital where Harrell Joe Geron was born. Jan 21, 1949. On February, 19, 1949 Lynda Young was born to Harvey D and Mrytle Young.
In 1950 joining lots was purchased by Harrell & Sonny on Tonkawa Street in Sweetwater, a coin was tossed as who got the corner lot, Sonny did. While they were working & going to school each built a 2 room house on the property. Margie Geron was born in 1950 to Evelyn and Harrell. After the school was completed they rented a building and put in business for making car seat covers in Winters, Texas. The town was a oil town with housing scare. They commented on week-ends home for a time then Sonny withdrew from partnership & Evelyn moved into the back part of the business, they sold house in Sweetwater. From there i'm not sure of families history.
Harvey and Myrtle came back but I'm not aware of their years until they were back & Harvey was working at U.S.G. sometime later. Patsy Ruth was born November 25, 1950 Cathy Jean was born December 14, 1957e ach at Sweetwater. . Harrell & Evelyn had a a shop in Portales, New Mexico at some point then farmed near Muleshoe. Evelyn worked in town at one time there. Sonny worked for Blair's Upholstery shop, then Texas Electric then we moved to Odessa, he worked as a carpenter until the Polio epidemic they scared us, so we returned to Sweetwater. On December 16, 1951 Sonny went to work at Lone Star Cement. Doris was born in August 1952. We added 2 rooms to the house on Tonkawa & sold it and moved to Maryneal a while for 3 years, rented land joining U.S.G. and moved to to a little house near the Rocket drive-in theater. Then after Sonny quit Cement Plant due to lung problems he expected were related to cement dust. He worked at Tye Air Base a few months. In early 1957 Harrell rented a farm
Fourteen miles from Snyder, Harrell and Sonny bought a Ferguson tractor and we moved back to partner with them. We knew it was just a one year deal. By this time we had 4 cows, one was from our daddy's herd we valued, a registered jersey. The crops were good; however a storm when cotton was mature caused a lot of damage. Billy was born that year. . We moved to a rented Haney farm near Roscoe in 1958. Sonny worked at gins during harvest then bought farm South of Champion in 1960. Elaine was born in 1960 and Jeana in 1961. Each of the children graduated from Highland High School. Wayne married Danna Oglesby in December 1969. . In the early 1950's (Evelyn and Harrell farmed near Longworth a few years. I'm not sure when) Evelyn & Harrell bought a house at 2012 Douglas. Then moved to a farm (Sidney Johnson's) (spoken of above) David was born in 1953 in Sweetwater Billy in 1956 in Snyder. I'm not sure if Evelyn & Harrell moved to Sweetwater or Roscoe from Snyder. He worked at Lone Star Cement Plant, I think some at Webb Air Base. They bought a farm on the Dorn Road. Harrell Joe and Margie graduated from Westbrook High School.
Note to add:
Before I, (Harrell Joe) started school, we lived in Sweetwater in a home next door to Sonny and Lottie, somewhere in the South East of Sweetwater. We also lived in Roscoe for a time. While I was In the first grade, we lived on Douglas Street in Sweetwater. We moved to a farm North of Sweetwater, then to Muleshoe, then to Snyder then back to Sweetwater again, then to Westbrook when I was in the sixth grade. When we lived in Synder, it was a huge stone house an Harrell and Evelyn lived downstairs and Sonny and Lottie lived upstairs.
Evelyn passed away in May, 1969 Billy Mark was struck by lightning May 5, 1962.
Harvey and Myrtle had a house in Sweetwater, just one block west of Tonkawa Street, (Hiawatha Street). Patsy and Cathy was born in Sweetwater. Harvey moved with the USG paint plant to Euless. He passed away there and later Myrtle as well.
Lynda and Patsy both married there. Patsy divorced, is in living in Lubbock. Lynda had a son, divorced & married Kent and moved to California; Cathy followed where she married and lives now, Grass Valley. Lynda's son Craig.
Evelyn's children
Harrell Joe married Penny and live in Little River, Texas, They have five children, Evelyn (Eve) born July 19, 1972 in Dumas Tx, (mother was Pat). William Greenway (Bill) father was Brad, Christy Greenway (died of MS), Harrell Junior (Joey) Sept 4, 1986 and Lela Feb 6, 1987
Margaret Annette who married Mohammed Zaky
David Keith married to Carmen with four children David Adam, April Dawn, Christina Maria and David Josh
Carolyn Jane married to Randy Dean in Ingram, Texas and has four children Josh, Bo, Lacy, and Randi.
