TheHighWay

WG, that was the last I heard of them, too... working at HQ. The letters we would get that had quotes from people taking the advanced classes on the field were compiled by Angela. Not sure what Perry's responsibilities were. I, too, hope they are out... they were good folks.

The 18ths are not big here but there are a few of us... THW (email me at: dobbyisfree@hotmail.com)

I don't have a dog (yet) but I have three silly cats. They aren't triggered by noises but they do have some bizarre habits... One loves to lay down a little off to one side of the water bowl. As she's laying there she will stretch her paw out casually, as if she's reaching for a bon-bon, dip it into the water, bring it back to her mouth, and lick the water off her paw. She does this over and over until she's done "drinking". Where this came from I haven't a clue, she used to be normal. My second cat will completely ignore the movement on the TV but will chase any flicker of light or shadow she thinks she sees on the floor, digging and digging as if she's going to find some great treasure. (And yes, she LOVES chasing light-beams! She cackles and chirps as if she were chasing live prey. She would run herself to death, sides heaving, mouth open and panting, she loves this game so much. But we don't do it very often because when we put the light away, she wanders around crying and looking for it for several minutes. It's pathetic to watch.) And my last cat just can't get enough of watching me do the laundry. She insists on sitting right on the edge of the machine while I'm loading it, puts her head down low to watch the water pour in, and gets indignant when I finally close the lid. She'd watch it run through it's entire cycle if I let her. (I'm too afraid she'll fall in and get hurt.) Once I pull the wet clothes out, she wants to climb in and wander around the inside barrel of the washer. And of course, she wants to investigate the inside of the dryer before I'm "allowed" to fill it with clothes. We've been through this countless dozens of times... you think she'd get enough of a "good thing" wouldn't you?

I have been teaching my son for a couple of years now that half the fun of a vacation is flexibility and sponteneity... Make a plan, but reserve the right to change your plans... Stop if you see something interesting. Cut your time short if what you planned turns out to be boring. Check out that stupid little gift shop or museum or garage sale!!! This spring we were on a trip and ended up changing our plans rather drastically. Before I could say anything he said, "Hey that's what a vacation is for: having fun the way YOU want to have fun." Mission accomplished. Take THAT, twi.

Hmmm... sorry about the mix-up. Now, I'm really curious who the heck I'm thinking of??? He worked in food services at Emporia 84-85, and they had a young (year-old?) son with them while living on the gulf-coast in Mississippi... oh heck, I'm getting old!! Hope you track down the REAL Wittersheims.

Aleya2Fairlie, I must agree with several of the above comments... this man is not "just" conditioned by twi, he is clearly not stable. With or without twi he would have had these issues, (lack of self-confidence, the idea that controlling a woman is the way to prove your manliness and means you love her, etc.) but twi certainly encouraged and reinforced them. RUN, don't walk, to the nearest help-center, counsellor, or lawyer (your choice) but separate yourself from this man and I do mean now. Even if he never gets physically abusive, the damage he can do to your sense of right-vs-wrong and self-esteem is endless. Sign me: been there, done that.

Abigail... Your last post on this thread is EXACTLY on the mark... getting married because you are both needy, and needing your partner to validate you is a terrible situation to be in, but one in which many of us found ourselves. If you can only "win" when the other person agrees with you, then every disagreement is an argument to the death. If you lose, you lose a part of yourself, a part of your validation and strength and you just can't bear to let that happen. So you go to extreme lengths to be RIGHT. But as the "wife" you had to lose the fight over and over again, while the husband only gained the upper hand because he was "the man". No real self-esteem is gained on his part because he didn't really work anything out or accomplish anything. And a deep inner resentment builds up on your part because you are so trapped and yet so unable to break out. I think you are also right when you said that as the woman in that scenario, you (hopefully) do end up finding ways to build your own self up and grow strong, because you certainly aren't getting that from your husband. That's what happened to me... each little thing I accomplished on my own, each little step toward independence and the realization that I was a worth-while human being in my own right, took me that much closer to the door, until it finally hit me in the butt as I was leaving. Good riddence!! Thanks so much for posting your story here. It's important for people who are still living in your shoes to see the truth.

