lucygoosey

Anyone?

I posted a reply last night, now it doesn't show for me. You made me smile remembering rattlesnake hunts :) One thing I can say about dad, he sure taught us kids to be fearless! Sometimes, even recklessly so.

Well good, I'd hate to think I raised a horse from the dead ;)

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Your post is still very much on topic.

:P/>

I faked it. Every time. I rehearsed ahead of time and by the time I was 11, I had a notebook full of ones I'd made up and would rotate so I didn't deliver the same one twice in any week. (BTW I only managed to read the first 15 or so pages, so if y'all already changed topics 47 times, sorry)

Last time I saw their family was Abilene, TX in the mid 80's. I was good friends with their daughter Rebecca who is about my age (I'm 40). Would love to reconnect with Rebecca!

I was going through my dads photos (Ron Spruill 10/28/51-10/27/09) and came across one of our WOW family in Abilene, TX circa somewhere around 81-83, don't remember the exact year. Reminded me of the GSC, and thought I'd drop in and say hi!

AMBER ALERT -Retirement home in Minnesota looking for elderly man off his meds.Very delusional, he thought he could play football & beat the Saints! Description 6'2, 222lbs, age-older than dirt. Goes by the name of Favre. Last seen in New Orleans wearing a Vikings jersey with his pants on DA ground and black & gold confetti in his hair.

Don't know if anyone here knew my daddy. Most of our Way years were spent in Abilene, TX; Lake Charles, LA; and Little Rock and Stuttgart, AR. Daddy left the Way in the late 80's. By the early 90's, he and my mom, JoEllen, were in Houston where they both became ordained ministers. They worked for His Touch, an HIV/AIDS outreach. Mom served on the Mayor's Council and conducted seminars in schools and churches. They both were actively involved in prison ministry as well. Dad became involved in 1000 Hills Ministry (1000hills.org) after he and mom divorced in '05. The last couple of years of his life found my dad wandering the country in his beat up truck, camping gear stowed in the back so he'd never be without a place to sleep. In some ways, I think they were the best and worst years of his life. He made friends with many Indian tribes in his travels, for a short time learned carving from one tribe, moved on and learned to make Native flutes (one of which I have) from his friend Wind Singer, who died shortly before daddy did. Those were the good parts. He contracted tuberculosis a few years back, but he didn't go to the doctor. Since he'd worked so closely with the homeless and AIDS patients, he assumed he'd either contracted HIV, or that his 40+ years of smoking 3 packs a day had finally led to lung cancer. He'd lost one lung in the 70's, so he wasn't working with a full pair of lungs anyway. He didn't want any of us to know how sick he was. He showed up in Vegas to visit my sister Sarah and her boys right after she gave birth to her third. After a few days, she finally dragged him to the ER coughing up blood. He wound up in isolation for a couple of months, then sent to an apartment where he was brought the things he'd need, and he wasn't allowed to leave. He finally was pronounced cured over a year later. But he'd given TB to Sarah and one of her boys. They both got treated early, and are fine. Dad moved to Albuquerque after he was well. He got sick again October 26, 2009. Neighbors said they brought him food, he wasn't himself, but he assured everyone he was fine. One sister sounded the alarm, and all of us checked in with him the morning of the 27th. He didn't sound good, but he'd also had emphysema for years, and so his hanging up during coughing fits was nothing new for us. We all planned to call him again the next day, his 58th birthday. All but Ryan, the only boy in our clan. Ryan called him about 9:30 PM our time, and didn't like the way he sounded. So he called the police in Albq. to go check on him. The police in turn called for an ambulance from the VA Hospital. They arrived and found dad on the floor just inside his apartment. He died on route to the hospital. It was 11:30 PM their time. Another 30 minutes and it would have been his birthday. Instead of celebrating his birthday, we got the middle-of-the night call nobody wants to get: 'Sherry, daddy's dead."

Stuttgart, Ark. —

Ronald Jay Spruill, 57, formerly of Stuttgart, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, Oct 27. Born in Beaumont, TX on Oct. 28, 1951, Ronald leaves behind four daughters, Sherry Young and husband Jason of Roe; Catherine Stoevsand and husband Jonathan of Stuttgart; Sarah Spruill Hooks of Houston, TX; Jamie Spruill and fiancé Michael Crittendon of Tuscaloosa, AL; and one son, Ryan Spruill of Stuttgart, one sister, Cynthia Spruill Gaspard of Nederland, TX; one niece, one nephew and 12 grandchildren with another on the way and his close friend Betty James of Albuquerque.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Norman Durwood and Catherine Anne Spruill, of Nederland, TX; sister Fleta Jean Spruill of New York and brother James Norman Spruill of Eureka Springs.

Ronald was a father, grandfather, uncle and brother who left a life-long career as a master jeweler to pursue his calling and passion for music and ministry.

His contributions of time and service to Houston, TX area homeless, jail and hospice ministries was greatly appreciated by many. A pastor told how some of his wildest ideas came to fruition, such as having a guitar autographed by a ZZ Top member for a recent homeless ministry auction. He also served in the US Navy in his youth.

