Hola'! from San Antonio
Where have the years gone? Seems only like yesterday we were plotting to wear our shirt tails out or not wearing a belt. Maybe, not buying our lunch that day at school. Of course, then it was a trip to see our favorite people--Mr. Mills or the most popular Mr. Yarborough. Mr. Yarborough told me once "Mr. Mills is the soft talker but I carry the big stick." He was correct but we had some coaches that could hit with the best of them. Well, I survived and I hope everyone else did also.
Since 1962 I earned a degree at the University of Houston and a Masters of Education degree at Our Lady of the Lake University here in San Antonio. I spent 4 years in the military with one tour of duty in Viet-nam. Viet-nam "endless hours of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror", was a place many of us grew up and many learned to live and enjoy each day--I did! It also was a place to see how fortunate you were to be living in the USA.
After all that I moved to San Antonio in the early seventies to be the trainer at Holmes HS. In the mid seventies I became the trainer at Churchill HS and life was good. In the mid eighties I thought I would move up the ladder and so I became an Assistant Principal at Churchill.
Like the saying "some days your the bug--some days your the windshield" so goes the life of a high school assistant principal. I really never had a problem dealing with kids- they were kids!, but parents were a different story. They could always tell you how to handle a situation after the fact. Many of these wonderful people were educated beyond their own intelligence. Anyway life went on!
In 1997 I became an Assistant Athletic Director for the district and I'm still enjoying things here. There are many new challenges here but---it sure beats working at a campus.
My personal life-I've been married more times than I've been divorced. I can't touch Glen Robinson's record-but who can?! I married my best friend, Cindy, three years ago and we're still best friends. We have three daughters, two at UT-Austin (boy they grew up fast), both engineering students. We also have one in middle school-she plays athletics and wants to be a cheerleader. I can relate to her. They have made my life interesting and different.
I have not discovered any miracle drugs or owned any companies since high school but I am known and loved in many casinos from Vegas to Mississippi. Cindy and I enjoy that life- we can relax, people act like they’re happy to see us, and sometimes we get lucky. We both enjoy music-the blues, jazz, and rock-n-roll. Some things never change, only get better with age.
On a very personal note- Thanks for the card and kind words on the death of my father--I miss him.
We are looking forward to the reunion and planning on having
a great time!!!!!
Hank Birdwell