Hey there, Ms. Viv ‘Nim Fanaticals!
When word got out that Sarah Douglas accepted the wedding proposal of Duane Anoai, y'all should have seen the e-mails that I received. As a matter of fact, a week after the announcement, one of my church members asked me to keep her posted on any further developments. If you recall, it was Ms. Viv, our favorite senior citizen, who broke the news a couple of weeks ago that the wedding would take place on Saturday, September 17, 2011. Well, we can confirm that the afore-mentioned announcement is true. As a matter of fact, here is a special update from the family of the bride.
Bret and Susan Douglas are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Sarah Elizabeth to Duane Walter Anoai, son of Brandon and Jeanette Anoai, Saturday the Seventeenth of September, Two Thousand and Eleven at First Baptist Church.
A wedding reception will take place immediately following the ceremony. A venue is yet to be determined, but stay tuned, because we will be keeping y’all informed.
And to that particular church member, let me just say: If you’re reading this, Ms. Viv will save a seat for you… LOL!
The countdown to Duane & Sarah's wedding has begun, and I for one cannot wait!
Hey there, Ms. Viv ‘Nim Fanatics!
With the recent news surrounding Sarah Elizabeth Douglas (her engagement to Duane Anoai and her recent graduation from Goss University), we have a special blockbuster announcement from another one of my characters.
After 27 years of teaching the First Grade class at Sapp Elementary, Cynthia Carol Harvey (nee Patterson) will be hanging up the chalk on Friday, June 17, 2011. Mrs. Harvey broke the news to her team at the Christmas 2010 assembly, saying that the 2010-11 school year would indeed be her last.
As of right now, Principal Winifred Wilson is reviewing resumes, but let the truth be told—there will never be another teacher quite like Mrs. Harvey.
Born on August 4, 1940 in Duluth, Minnesota as the oldest of seven children, Mrs. Harvey graduated from University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1962 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and a minor in Child Psychology. After getting married and raising four children, Mrs. Harvey moved to Los Angeles, California in 1983, where she applied for the position of First Grade teacher at Sapp Elementary. She got the job in 1984, and in her own words, “ain’t let go of it since.” When her husband passed away in 2000, Mrs. Harvey found solace in teaching.
Not too many people know this, but Mrs. Harvey emphatically suggested that colleague Bret Douglas join the Sapp Community on account of the fact that like her, Bret was born and raised in the Gopher State.
When asked what was the most rewarding thing about being a teacher, Mrs. Harvey said, “The most rewarding thing to me is that every year, I get a new crop of First Graders from all walks of life. To be honest, I should’ve retired in 2008, but something pulled me back in. I guess it was the desire and the passion that I had to teach the young folks.”
As previously mentioned, Mrs. Harvey’s last teaching day at Sapp Elementary is on June 17, 2011—ironically enough, that is the last day of school. We asked Mrs. Harvey how she would like the Sappsters to remember her, and she said, “I have no doubt in my mind that, no matter how many credentials and accolades I have achieved, my students will forever remember me as ‘that old lady with the pretty red hair.’ And you know something—they would be absolutely right!”
In celebration of Mrs. Harvey’s career, we took the liberty to post her profile in today’s blog.
MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT:Saturday, May 31, 2008—that was the day that Nikki Douglas graduated from Tennessee State University. As her former First Grade teacher, it made me happy as a peacock to see her strut her stuff up on that stage and show off her Bachelor’s Degree in Education.
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT:It was sometime in 1989. A student was teaching me the Kid ‘N Play dance, and… well, it’s not really important.
FAVORITE ACTOR: Morgan Freeman
FAVORITE ACTRESS: Ja’net Dubois
FAVORITE SINGER: Ben E. King
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Dennis the Menace
FAVORITE MOVIE: Lean On Me
FAVORITE ATHLETE: James Worthy
FAVORITE CARTOON: Care Bears
FAVORITE COLOR: Red (isn’t it obvious by my hair? LOL!)
FAVORITE FOOD: Turkey Burger
FAVORITE ICE CREAM: Orange Sherbet
SECRET TALENT: I love to teach.
IN MY FREE TIME, I LIKE TO:
Spend time with my grandchildren.
IF I COULD’VE DONE IT DIFFERENTLY:
Everything would still be as it is.
MY ROLE MODEL(S) GROWING UP:
My mother, Esther Patterson.
THE BEST ADVICE EVER GIVEN TO ME:
Don’t forget to remember that you are special
SOMEONE WHO SHARES MY BIRTHDAY:
Louie “Satchmo” Armstrong, and my main man, Mr. Barack Obama
MY DREAM/GOAL IN LIFE IS TO:
Still teach, because you never ever stop learning.
THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE ME:
Witty, Wise, and Wonderful
MY BEST FRIEND (ACE-BOOM-KOOM)
Each and every faculty member at Sapp Elementary.
MY FAVORITE PLACE TO VISIT:
Duluth, Minnesota
IF I HAD ONE WISH:I would love to be 25 again… just for fifteen minutes, don’tcha know.
SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT ME:
I am a natural redhead, and that brings to mind a funny story. On very first day of teaching, a student innocently asked me if my hair was really red. I thought of that episode of I Love Lucy, when she was asked the same question, and like Lucy, I said: “Well, it should be—I paid enough for it!” And the class just laughed their hearts away.
Hey there, Ms. Viv 'Nim Fanatics!
Today's blog is totally different... it's straight from Ms. Viv's personal journal. She was more than happy to share a testimony with us.
It happened around late July 2008. The Douglases were going on vacation for three weeks, and I volunteered to housesit for them. The extra bonus for me was keeping Butterscotch. We waved “bye-bye” to the Douglases as they pulled out of their driveway, and I decided to take Butterscotch on a tour around the neighborhood. As soon as I grabbed Butterscotch’s leash, she leapt onto me as if to say, “Whatcha waitin’ for, Lady? Lock that bad boy around my collar and let’s get to it!” I laughed at the playful pup’s cheery attitude, and we stepped out to have a great walk around the neighborhood.
After a good fifteen-minute walk, we returned home. When we passed by the Douglases’ house, Butterscotch started to growl. I thought that she saw a cat or a squirrel, so I tugged on her leash. She was so determined to solve this particular mystery that she pulled me over to whatever was aggravating her. Come to find out, the Douglases’ side window was pried open, and someone looked to be either going in the house or out of it.
“I beg your pardon!” I shouted, startling the intruder so badly that he bumped his head across the wood of the windowpane. He clutched the back of his head and fell to the ground, where Butterscotch cornered him and barked fiercely.
“Now, I know good and hell well that you not doin’ what I think you doin’,” I said, looking at the intruder over my glasses. “Young man, you betta tell me that I didn’t see what I just saw.”
The intruder was more concerned with Butterscotch than he was me. Butterscotch continued to bark fiercely, jumping at the intruder with all her might. I held on tightly to Butterscotch’s leash, but there was no sense in trying to calm her down. Despite a fear of suffering a dog bite, the intruder said in a very brash tone, “Lady, unless this is your house, you betta stay out my business before you get hurt!”
I kinda laughed, because I know that the boy couldn’t have been serious. He dared to challenge me, but he still kept a safe distance from Butterscotch.
“Uh, you wanna say that again, young man?” I asked.
“I said, unless this is your house…”
“So, you have no morals and you’re disrespectful,” I said. “Lemme tell you something, young man: First of all, this is my house because it belongs to my son. Second of all, if I was your mama, I’d whup yo’ ass for talkin’ to grown folks like that. Matter of fact, I oughta whup yo’ ass right now!”
The intruder was taken aback behind what I said, but all of a sudden he looked like he saw a ghost. The strange thing was that both Butterscotch and I were calm. The intruder then zipped past me and Buttersotch, running off in fear. I guess he thought I was really gonna whup him. I didn’t think anything more about what had just transpired, so I took Butterscotch home and called a repairman to fix Bret and Susie’s window.
The next day, I was outside watering the front lawn when I noticed a group of troublemakers, one of which was the young man who tried to break into the Douglases’ household. I looked up towards Heaven and prayed, “Lord, I don’t want no trouble at the river. I am in no mood for no mess.”
The group stopped about six feet away from me and stared me down. Instantly, I started humming “Near the Cross.” From my peripheral vision, I saw the one of them point me out, then walk towards me. He must’ve been the ring leader or something.
“So, you threatenin’ my crew, old lady?” he asked me.
I kept on watering my lawn and humming “Near the Cross.”
“What’s the matter, Grandma—your hearing aid ain’t turned up high enough?” he asked arrogantly.
“Why, you disrespectful, half-raised bastard!” I shouted as I instantly turned the waterhose on him.
The ring leader hit the ground and struggled to catch his breath, then he rolled over to his crew. I pointed the hose at his other five cronies, and every last of them flinched. I was so angry that I must’ve swelled up like a peacock. Clark used to say that about me all the time, especially when I got angry.
“You know, your buddy here had enough sense to leave yesterday, but it’s quite obvious to me that you ain’t that damn smart!” I yelled.
The boy whom I encountered the day prior looked at his crew and said, “I think y’all better leave this woman alone—she ain’t playin’.”
“J-Man, shut up!” the leader shouted. “She tried to diss you yesterday, and today she gonna turn a hose on me? Nah, I don’t play that!”