Ronald was a free spirit and avid Delta Blues player and fan who spent his last years roaming the west and stumbling for words to describe the incredible views he awoke to from his tent in many national parks. His late friend Windsinger taught
 him to build and play Native American flutes and Ron became a friend to a number of tribes in his travels.

He spent much of his time on the road traveling for events such as the birth of a grandchild, or to surprise his children and grandchildren on Christmas, and visits from “PawPaw” will be sorely missed by his niece, nephew and grandchildren.

Ronald’s ashes will be buried at Walker Chapel Cemetery in Reklaw, Texas.

Memorials may be made to 1000 Hills Ministry 13927 S. Gessner Rd Missouri City, TX 77489
 www.1000hills.org.

Steve is still in Kentucky, so if you knew him from there, his info has not changed. He is out. If you'd like to pm me your info, I will pass it along to Steve.

My family does have electricity, we've fared far better than many. My sis and her husband and kids are staying with his family. Power has been restored to all but the worst areas, so about 3,000 customers still out.

NOTE- That title should say 'pray' not pay lol.

Can't get the real thing where I live. Doesn't sound very tasty anyway :)

Just wanted to pop in and say I've run AVG Free and AdAware for several years, and I'm on my 3rd computer (I keep upgrading and selling my old ones) and have NEVER had a virus do ANY damage. AVG has always caught them when they tried to get in. I also run MailWasher on my Outlook, and I can bounce spam from it without ever downloading it to my computer.

My town was blessed by no deaths, and only 9 minor injuries when an EF3 tore through Saturday night. Some in OK and MO were not as fortunate, and really need the prayers. But around here, people I know personally have some major damage, and a few, like my sister, are currently homeless. I knwo we've heard from family and friends as far away as CA telling us they've seen us on the news. This was a really wild tornado, it took rail cars off the tracks, but left the wheels on the tracks. One friend of mine had a car in her backyard that all of the windows blew out from the pressure, but the trailer they live in, 10 feet away, was undamaged. The Dollar Store and Sherwin Williams across the street were completely flattened. People inside walked out unharmed. My daughter was in WalMart with her dad, and they felt the building vibrating. Part of the store lost the roof, but the part they took cover in was undamaged. In the parking lot, the Jeep next to them had a cart rack on top of it, and his car was untouched. My sisters home lost the roof and windows, and the house next door was untouched. The video store on the WalMart parking lot is no longer there. One friend has a brick home, 2 story, that is a U shape with a courtyard in the middle. They have a large wooden fence behind the house, no more than 8 feet away. She had rose trellises attached to the fence. The fence is gone, and they didn't find it in their neighborhood. The trellises are still standing, and her roses are still in bloom. There is now a phone pole standing in their back yard that wasn't there before, and their chimney is laying in the front yard. The house across the street from them is leveled, except for one room that was still standing, all 4 walls, and that's where the family was seeking shelter. The nursing home suffered extensive damage, but none of the 91 residents were injured. The middle school is unusable, and the jr and high schools suffered damage. The private school had just built a huge steel building and had the opening party last wekend. It's just piles of twisted sheet metal and steel beams, but the church was untouched. Oddly enough, a school that the city sold to a private landowner, and prisoners had been working to dismantle, was completely untouched, but the public library and middle school across the street will be unusable for the foreseeable future. The library was formerly a bank, and it was built to withstand natural disasters, but it didn't. We have to have a permit just to go past certain points in the city. People who don't live here have to show work ID's (we have Riceland and Producers rice mills, Lennox plant, and used to have Patriot Biofuels, but it's gone.) or get a permit to enter the town. There is a curfew of 9PM-6AM, and the National Guard is here patrolling the streets. It's crazy. There's no more gasoline in town, but they're working on getting some. No grocery stores open, but the Arkansas Baptist Disaster team and Sysco have teamed up to feed people. It's going to take a long time for this town to get back to normal. But we still feel blessed by God that there was no loss of life. We could use your prayers as we clean up and try to get back to a semblence of normality. Just getting a functioning gas station and grocery store would be a good start.

Yes, my mom has asked forgiveness of all us 5 kids for this, but I can't tell you how many wooden spoons I had broken across my backside as a wayfer kid. Then when dad got home we got the leather. I've had no idea until reading this thread that this was a TWI endorsed method of 'correction'. As a kid, I guess I assumed everyone was disciplined that way.

Thank you Dot, your words are a comfort to me. I've read this whole thread, but I just will not respond to most of it. Thank you for your words of love and support.

I've put out a lot of flowers, and just transplanted some day lillies I got from a friend. As for my edible grden, my dill is growing like wildflowers, and I've already seen the first crop of swallowtail caterpillars on it! My chives, garlic, fennel, coriander, basil, lambs ear, spearmint, lemon balm, and catnip are all doing well too. My tiller bit the dust, so my veggie garden won't be as large this year as I'm doing everything by hand, but I've got several tomatoes (roma, grape, and better boy's) and strawberries going well, and my swiss chard is coming up. My yellow squash already has blooms, as do my cukes! After the rain passes this afternoon, I'm going to go plant my green beans and purple hulls. Usually, I have corn, and I'll do 4 rows about 12' long, and once the corn gets growing good, I'll plant my beans alongside and they use the corn for a trellis. I usually plant my corn on top of fish heads and guts (sounds appetizing, I know) but I haven't even been fishing once yet this year.

