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SrA Curtis M. Anderson joined the United States Air Force June 22, 2006. He graduated basic training in August 2006, and Special Forces training in November 2006. He is currently stationed at Forbes AFB at Topeka, Kansas, but expects to be deployed to the Middle East soon.

Curtis is the son of John and Debbie Anderson of El Dorado, Kansas; grandson of Jim Anderson and Phyllis Erwin Anderson, and a great-great-great-grandson of Michael R. and Minnie Freeman Erwin.

Grandmother Phyllis writes, “We pray for all who are in the military, and thank God for them.” Amen to that Phyllis.

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Hazel LaGroue Welch was born in 1912 and celebrated her ninety-fifth birthday on August 17, 2007. She was married to Oscar Gaston Welch, son of Rev. Gaston R. Welch and Margaret “Estelle” Garrison. Estelle was the daughter of Reuben Alexander Garrison and Elizabeth Absenth “Lizzie” Powers. Reuben was the son of Lot Garrison and Margaret Erwin. Margaret was a granddaughter of James N. Erwin, our immigrant ancestor.

Hazel was widowed in 1960, and lives now with son O. G. Welch in Denham Springs, Louisiana. At the Garrison Reunion in July she was recognized as being the oldest female member of the Garrison family present.

For those who would like to send her a belated birthday greeting, her address is:

Mrs. Hazel Welch

113 Judy Street

Denham Springs, LA 70726

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Artie Garrison Miller celebrated her ninety-fourth birthday on August 10. She was born on that date in 1913, the daughter of Edgar Eugene Garrison, Sr. and Annie Francis of Sicily Island, Louisiana. Artie, like Hazel above, is a granddaughter of Reuben Alexander Garrison and Lizzie Powers, and a descendant of James N. Erwin.

Artie, along with her sisters and one remaining brother, contributed much to A Gathering of  Garrisons, a Garrison family history written by Sylvia Kelly Smith. Artie provided family photos, stories and anecdotes, and even proof-read parts of the manuscript.

Artie now lives in a rest home and would love to hear from family and friends, and/or get a belated birthday card. Her address is:

Mrs. Artie Miller c/o Mary Anna Nursing Home, Rm. 4

P.O. Box 776

Wisner, LA 71378

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A Crabby Old Man  

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Tampa, Florida, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
 

What do you see nurses? What do you see?
What are you thinking, when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food, and makes no reply,
When you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice, the things that you do,
And who is forever losing, a sock or a shoe?

Who, resisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse, you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I do your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I'm the youngest of eight, with a father and mother.
I have brothers and sisters, who love one another

A young boy of sixteen, with wings on his feet,
Dreaming that soon now, a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at twenty; my heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows, that I promised to keep.

At twenty-five I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide and make a happy home.
As a man of thirty, my young now grown fast,
Bound to each other, with ties that should last.

At forty my young sons have grown and gone,
But my woman's beside me, to see I don't mourn.
At fifty, once more, babies play 'round my knee,
Again we know children, my loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me, my wife is now dead.
I look at the future, and I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own,
And I think of the years, and the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man, and nature is cruel.
Seems determined to make old ones look like fools.
The body it crumbles, grace and vigor depart.
There is now a stone, where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass, a young man still dwells,
And now and again, my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
And I'm loving and living, my life over again.

I think of the years, all too few and gone fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes folks, open and see,
Not a crabby old man, look closer and see........ME!!