Christmas 2000
Happy Holidays from the McCorkle household and me, their guardian angel. I’m looking for volunteers!!! Last year’s card included one of my feathers and it seems that maybe I gave a few too many away or maybe it’s just that the McCorkle’s are going faster than I can fly. Anyway even with fewer feathers I’m trying to keep up with all the different directions that everyone has been going in this Millennium.
Most of the month of November we spent at the Hospital with Mary’s mother, Edna Taylor, who was taken to her heavenly home Nov. 18th at the age of 83. So as I keep my wings around them please keep them in your prayers.
Pete
had three strokes in April and lost the use of his left hand and left foot. He has therapist that come in four times a week to help him regain some of the motor skills and keep his arm moving. So trying to keep up with him has changed a little this year. He does manage to walk to the mailbox twice a day with the use of a cane but hasn’t started driving all over the country again yet.Mary is still working at Springs and doesn’t think she wants to retire until she absolutely has to. She’s serving as Worthy Matron in her Eastern Star Chapter and is the District 16 Page, she is Conductress in her Amaranth court, and still works with Rainbow. And of course she has been Michelle’s right arm with the wedding and building the house. Due to all the craziness and issues going on in the household this year Mary and Michelle didn’t make their annual trip but that didn’t keep me from having to fly across the country. Mary had enough to deal with Pete being sick and she ended up having to go in for test too. The Doctors told her she needed to get more rest – remember who were talking about here! Gary, Larry, and Michelle do get their stubbornness and staying busy honestly!
Gary
is still working at Wykoff. He helped with the band again this year - He's President of the Band Booster Club, driving a bus, taking photos, helping with the equipment, and making props. He serves on the Rainbow Advisory Board, is serving in the east with Mary as Worthy Patron, and is still driving Limos and the bus for Mike Fox! Susan taught 7th grade in Summer School this year and is teaching 2nd grade at Indian Land and still serves as Mother Advisor for the Indian Land Rainbow Assembly. Even with working this summer she still managed to get a great tan while visiting her parents at the beach. Elizabeth has found that she enjoys being in front of a camera and is taking a Journalism/Broadcasting class at Lancaster High School. She got her braces off July 9th and looks beautiful. She was a Varsity cheerleader for a little while until it meant being at school 12 hours a day. But she’s still in the band where she serves as a section leader and a music officer. She’s playing soccer, on the school improvement council for the Junior Class, and Student body Treasurer at Indian Land. She’s serving as Worthy Advisor in Indian Land Rainbow and serving South Carolina as Grand Choir Director and Masonic Flag bearer. And she’s got her Drivers License, so if you see a white streak going by it’s her not me unless you see two white streaks then it’s me trying to keep up with her! And somewhere in there still finds time to work so she can pay for her car. Jonathan is in his first year of High School and loves being a freshman. He’s in the marching band and JrROTC and he looks great in his uniform. He says he wants to go into the military after he graduates. We’ll see how many times he changes his mind between now and then. He has found that he loves hunting and being an outdoorsman. The Band also won Upper-State Band Competition this year.Larry
was recently promoted to a new position at Duke Energy's, Catawba Nuclear Station and has been very busy adjusting to the newresponsibilities it brings. He is still driving limousines for Mike Fox and really stays busy riding all those Stars and Executives around Charlotte. Though he has needed my feathers and support a lot this year he's doing great! But you know those big shoulders of his can handle a lot even though his knees get weak from time to time. He want's you all to know that he loves you very much and appreciates all your thoughts and prayers! Jeremy has moved into an apartment 15 min from the Clemson campus where he is still working on his Business Marketing and Management degree. He’s also playing Rugby and working as a door-guy and bouncer at Tiger Town Tavern (one of the top 100 College bars in America). He is the President of the Rugby Club for the 3rd year and is the Georgia Rugby Union and All-South all-star (flanker, 8-man), which means it’s really hard to keep my wings around him to keep him from getting hurt. He is dating Roxie who also plays Rugby at Clemson and is an Architect Major and an absolute sweetheart, we just love her. (She reminds Michelle of Marilyn Monroe). Alisha turned 16, got her Drivers License (so now I have two new drivers to try to protect on the road!) and started working at Carowinds for part of the summer, but now she has a job in Gastonia as a hostess/waitress and is enjoying the tips! She is in the 11th grade at Clover so she only has one more year to go – she’s thinking about going to Winthrop but hasn’t decided on a Major. She’s not playing basketball this year but she is the reporter for FCCLA and is studying really hard to improve her GPA. Alex got his braces off in February and looks great, spent 2 weeks at computer camp at Clemson, and started working weekends at Winn-Dixie in Lake Wylie. He is also in his Freshman year at Clover High School.
Michelle
left Sea-Land at the end of February and got on a plane to Tampa to start her first day of work with ABC Technologies. She is an Application Services Specialist and builds activity based costing models for companies using Oros software. In other words she’s a computer geek! ABC is in Oregon but Michelle’s office is at home when she isn’t on a plane and taking it with her. She spent 5 months commuting to Houston to work with ExxonMobil Chemical and 2 weeks in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Now you know why Mary has been her right arm! And believe it or not she still drives a limo occasionally! The lot (in Indian Land) for the house was cleared in August and construction is underway. She was appointed as Grand Representative to Ontario in May for Eastern Star, and she does try to make it to OES, Amaranth, and Rainbow meetings when she is in town. She and Chris spent last Christmas Day helping at the 5th Street Shelter and plan to help again this year, they also went up in a Hot Air Balloon and Chris and Allan both went with Michelle to Portland for a business conference. So while Michelle worked I had to fly all over the Portland coast to keep up with Chris and Allan – they had a great time. Michelle and Chris also took a break from wedding plans to take a trip to the NC Coast in October. So a new job, the wedding, and house building has kept her busy and she hasn’t pulled out all her hair yet! Chris still lives in Statesville and works at CommScope. He played softball on 3 teams this summer and all the teams ended in the top bracket. He plays golf when he can even though it’s hard with his job schedule. He works 4 days, 12 hours and then has 4 days off. So he isn’t always off on a weekend so sometimes it’s hard for he and Michelle to spend time together. So I’ve put a lot of miles on these wings with their hour commute between each other when Michelle is home. Allan (Chris’ son) turned 9 and was placed in the 5th core at his Charter school this year, which means that he would be in the 5th grade instead of the 4th grade if he were in public school. He played coach pitch baseball this summer while Chris helped the coach. He also spent a week at Disney World with other kids from his school. And he still loves pokemon!As another year comes to a close we wish for you a wonderful holiday season and a blessed new year.
Love, prayers, hugs, and kisses, The McCorkle’s Guardian Angel