Melissa's Idea Garden

I am a proud alumni of The College of William and Mary a.k.a. The College of Knowledge a.k.a. The Alma Mater of a Nation. I graduated in 1988 and go back whenever I have the opportunity to visit. The four years I spent at William and Mary shaped my future. I have so many fond memories of my days there and I never stopped being in awe of the history of the place. When you walk on the cobblestone sidewalks or up and down the stairs in the Sunken Garden or in some of the older buildings on campus, you can't help but notice the 'divets' - the reminders that thousands of footsteps have walked there before you for centuries. The campus of William and Mary is beautiful. It is quiet and serene and outside was a favorite place to study.

As an alumn, I receive the William and Mary alumni magazine. In this past issue, President W. Taylor Reveley III spoke of Charter Day. William and Mary's charter was signed February 8, 1693. Every February, the college celebrates Charter Day. President Reveley spoke and recorded some o fhis speech in the Alumni magazine. It reminded me of the pride I feel about having attended a college with so much history and in honor of my alma mater's 317th birthday, I thought I would record it here.

"When Charter Day is stripped to its essentials, laid bare, it's a birthday, a celebration of another year in the long life of the College of William and Mary. As our charter indicates, William and Mary was born on February 8, 1693. So today, February 6, 2010, almost 317 years later is close enough for purposes of this year's birthday celebration.

When we humans are young, our birthdays come around very slowly and once the magic moment finally arrives, it is glorious. The wild animal excitement of birthdays subsides as the years accumulate, and the birthdays begin to pile up, rolling in more and more quickly, relentlessly, like the surf rushing to shore. Some birthdays remain special, though - when we get to be 21 - or 300.

William and Mary had celebrated its 83rd birthday when the colony of Virginia declared independence from greate Britain in June 1776, creating the state of Virginia. Our state was born right here in Williamsburg. W&M people played leading roles in creating it as well as in giving birth to the United States of America. As Dumas Malone put it, "Our continent has provided no greater seedbed of greatness than the one square mile of this old colonial capital, and no American institution of learning has ever surpassed the record of this little College, in Jefferson's generation, as a nursery of statesmen." With shy modesty, we at William and Mary do call ourselves the alma mater of a nation.

William and Mary has been alive and kicking for more than three centuries. The College is still glued together, moving ahead, full of current excellence and future potential. That's quite something.

Let me end this birthday riff with a few epigrams. As you'll see, I've been ecumenical in my sources. They range from two Popes to Dr. Seuss. Their common theme is a celebration of age. If anyone enjoys celebrating age, it's those of us at the College.

• Pope John XXIII - "Men are like wine. Some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age."
• Pope Paul VI - "The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune."
• German Proverb - "To remain young while growing old is the highest blessing."
• Pablo Picasso - "It takes a long time to grow young."
• Henry Ford - "Anyone who keeps learning stays young."
• Abraham Lincoln - "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
• Finally, Dr. Seuss - "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

  There is only one College of William and Mary. So we do say to this marvelous university on its 317th birthday, in the words of Dr. Seuss, truly "there is no one alive who is Youer than You."

I am proud to know my footsteps have mingled with so many amazing individuals from the past and will mingle with those yet to walk the grounds of The College of Knowledge. I will leave you with a common joke that was told on campus when I attended.

Do you know why Thomas Jefferson built UVA?

Because his nephew wasn't smart enough to get into William and Mary!

Posted by Melissa Markham at 10:13 AM | Permalink

Tomorrow my Grandma, Irene Orndorff, will turn 90 years old. Yesterday, our family celebrated her birthday in Strasburg, VA. Over 200 invitations were sent out. I didn't count how many people where there, but as you can see in this photo (which doesn't include everyone), there was a very good turn-out.

Of course, what else would you expect when you are celebrating the birthday of a woman who has spent 90 years in the same community, living, loving, and helping those around her. My grandmother has 7 children, 5 boys and 2 girls, all of who are still alive and kicking. She has 16 grandchildren if my count is right. And I couldn't begin to tell you how many great-grandchildren, and I think there may be one or two great, great-grandchildren.

Part of the decor for the party was a big board of photos of my grandmother and her family. Check them out!

My grandma is the cute little girl front left. She and my Aunt Bethel really show the Native American heritage that was passed down from their mother.

Here Grandma and Granddaddy are being pestered while courting, by my grandma's younger brother, Kenneth.

My Grandma as a young woman.

Uncle Bobby, Uncle Jimmy, Granddaddy
Aunt Patsy, Grandma
Uncle Doug, Dad, Uncle Roger
Aunt Brenda

Uncle Doug, Uncle Bobby, Uncle Jimmy, Dad, Uncle Roger
Aunt Brenda, Aunt Patsy, Grandma

Grandma gets her diploma

Even President Obama sent greetings for Grandma's 90th birthday, though he was unable to attend the party.

