Well, I had to trek down to Cranfills Gap today for a memorial service for my favorite teacher. I absolutely loved the guy. The "cafetorium" was standing room only. Easily one and a half times the town population. He was always very straight, and you could never tell if he was joking. His middle name was Cornelius, when he told us, we wouldn't believe him, I mean who would name their kid with a name like that. He was born on the morning of December 7, 1941, we always told him that's why the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor that day.
Mr. Cox, or Larry, when we weren't at a school function was the epitome of using every gift God gave him to teach multiple subjects at our small school. He taught history, government (civics), coached when needed, and was responsible for any electives that the school district could coerse him into. He also drove a school bus three hours a day, and I rode every mile with him in eighth grade.
He was a commercial pilot, so he taught Aviation as an elective, I was his first student to pass the Private Pilots exam, he was absolutely ecstatic. He had a few more, and one of the guys a year behind me, is now a pilot with United. He was a pretty decent guitar player, and taught a guitar class as an elective after I had graduated.
He always made any of my family functions, he attended my wedding (a two hour drive), and my father's 70th birthday. My aunt walked in, he turned to her and said, "hello Debbie." She asked him, "have we met?" He told her they had a class together at Tarleton State 32 years ago, and he remembered her. He always could remember anything, and anyone, kinda like Mac Brown remembering your name.
The service was really nice, I saw people I haven't seen for 38 years. Some you recognize, some you had to reintroduce yourself. I weigh about 60 lbs. more and now have gray hair, so I was in the introduction crowd. I was so skinny back then, I had to jump around in the shower just to get wet. It was kinda cool seeing the old school. The "cafetorium" wasn't there when I attended. They moved the tennis courts and the football field house is there now. But the best thing I saw all day was the newer "ticket booth" they had acquired:
That is the same scoreboard they had when I played there 38-42 years ago, and it was old then.
CHIEF