From Mohamed Zaky, Margie's husband
Harrell Joe,
First I really didn’t know about Penny’s daughter death until I saw your blog. Please pass my sorrows to Penny and Bill for their great loss.
Here is a brief history of my family. I have to write a book to write it in more details. Please add it to the ‘Three Couples’ story.
My birth name is 'Mohamed Saeed Hussein Zaki'. I was born in Cairo, Egypt on 10/17/1951 to my father Saeed Hussein Zaki (he worked as a Medical Assistant for just few years then graduated from college as a Social Worker and worked in the government Youth Department until he retired) and my mother Tahia Mahmoud Hassan (a housewife nicknamed by her grandkids as Tooty). My older sister Magda was born on 12/1949, then another sister Iman (Mamy) born on 6/1955 and brother Ehab (Happy) born on 4/1964.
I graduated from Military Technical College in Cairo on 6/16/1974 as a first lieutent officer and an Electronic Engineer. I worked for the Egyptian Air Force at the Main Air Force Depot in Cairo. In 1978 I started my Computer Software career. Then on Memorial Day of 1982 I arrived at US with a group from the Egyptian Air Force to study and work on the Air Force Computer Automation project. First we worked at Washington D.C. metropolitan area for one month. Then we moved to Dallas to continue our education and work.
On July 1982 I met my wife Margarett Annetta Zaky (Margie) for the first time. She was the assistant manager of the apartment complex we moved to in North Dallas. At the end of the month Margie and I became good friends. Margie was previously married in 1969, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1979.
The Egyptian work team decided to move back to the D.C. area to complete the work assignment. Margie and I were in love and decided to get married on Valentine’s Day 2/14/1983. Therefore I got my green card with my name as ‘Mohamed Said Zaky’. At that time I was considered absent without leave from the Egyptian Air Force.
I started looking for a job right after we got married. Margie quit her apartment management job in April 1983 because we thought I will find a job very soon. By October 1983 when I was still looking for a job Margie had to go back to work. Then I got my first break with a Computer Consulting company from Kansas City. They found me a contract for hire in Hartford, Connecticut. In January 1984 Margie quit her job and we moved to Connecticut to start my first American job. On my first day of work Margie found that she is pregnant with our first child. On 9/25/1984 Diana Renee was born in Manchester, Connecticut. My parents came and visited us in Connecticut just few weeks after Diana was born. At that time I found that the Egyptian military already court marshaled me in my absence and issued the standard military punishment three years in the officer prison.
In 9/1985 I found a job in Dallas and we moved back to Garland, Texas for six months then in 4/1986 to The Colony, Texas where we still live. My son Adam Brian was born on 12/19/1987 just three months after I became a U.S. citizen in 9/1987. In summer of 1988 we travelled to Athens, Greece and visited with my parents, sisters and brother and their families. In 1991 we vacationed in southern California and Disneyland and in Miami Beach, Florida. Then in 1995 we vacationed in Orlando and Disney World.
My father Saeed got the Alzheimer disease in his early seventies and due to a wrong prescription in 1995 he got into a comma for three months before he died. My older sister Magda also got the cancer disease right after my father death. Margie’s father Harrell passed away in November 1997.
In 1998 after the school was out we’ve decided to visit my relatives in Egypt. Due to my old military status I was captured by the Egyptian authorities in Cairo Airport in front of my family. Margie and the kids spent 25 days in Cairo with my sisters and brother then came back to Dallas. I spent 20 months in that military prison and tried all different avenues to get my freedom without any success. My sister Magda died in August 1999 while I was still in prison. During that time Margie just lived on our little savings and borrowed money from relatives. Also my son Adam started his social withdrawal. Margie started to take Adam to Psychiatrists and Psychologists.
In January of 2000 I returned home and got my job back right away. During 2002 the kids and I started noticing Margie’s memory problems. At that time Margie went to a Neurologist, did the brain MRI and found no problems. In January 2003 my mother passed away in her sleep.