My grandmother left public school when she was in 5th grade, and she got her G.E.D. when she was in her 70s. We were all so very proud of her. She raised 7 children and took care of her home, her garden and her husband. My grandmother has always lived simply. She believes in the value and honor of hard work. And most important to her is her family. She is the matriarch that has helped to hold generations together. My grandmother has travelled some, but prefers being at home. She has the most amazing salt and pepper shaker collection - that numbers in the hundreds and every set has a note in it with who gave it to her and when. I am an only child and so is my mother. What I learned about brothers and sisters all came from what I saw in the homes of my aunts and uncles.

Yesterday, my grandmother was asked what her advice was for a long life. She said, "Do what you want. Make your own decisions, don't let others tell you what to do."

Posted by Melissa Markham at 4:06 PM | Permalink

Birthdays are special. I know some people don't care to make a big deal out of them for one reason or another, but just think about it. Our birthdays celebrate the day we came into this world! And each of us has an affect on others that we have met during our lifetime. That's a pretty amazing thing to celebrate each year. So in our house, we tend to go all out for birthdays. In fact, I would rather do more of a present thing for a birthday than for Christmas, just seems right to me.

When the kids were little, I was known as the party queen. I would put together the most amazing and fun birthday parties. One year we had great fun with a pokemon party. Another year, Katrina had a jungle party that we are still talking about. But as the kids grow older, the fun themed parties are falling by the wayside. This year Jack's idea of an awesome birthday party was playing Halo with his brothers, his dad, and some friends. And there was pizza, ice cream, and a movie involved too. Last year, Katrina had a sleepover at the church. We had so much fun - making crafts, baking cookies, playing hide-n-seek in the dark.

This year Katrina's birthday came 9 days after my mother-in-law died and 2 days before the memorial service. On Easter Sunday, we did honor Kat's birthday with a cake, ice cream, singing and some presents. On her birthday, Katrina was still on crutches from her broken leg and none of us were really in the party mood, so her friend Kaley came over and stayed and they had fun playing with the newest LPS that invaded the house. I told Katrina that on the 23rd, she could invite three friends over to spend the night and on the 24th, I would take them to the mall to hang out and window shop.

Well, two friends were unable to come due to prior commitments. And this week, we received some unexpected inheritance money from Tess. Tess loved all of her grandchildren and nothing gave her greater pleasure than buying gifts for them. She was always calling me and telling me about some item she had seen and wondering if one of the kids would like it, especially for Katrina. Katrina was her only granddaughter and Tess loved buying her girlie things from the day she was born.

This year, because of Tess' declining health, she was unable to get Katrina a birthday gift. So when the money came, we decided to give Katrina a last gift from Tess. We rented a hotel room here in Lynchburg (you have no idea how hard it is to find a hotel with a pool in Lynchburg!). Yesterday, once Kaley got home from school, Kaley, Katrina and I headed out. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at China Buffet (Katrina was so happy to get some sushi, since the last she had was when we were in Australia). Then we went to the hotel, checked in and the girls and I spent a couple of hours at the pool.

Then we went to O'Charleys. We had gotten some really good ice cream there in the past and Katrina wanted to go there for dessert. Well, we haven't been to O'Charleys in awhile. They stopped making their special ice cream 2 years ago...ho hum. So we made do with some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. It was 10 when we got back to the room and the girls were tired. So they got settled into bed and watched some Disney until going to sleep around 11. Another added bonus to this trip was that Kaley has never spent the night in a hotel before. I just love being part of a child's first experience. They see everything all new and it gives me new appreciation.

Katrina insisted we sleep with the curtains open so she could enjoy the 'city' lights, so 7 o'clock, I was wide awake. The girls slept until 8 and after showers and packing up, we went down to enjoy our buffet breakfast. Then it was off to the mall.

After an hour of trying clothes on at Penney's the girls had made their purchases (boy, was I glad I had my DS to play - it helped me be patient). Then we went to Claire's. The girls found several lovely accessories there before we headed to Subway for lunch.

Next it was a movie. Katrina wanted to see The Last Song and Alice in Wonderland. I wanted to see The Last Song and How To Train Your Dragon. So we decided to see The Last Song. Sure wish, I had looked at some reviews before we went. I admit to being a Hannah Montana fan. I think the show is funny and in this day and age, we need all the laughs we can get. This was a drama and had me in tears towards the end. I think there was too much going on in this movie and quite frankly there were parts that didn't make any sense to me at all. The character that I felt empathy with was Miley's young brother. The male beau was just too much...too 'unflawed'. Oh well, I still believe Miley can do better with her acting skills, hopefully Hollywood won't give up on her before she has a true opportunity to show her depth. I wish we had go to see How to Train Your Dragon. It has a 98 on Rotten Tomatoes! Do you know how rare a score like that is???? One of the only movies I have seen to gett 100% is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Oh well, sorry to throw in the movie review!

After the movie, we headed home. We know that Tess was looking down and smiling. We just wish she could have been here with us.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 6:23 PM | Permalink