The leader walked up on me again and snatched the waterhose from my hand. Instinctively, I slapped him in the middle of next month. I had to have slapped him pretty dang hard, because he dropped the hose and almost fell to the ground. I retrieved the waterhose and sprayed him again, knocking him back on his ass. I got that bastard good, too! His cronies reached out to help him, but the one they called “J-Man” kept a safe distance. The leader was so frustrated that he tried to get up, only to fall back down.
Thankfully for me, Ted the Mailman had just finished up his mail route and ran over to me. I didn’t even have to turn around because I heard his voice clearly. Ted obviously didn’t know what was going on, but he was willing to risk his own safety to protect me. I gotta hand it to Ted—he showed me that he was more than just a mailman.
Still holding his jaw from where I slapped him, the ring leader struggled to his feet and said, “Lady, you done messed up now. You’re gonna regret what you did to me. You see, it’s six of us, and only two of you.
“Correction—it’s five of y’all, and three of us!” the J-Man fellow declared.
Ted and I acknowledged this act of bravery with a smile, all while our eyes were in contact with the other five hoodlums.
“Oh, so it’s like that, J-Man?” the ring leader asked. “You just gon’ switch sides like that, huh? Okay then—be that way, but it’s still more of us than it is of you.”
I chuckled a bit, then I crossed my arms and said, “You may think so, Baby, but those who are with me are more than those who are with y’all.”
The ring leader and his cronies looked at each other, trying to figure out what I meant. Suddenly, all five of them grew fearful, kinda like how J-Man was. The four cronies ran off and left their leader all by his lonesome. When the leader saw that he was all by himself, he fell to the ground and froze.
“Hey Lady, tell your crew to put them swords away!” he begged. “It ain’t gotta be like that!”
I caught Ted and J-Man by their wrists and told them not to turn around. The ring leader was so scared that he tried to get up and run, and he tripped over his own two feet. Ultimately, the leader ran off, screaming in terror. When it was all said and done, I looked up to the heavens and said, “Thank you, Jesus!”
Ted called the police while I helped the young man to my porch and made sure that he was okay. Tears in his eyes, the young man hugged me.
“Ma’am, I want you to know that I’m really sorry about yesterday,” he said. “I told those clowns that you weren’t the one to mess with, but like my mom would say, they didn’t believe that fat meat was greasy. I knew that you were for real when I saw your peeps dressed in all white, carrying swords that look like lightning bolts.”
“Ah, you caught a glimpse of my heavenly army,” I smiled. “I never go anywhere until I talk to My Heavenly Father. He’s the one who sends His troops to guide me all the way.”
Hey there, Ms. Viv ‘Nim Fanatics—and Happy June 1!
Today is a very special day in the life of Susie Douglas—she turns 52 years old today… but she doesn’t look a day over 24 (her exact words).
We posted Susie’s bio last year around this time, and found out that she is the devoted wife of Bret Douglas, a loving mother of three children, and a “sweet little firecracker.” However, not too many individuals know that Susie’s motto is: “I am truly blessed beyond all recognition.” This has been Susie’s motto because she is a survivor.
Allow me to explain.
Back in June 2009, about two weeks after her 50th birthday, Susie was laughing it up with her co-workers when she noticed a mysterious lump on her left breast. As a means not to alarm anyone, Susie excused herself and rushed to the ladies’ room. Just as she feared, there was an actual lump on her breast.
Although she was alarmed, Susie did not allow herself to get too consumed with worry. She went straight to the doctor that same day. Come to find out, Susie needed a biopsy. Fully concerned about her own well-being, Susie scheduled the biopsy as soon as possible. A week later, Susie had her biopsy and the results were in—her lump was benign. Since then, whenever someone asks Susie how she is doing, the first thing she says is: “I am truly blessed beyond all recognition!”
When I asked Susie what she wanted for her birthday, she said, “I got my birthday present last night—I had a dream about my dad.”
As you know, Susie’s dad, Ralph Brandon Gosinheimer, passed away on November 29, 2010 at the age of 79. Susie reflects on her dad’s life, and how she celebrated what would have been his 80th birthday this past March 17th.
“I guess it can be said that I’m a ‘Daddy’s Girl,” and I’m not ashamed to say it,” she laughed. “It was difficult for me to get through March 17 this year, but just last night, I had the most wonderful dream about my dad. From what I remember, he pinched my nose and said, ‘Happy Birthday, Susie Q—Happy #52.’ When I woke up, I had tears in my eyes, because my dad took time out from his new heavenly schedule to still remember my birthday.”
We here would like to once again wish Susie Douglas a very happy birthday, and we would also like to remind her that yes—you truly are blessed beyond all recognition.
Hey there, Ms. Viv ‘Nim Fanaticals!
