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

Shepard Family Update, February 19, 2010

The informality of family life
is a blessed condition 
that allows us to become our best
while looking our worst. 
~Marge Kennedy

Hello Shepard Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from San Francisco, California where Cindy and I are visiting with our son Nathan and his wife Chenda. They are heading into the home stretch with their first baby, due in another 6 weeks or so. She will be the 9th in the generation of Will and Bura's GGgrandchildren.

Today in many of our families, "Old School" refers to parents or grandparents who are dismayed to learn more about their kids or grandkids from Facebook postings than from direct conversation. Really "Old School" are parents or grandparents who don't even realize they could learn more about their kids or grandkids on Facebook. Really, REALLY "Old School" are parents or grandparents who read this paragraph and say, "What's Facebook?"  ;-)

Happy Birthday tomorrow to Terry Boyd of Gallup, New Mexico. Terry has been a part of our family for more than 50 years, ever since he and Thelma Shepard were married in San Diego back in the summer of 1958.

Speaking of the fabulous 1950s, the first picture I am including shows a dapper young Terry Boyd on the left, with an equally dapper young Rex Russell on the right. Just looking at the picture gets the "Happy Days" theme song playing in my mind.

Rex is the nephew of Thelma Shepard whom Terry married just a few months before this picture was taken. The neat and clean, but cool look, the short hair, the Chrysler with large fins, and the black and white photography, are all characteristic of that period in time. Since it is dated December, 1958, and since the fellows are both in short sleeves, this picture was probably taken in San Diego.

Now flash forward about 50 years for the second picture, which was taken in 2007. It shows Terry Boyd on the right, and Thelma (Shepard) Boyd on the left. Between them is their daughter Kim Clark, and their granddaughter Amanda Ortiz. Interestingly, Amanda in this second picture is just about the same age that her grandfather Terry was in the first picture.

Kim emailed me recently to say that this picture was taken at the home of Amanda's other grandparents (Gabe and Jean Ortiz) in Gallup, New Mexico. It was taken during one of trips that she and husband Jeff were making between San Diego (where her grandkids live) and Missouri (where she and Jeff live). She also said that these days her dad loves to go to the local pool and swim almost daily. He also likes playing pool and visiting with his buddies.

Any family reunions happening this summer? As far as I know the Shepard family is not having a family reunion this summer. Do any of you know differently? Or are there any reunions happening this year among our larger Davis family? Seems I heard some months ago about a reunion in Branson this summer. If anyone knows of events being planned please let me know and I would be glad to pass the word.
- - -
Steve