HERE'S TO YOU, WILLS AND KATE!

I will be toasting the newlywed Royal couple, Wills and Kate, with a spot of Earl Gray green from my prized mustache cup (photographed here) commemorating the coronation of King Edward V11 and Queen Alexandra, August 1902.  The eldest son of  Queen Victoria, Edward was noted for the full growth of hair on his (stiff?) upper lip and he was reputed to have taken his high tea from a special cup designed to keep his 'stache dry as he sipped/slurped the steaming brew.  Edward V11 is the great-great-great grandfather of Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.  The commemorative cup is a Wright/Perry family heirloom.

KING EDWARD V11, 1841-1910

THREE LITTLE WORDS SO RARELY SPOKEN

In case I am not around when you visit Wrights Lane, this site is dedicated to my family and friends old and new.    I love you all!  In some cases I have not expressed that emotion enough, in other cases I haven't shared it at all...I've been kind of funny that way...Still am I guess.

Until next time...

ANOTHER CONTRIBUTION FOR OUR DRESDEN "TURN BACK THE CLOCK" WEB SITE

Over the course of the past couple of years I have been the appreciative recipient of photos and clippings of bygone days from numerous Dresden residents past and present.  I was most pleased recently to receive a surprise package in the mail from Carol Taylor (Ruttle) of Newmarket.  Daughter of the late Rhoda and Dr. Jack Ruttle of Dresden and sister of Jim and Andrea, Carol passed along several extremely interesting items from her mother's scrapbook collection, including a newspaper photo of Dresden Continuation School students and teachers, 1934-35 (complete with names); an invitation card for the first annual dance held by The Dresden Police Department, February 24, 1939, and the 1949-50 Year Book for the Dresden High School.  It is interesting to note that Carol's mother, then a teacher, "Miss Rhoda Anderson", is included in the 1934-35 school photograph.  The first annual police dance was held in the Town Hall with an admission charge of 50 cents.  Music for the evening was provided by the McCutcheon Band, better known as "swing and clutch 'em with Sam McCutcheon".  Copies of these items will be given a home on my Dresden: Father and Son Turn Back the Clock web site.  I also plan to reproduce an editorial from the Hi-News of 1949-50 by Editor-in-Chief Catherine McVean.

DECEMBER ROSES COME IN SPRING

Back in June of 2009 I published an item, Roses for me in December, that had been prompted by a message I received from Hevinlee Melton whose 28-year-old daughter was seriously ill with cancer.  I was pleasantly surprised to receive the following good news email from Hevinlee this evening, almost two years later.


"I wish to thank everyone for their prayers for my daughter who had stage 2 lymphoma. I praise God and give Him all the glory for healing her. She just had her second year follow-up and she is CANCER FREE !  GLORY TO GOD !!! I thank Him for prayer partners and keep you forever in my prayers as well." 

--Hevinlee M.

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The initial post and Hevinlee's original email. 


June 10, 2009

If you ever wondered why I produce Wrights Lane, the following comment in response to my "One Couple's Journey With Cancer" site will answer that question. Certainly, for me, it makes everything worthwhile. I hope it is not construed as self-serving.

Dear Dick:

"Thank you for your bittersweet story of love, courage, devotion and endurance. I found this site quite by chance as my eyes captured the word "cancer".

"My 28-year-old daughter is fighting cancer too. She is married with two small babies and our faith in God is still moving mountains. I shall include you in my prayers. You and Anne had that once-in-a-lifetime kind of marriage. Such devotion; such love! I could almost feel it.

"May God continue to comfort and guide you. I read somewhere that 'God gave us memories so that we could have roses in December.' May you have roses in December. God less you..."

--Hevinlee Melton

NOTE:  ...Please join me in praying for Hevinlee's daughter and the two babies who so desperately need their young mother.

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Thank you to the readers of Wrights Lane who may have offered prayers.

THE ELEVATOR RIDE CALLED EXPERIENCE

The older I get the more isolated I am with my thoughts and who I have become.  There is an overwhelming sense of helplessness, too, in what may be in store.  I struggle with the odds as I gamble with the hands that are continually dealt me in this card game of life.  The more I search for meaning the more evasive it becomes.

Good old Jonathan Cainer had an interesting twist recently on life in general when he compared it to "going up"  in a department store elevator (we seem to be on an analogy kick these days).

First floor:  friendships, hobbies and social occasions, which tend to dwindle with age.

Second floor:  family and domestic pleasures.

Third floor:  creative endeavours and commitments.

Fourth floor:  spiritual quests and intellectual challenges.

In the department store of experience, much depends on which buttons we press in the elevator and it really is not a question of going up or down.  It's a question of making the most of whatever floor you find yourself on.  There are problems, doubts, even disappointments, attached to every situation we encounter, but there are wonderful benefits too...Sometimes we just have to try a little harder to look for them.

Heaven help us though, when we land on a vacant floor.  It can be very lonely there.