"Because of her, I feel confident to step out and learn new things now that I've retired from a job I loved (librarian at Cypress Middle School). For example, I've taken up Tai Chi, become an election official, and I'm a radio reader at WYPL. My husband and I didn't marry each other for lunch either."
"Watching my mother accomplish so much later in life taught me that age doesn't have to limit a person. After her retirement, she told my father that she had married him for better or worse, but not for lunch, and if they were going to stay happily married, they couldn't be home together all the time. She decided she wanted to go to college, since she hadn't had that opportunity during the war years. Even though the school offered to let her bypass a few courses, she insisted that she would take all the classes like any other freshman. She enrolled in college algebra, freshman P.E., all of it. In fact, she was voted 'Jock of the Month' in her P.E. class! She graduated summa cum laude from UALR with a bachelor's degree when she was 70 years old, the same year she and my father celebrated their 50th anniversary. Then she went on to get her master's in Composition and Rhetoric and completed that degree when she was 77. Her 230-page master's thesis is a memoir of seven generations of our family. It's a wonderful record to have and sets the story of family into its historical context. Mother is 90 years old now, and we have this book she wrote, this incredible repository of memories. "Because of her, I feel confident to step out and learn new things now that I've retired from a job I loved (librarian at Cypress Middle School). For example, I've taken up Tai Chi, become an election official, and I'm a radio reader at WYPL. My husband and I didn't marry each other for lunch either." "This excerpt from Mother's memoir describes the moment when she was reunited with her husband after a long journey across the Atlantic with other war wives":
"I want to be a policeman because I like helping people. The best part would be arresting the bad people and putting them in jail. If they run away, you have to run after them. The worst part would be getting shot or getting hurt."
"When I was little, I used to draw donuts on my upper arms to make them look like muscles. That's the earliest thing I can remember drawing. Our family---cousins, auntie, mom, and I---had coloring competitions in our house too. I never won the contests, but I learned about blending and values from those coloring books. Then, a couple of years ago I decided to take art. I thought it would be an easy credit, but my teacher made me work. I started learning things, and the teacher encouraged me. He said I was good at it. I draw, sketch, and work in charcoal, but my favorite is painting because it's the most challenging. When I did my first painting, I wanted to quit because it was harder than I thought it would be, but my teacher said no, so I kept going. Now I can't quit. Just like football, I can't quit even when it's tough."
"Even when she's going through hard times herself, my mother has always been there for me. I try to show I appreciate her by calling her, thanking her, telling her I love her, and showing her respect."
"This is probably the hardest time of my life right now because I'm homeless. I just try to stay as warm and safe as I can, and so far, I haven't had any serious problems. I'm loved and cared about, and that helps. God loves me more than anybody else does, and family, prayer, and determination help me get through.
"I know that I need to be more considerate of others, because being careless and inconsiderate led me to where I am now, but at the end of my life I'd like to be remembered as someone who was the best he could be. The majority of the time, that is. The majority of the time. Overall, a good person. I try to help as many people as I can. I'd like to be remembered for that." "A lot of Hispanics come here to work. I'm one of them. But I have three kids, and I want them to get an education. I tell them, 'Be a lawyer, be a doctor, be in the FBI, whatever. Don't just go from home to work, from work to home. Don't stay the same. Make progress. Be somebody in life. You're in the USA. If you're going to live here, do something to benefit this country."
"I'm 93 years old. Not a lot of people, especially girls, went to college when I was growing up, but my daddy was determined that my sister and I were going to get an education, so he sent us to Pepperdine in California. That was 1938, and I went all four years there. I started the second year the school was open. I had that Mississippi accent, so the president, Mr. George Pepperdine, would find me on campus and say, 'Bobbie, I have some visitors here. I want you to talk Southern for them.' "The Palladio wasn't far from the school, and that's where they had big ballrooms and where big names played. The Glenn Miller Band, Tommy Dorsey, lots of others. Pepperdine didn't allow dancing back then, but some of us decided to go anyway, so we slipped out one night when Frank Sinatra was performing. There were three couples. I told one of my girlfriends, 'If they miss us on campus, you better let us know so we can get back before we get in trouble.' Sure enough, we were missed, and she called the Palladio and had me paged! That was the only time we did that because we were on restriction for a week. I taught a lot of boys how to dance in college, but I never fell in love with any of them. I didn't meet my husband until after I graduated and moved to Memphis." Bobbie Fry received her undergraduate degree from Pepperdine University in 1942 and later earned a Master's degree in Education from Memphis State University (now U of M). She taught elementary grades in the Memphis City Schools (now SCS) until her retirement in 1982. She was a 2003 recipient of the American Institute for Public Service Jefferson Award for her volunteer work with Meals-on-Wheels, Alzheimer's Day Services, and as a Probation Officer with Juvenile Court.
"I have four grandkids, and I believe the most important things to teach them about are prayer, respect, and honesty."
"It's uncommon not to get a fortune in your fortune cookie, so my mom always used to say that it was good luck to get an empty cookie. Maybe she only told me that when I was little so I wouldn't cry in case there was no fortune in mine. I don't know. But I believe it now. If you don't have a fortune handed to you, you can make your own. If I wrote one for myself, it would say: 'You have to live your own life. Don't let anyone else live it for you.'"
"I remember being 8 years old and begging my mom to take me to see the Grizzlies play. I wanted to go so bad. The day she picked me up from my dad's house and took me to a game, I was so hyped, I about lost my mind."
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