Ah yes, completely missed that one :) Carry on then!

My occupation isn't listed, and it would fall under all the above categories. I'm a mom.

Excelently timed thread. I have one that seems like she'll never be potty trained (she's 4) and she peed on the living room floor this morning. And we're trying to litter train a new kitten. Ugh.

I don't have anything to add, I just wanted to say this is a really interesting topic.

Hope you had an awesome day Roy!

HAHAHA!

steve rauchley

Was that pronounced like Rikely? I remember someone by that name around Abilene, TX in the 80's, wonder if it's the same person? They had a ranch back then, and I found a nest of baby rabbits in one of their flower beds.

I wrote a song, here's the chorus

No ordinary baby, no ordinary child

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Whom Gabriel prophesied

Would be born of a virgin

The Son of The Most High

No ordinary baby, no ordinary child

Still writing the rest of the song. Did check with my pastor on the Gabriel part to make sure it could actually have been considered prophesy.

Just a friendly reminder.....

As many posters have said over the years,

EVERY PERSON'S TWI EXPERIENCE WAS UNIQUE.

I'd also like to point out that every person's twi experience was THEIR OWN.

What do I mean by that?

Each person had a different experience from others- whether that be from decade to decade,

state to state, family to family, or any other way. People in the same state around the same time could have

RADICALLY different experiences. That means that the accounts of some people-whether the accounts are

"Nothing bad ever happened to me, everyone was fantastic"

or

"I was forced through a torturous twi experience until I got older and my family was kicked out"

or anything else-

can be quite shocking to posters.

Some people may say "It is ridiculous to claim children in family corps were beaten almost to unconsciousness"

and WANT to believe posters who say such are liars,

but we have at least one poster who DID get such an assault and battery as a child,

and MANY people have had problems with the official policies of everyone having a wooden beating implement on them,

and how ANY adult on grounds were free to use it at their discretion, with no official policy as to what was too lenient

and what was too strong.

Some people may say "My experience was all close to paradise. Nobody was a problem, everyone was great,"

and others may find that ridiculous, too,

but we have posters who have made such claims also.

I, for one, am not ready to call them liars, EITHER.

Unless one was PHYSICALLY PRESENT at the place and time of an incident, it's not easy to FAIRLY say

"that's not what happened at all", and harder to FAIRLY say "you are lying."

======

There's been many accounts how a person-if connected well enough- could get away with anything, and twi

would either IGNORE it or ASSIST in burying it.

Ever read the account of the child molester twi hid by relocating him,

then had people commit the felony of Breaking and Entering to make the felony of theft possible,

to steal the evidence against him when a twi'er reported the molester to the police for molesting her kids?

That's FAR beyond "what twi tolerated", right?

But it happened-more than one posted reported on this, eyewitnesses.

Is it possible for someone with homosexual experience and tendencies to flourish in twi WHILE lcm was conducting

his witch-hunt for all "homos" and "homo sympathizers"? Impossible you say?

Well, it appears to have happened at the highest level of twi....

=======

And yes, some higher-ups were so privileged that their kids had NO discipline, NO boundaries, could get away

with ANYTHING, and got over with all sorts of things. Some of them called the ROA "score week" for reasons you

can figure out- we even have that one from lcm's mouth- and there was plenty of underage drinking or whatever

as well.

Then again, as one former teen reported, for those who were NOT part of the privileged few, underage drinking

was one coping mechanism for dealing with twi.

Oh, and lcm ADMITTED-IN COURT- to coercion in getting at least one woman to sleep with him.

That's what he ADMITTED to, not everything he necessarily ever DID.

Now, whether or not you call it "rape" if there's no force of physical violence or not is your own

business. However, he was TAUGHT that he had to LEARN to sleep with other women.

He was TAUGHT that by vpw himself. According to eyewitnesses here, vpw wasn't above drugging women

into unconsciousness then having sex with them while unconscious.

Now, THAT counts as 'rape', right?

But when vpw did it, it was carefully orchestrated, and there were people in twi who voluntarily

covered it up (like Mr and Mrs Moneyhands), and people who monitored the victims,

so that if they were going to tell someone, they were personally destroyed and kicked out of twi

to silence them.

That's happened more than once.

vpw never went to prison. By someone's definition, that means he never committed a crime.

If I can offer advice, I would recommend they withhold judgement, and, especially,

speaking on what vpw and twi "would never do" until they knew a lot more about what they

DEFINITELY DID.

Excellent reminder. I know no two people will have had the exact same experiences across the board. What happened to me was real, and my own experience. For other people, their tenure in TWI was nothing but wine and roses, and I'm glad for them.