In 2003 Diana graduated from High School with great honors and joined North Texas University with a full scholarship. Adam’s social problems started to get even worse when he went to the regular High School in 2002. In 2003 the High School had to transfer Adam to the District Learning Center for more controlled treatment environment which failed to help him. In 2004 I transferred him to a Special Education school in Dallas where he graduated from in July 2006. During that period Adam was still going to Psychiatrists and Psychologists to help him finish school and prepare for his future. All of these visits plus the Special Education school failed in his treatment and once he finished the High School he couldn’t communicate with anyone except his parents. Therefore he stayed home permanently and started getting the disability Medicaid assistance. I take care of all of his needs.
In December of 2007 Diana graduated from College as a Graphic Designer. Lottie, David, Carmen, Christie and Josh attended Diana’s graduation. Diana moved from Denton, Texas to Carrollton, Texas where she still lives.
Margie’s memory problems got worth and worth between 2002 and 2004. In 2005 all doctors who examined her already determined that she got a very early age Alzheimer disease. In 2007 Margie got to the final stage of the disease stage 7 and we were forced to place her in a nursing home because of the continuous need for medical assistance. Now Margie lives in Pilot Point Care Center in Pilot Point, Texas. She can’t talk anymore and her arms and her legs are almost paralyzed. She is always either in bed or in the wheelchair. It is very hard to tell if she can remember any of her family members. She has a feeding tube and a colostomy bag. She always breathes from her mouth because she already forgot how to breathe from her nose. I visit her every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and I wash her cloths. Her kids visit her on the last Sunday of every month. I constantly pray for her permanent cure.
Diana finally found a job on September 2008 as a Graphic Designer at a company called Funimation in Flower Mound, Texas. But because of the economy problems her company let her go in January 2009. Then they hired her back in October 2009 where she is currently works.
Currently I work at Bank of America for the Technology team in Addison, Texas where I’ve been working since 1994.
Thanks
Mohamed Zaky
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Christy and Eve
Friday, February 5, 2010
AutoCad
Someone asked how I constructed the drawings.
I began using AutoCad in my work the middle '80s, and became proficient with it by taking classes at our local community college. By the 90's the college needed an engineer to teach CAD to engineers, so I was asked to teach special engineering Cad classes. So for 5 years I taught Civil Engineering AutoCad and 3D modeling in my spare time. I loved teaching, and I loved everyone of my students.
I want to tell my favorite student story. I had a student that was completely lost with PC. The first night of class he could not do a single one of the eight very simple drawings. I stopped the class to help him. He was holding the mouse with the cord toward him. After a while he finished the drawing long after the class was over.
He kept coming to class, but was struggling. He was the hardest worker, but could only manage a C. At midterm he stopped coming to class. Just before the semester was over I saw him at the student union building and went to talk. I asked him why he quite. I told him that I was sure he could have passed, he was hard worker.
He told me he had to quit, because he got a full time job at one of our local industries, and had to work during my class. But, he said, he was very thankful that I spent so much time helping him.
I what he was doing at his new job. He said, "Believe it or not, he put in for a Cad job, with about 6 other guys, and the company tested them on Cad to find the person they would make head of the department... and he beat all the other easily. A couple others were hired also for the Cad department, and he began to teach them AutoCad..
I had such a fun time telling the rest of the class.
I began using AutoCad in my work the middle '80s, and became proficient with it by taking classes at our local community college. By the 90's the college needed an engineer to teach CAD to engineers, so I was asked to teach special engineering Cad classes. So for 5 years I taught Civil Engineering AutoCad and 3D modeling in my spare time. I loved teaching, and I loved everyone of my students.
I want to tell my favorite student story. I had a student that was completely lost with PC. The first night of class he could not do a single one of the eight very simple drawings. I stopped the class to help him. He was holding the mouse with the cord toward him. After a while he finished the drawing long after the class was over.
He kept coming to class, but was struggling. He was the hardest worker, but could only manage a C. At midterm he stopped coming to class. Just before the semester was over I saw him at the student union building and went to talk. I asked him why he quite. I told him that I was sure he could have passed, he was hard worker.
He told me he had to quit, because he got a full time job at one of our local industries, and had to work during my class. But, he said, he was very thankful that I spent so much time helping him.
I what he was doing at his new job. He said, "Believe it or not, he put in for a Cad job, with about 6 other guys, and the company tested them on Cad to find the person they would make head of the department... and he beat all the other easily. A couple others were hired also for the Cad department, and he began to teach them AutoCad..
I had such a fun time telling the rest of the class.
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