April 2002

Forty years! Wow, If I had known I was going to live this long I would’ve taken better care of myself. Lord knows I’ve dodged a few bullets, literally and figuratively. You all knew me as “Grady”, the military made me use “Walter” and it stuck. Come to think of it, as the story goes, when I was born on the ranch in Snyder, Texas in 19 and 44, I was given a horse named “Grady”. That became my middle name. He was 13 years old then but he died before I got big enough to ride him. Story of my life….when my ship comes in, I’ll probably be waiting at the airport. But I digress….

I have not delved too deeply into why I feel this pull to come to our 40^th, but I do feel it strongly and I’m comin’ if it hare lips the Governor. You know, Houston has been my home base of operations since graduation in 1962. I have seen almost every notice about previous reunions and never attended one for various reasons. It wasn’t because I’m shy any more, ( like I used to be). I think it is because during school I worked after school and did not get to join in a lot of extra-curricular activities and I wasn’t “in”. Once in 1987, about the time of the 25^th reunion, I was looking forward to attending. I had been training in Karate for a long time, lifting weights, running and I was looking goooooood! Had all my hair, (still do), and my teeth, ( I was a late bloomer) and I was going to come look up all the studley dudlies in High School who had 5 o’clock shadows in the 10^th grade while my voice hadn’t changed yet. I was going to do a little struttin’ of my own. I was going to show all the Honeys from High School, who were goddesses to me in school, na, na, na, na, na, look what you missed. That thought kept me warm for a while, but then something came up and I couldn’t go. Just as well, I probably would have been ashamed of myself.

Back to the task: During my Senior year I received an appointment to The United States Military Academy. I went to Ft. Sam in San Antonio in April or May of ’62 for the physical and was told there was blood in my urine and I would be disqualified as a result. Congressman Albert Thomas who had appointed me sent in the Army’s Chief Genito-Urinary Specialist and his team and they put me through every test known to man and could find nothing wrong with my kidneys. By the time I was cleared it was too late to join my class. Probably saved my life, because I would have been a “fresh” 2^nd looie after graduation in 1966 and would have gone to lead an Infantry platoon in the ‘Nam. Instead, I volunteered for the 101^st Airborne Division and made over 700 free fall jumps. In 1965 I beat out one of our classmates, Wesley Carroll, (real name Wesley Womble), for Division Soldier of the month. In 1966 I enrolled in the U of H and Wesley re-enlisted to go to Helicopter Pilot’s school. While he was finishing flight training at Ft. Wolters in Alabama, I was in Commercial Pilot training in Houston and going to College. Wesley’s helicopter was shot down in Vietnam shortly after he arrived in country. Here’s to old friends, gone but not forgotten.

About this same time in 1966 my Daughter Lisl was born. College and Flight School and Flying to earn a living were tough and when I got a good paying flying job I had to drop out of college after two years. Four years into that marriage we divorced and my first Wife took my daughter with her and went home to Mommy and Daddy, (hers). I came back to Houston, between flying jobs, moved into an apartment on McCue street when the Galleria was still a gleam in the developer’s eyes and began to Pardee Hardee!! Until I met my next Wife. That lasted from 1970 to 1986 while I was building a valve business. I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor and rich is better….I think. Any way, when I sold the business in 1982 and could no longer keep her in the style to which she had become accustomed, she left and went to the dogs. No kidding , She was the Director of the Houston Humane Society. Well, I am now married for the third and final time to a wonderful lady, who, for the last 16 years has been through thick and thin with me. We have a yours, mine and ours family. Our Son Andy is 13 and was born with Down Syndrome. He is the love of our lives. We wouldn’t trade him for six “normal” children. If you want to know what real innocence and guilelessness is, it is like living with an Angel to have one of these guys. The Doctors told us to put him in a home when he was just hours old. They ought to be shot. Imagine what young couples, just starting out must do in the same situation. They probably trust the Doctors and thinking they have no alternatives, they institutionalize the baby. What a blessing we have in Andy.

We are in the 10^th month of our recovery from the Flood. We were virtually wiped out. We had just bought our home and finished a very extensive remodel job when the Flood hit. Thank God for Flood insurance. You know, come to think of it, maybe the gravitational pull I’m feeling comes from reading my classmates biographies and realizing that everyone has gotten more or less their share of the green weenie and yet exhibit a character, an attribute of toughness that are the hallmark of Texans with whom I want to associate. I revel in your success stories and commiserate with your sorrows. When I look at the obituaries of our classmates I realize I might not get another chance to see some of you. I am proud to read about how some of you have retired after successful careers and are enjoying the life of Riley. I say, God, just give me one more Oil Boom…I promise not to screw it up this time!!

I look forward to seeing you all.

Grady Ferguson

gfbulldog@houston.rr.com