Shepard Family Update, February 26, 2010

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I'm new wave,
but I'm old school
and my inner child
is outward bound.
~George Carlin

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings from Tucson, Arizona where Cindy and I find ourselves on these last few days of February, visiting friends. We are discovering that Tucson is a great place to be. In February!

Family Birthday Wishes. Happy Birthday tomorrow to my brother Darrell Shepard. He and his wife Mary make their increasingly empty nest in Kirkland, Washington, outside Seattle. Their three children Chris, Rachel and Patrick all live in the Kirkland area. Darrell tells me, "The kids are all doing fine. They all have jobs!"

The first picture I am including today shows a sharply dressed Darrell in the middle, surrounded by his four siblings, Barbara, Russ, me and Gary. The picture was taken in 1983 in Anacortes, Washington at the home of our parents Maida and Eugene Shepard, when we were all gathered for Barbara's wedding to Larry Shamblin. I seem to remember that this picture was taken by Jerry Clark. (Jerry, do you remember for sure?) Whoever it was did a great job.

More Birthday Wishes. Happy Birthday this coming Wednesday to Darrell's first niece Kerri (Shepard) Aquiningoc of Weatherford, Texas. She is also Maida and Eugene Shepard's first grandchild and the proud mother of Lyndsey and Mandi. She is also the second of the 20 Ggrandchildren of Will and Bura Shepard and the oldest child of Gary Shepard (the one on the bell bottoms in the picture above). Though 10 years removed from Southern California where she was raised, Kerri remains a die hard San Diego Padre and Charger fan.

The second picture I am including today shows Kerri with her two toe-headed nephews Nate and Kyle Sauvage, also Charger fans and children of Kelly and James Sauvage. This picture was taken just a few months ago in Weatherford, where the boys and their parents also live.

New Wave But Old School. After my comments in my last posting regarding "Old School", Jerry Clark was moved to send me the following quote from the late George Carlin. It carries a sentiment with which Jerry identifies, and I can understand that. Some of the rest of you do too, I am sure. 

"I'm a modern man, 
a man for the millennium. 
Digital and smoke free. 
A diversified multi-cultural, 
post-modern deconstruction 
that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. 
I've been up linked and downloaded, 
I've been inputted and outsourced, 
I know the upside of downsizing, 
I know the downside of upgrading. 
I'm a high-tech low-life. 
A cutting edge, 
state-of-the-art 
bi-coastal multi-tasker 
and I can give you a gigabyte 
in a nanosecond!

I'm new wave, but I'm old school 
and my inner child is outward bound. 
I'm a hot-wired, heat seeking, 
warm-hearted cool customer, 
voice activated and bio-degradable. 
I interface with my database, 
my database is in cyberspace, 
so I'm interactive, 
I'm hyperactive 
and from time to time I'm radioactive.

Behind the eight ball, 
ahead of the curve, 
ridin the wave, 
dodgin the bullet 
and pushin the envelope. 
I'm a rude dude, but I'm the real deal. 
Lean and mean! 
Cocked, locked and ready-to-rock. 
Rough, tough and hard to bluff. 
I take it slow, 
I go with the flow, 
I ride with the tide. 
I've got glide in my stride. 
Drivin' and movin', 
sailin' and spinin', 
jivin' and groovin', 
wailin' and winnin'. 
I don't snooze, so I don't lose. 
I keep the pedal to the metal 
and the rubber on the road. 
I party hearty and lunch time is crunch time. 
I'm hangin' in, there ain't no doubt, 
and I'm hangin' tough, over and out!"

And this is just a sampling of what Carlin had to say. If you dare, read the full quote by selecting this link.
- -
Steve