They were still the BCs of Rockford, IL as of two years ago but a lot can happen in way-world in two years.

I might be mixing people up in my memory here, and if I am I apologize... But if they are who I am thinking of, they were in Mississippi in 88-89 when Craig sent out his "stand with me or not" letter and they chose NOT. But, they were big into Chris Geer's tapes at the time. Haven't heard anything since then.

Royal... 16th were my elder corps. Did you spend any of your last in-rez year at HQ? That's where I spent most of my first year.

Ditto on Hogan's Heroes... somebody was definately having a crabby day when they wrote this list: great cast, well-written humor. Yes, it was campy. It was SUPPOSED to be campy. And I have to admit I liked Holmes and YoYo but I was a kid when it played and I thought it was funny. (nevermind that the actors couldn't act) I also really liked Baby Bob. I'm sorry it didn't do better. Hilarious how they mixed an adult's verbal abilities with the cares and concerns of an infant.

The Robert Redford movie: The Natural. I sat through the whole thing with someone whispering in my ear how the top bad-guy was the daimon devil spirit and the other folks were daimonion devil spirits and how the big bad guy had everyone else do his dirty work for him until the good guy had withstood even the fiercest attacks and then he got involved. They used all that to back up VP's teachings. This someone is still the wife of a very-high-up leader in the current version of twi. You ever notice how if a movie simply mirrored what could commonly be seen in society, the makers were somehow tagged as being spiritually contaminated because how else could they have depicted the workings of devil spirits so clearly if not for the little critters whispering in their ears giving them 'inside' information?? And I love how twi could tell us all what was bad and evil and how it would get us possessed, but then Craig came right out and made a big deal over the fact that his son Timmy loved the Goosebumps series of books. Told us his kid was quite capable of knowing reality from fiction and didn't get freaked over it. Also said it helped instill a love of reading which is important for kids to have. After that, I didn't really give a crap what someone said was bad for me to watch. I trusted my own judgement, thanks.

IRead... I'm so glad what I wrote was helpful. It was a cumulation of a lot of thought and a lot of people's input over the past two years. I've just found that shouldering responsibility for my part makes me less of a victim, and so helps me feel less helpless and angry about things. It most certainly doesn't absolve those who did evil from what they did... they caused myself and loads of others a great deal of harm!! But the truth is, I was (unfortunately) an active participant and made bad decisions and hopefully I have learned a lot (even if it was the hard way) and won't ever let it happen again. I was human... I blew it... I forgive me. It took a long time for me to finally wake up and admit all that. But once I did, it put me in the driver's seat again. And that's a WONDERFUL place to be!! [This message was edited by TheHighWay on July 24, 2002 at 9:27.]

IRead, I don't know if this will help your or not, but I have found it is easier for me not to get so mad about the control and manipulation both twi and my hubby had me under, when I also look at what kind of person I was to allow this to continue happening to me? This isn't an exercise in guilt or shame or anything, just a very objective look at the truth of things in order for me to get the right perspective: They were egotistical fools and they were evil. I was gullable and needy and loyal to a fault. This is a bad combination so bad things happened. Now I am stronger and they are even bigger fools. There is absolutely nothing I can do to influence or change them so I had to forgive myself for no longer trying. There is absolutely nothing I can do to alter my history with them so I had to forgive myself for letting it happen in the first place. My ex was/is even needier than I was and so I can forgive him because it's really kinda sad. And I am re-learning that God is bigger than any group of evil men, and so I am beginning to be thankful again, that at least they did teach me more about God as a father, and how to get around in my Bible than any other church I've ever attended. And so I ask you: exactly what are you looking to forgive?

You guys make me want to run right out to the theatre!! I don't usually go out to see a lot of movies. I wait and catch them on video. But you do make the ones you've mentioned sound worth the effort. Thanks. I also agree that Spiderman was great fun. Star Wars was okay. But Lord of the Rings sucked you right into the story along with the characters. Theater? What theater? Tom, to answer your question about Star Wars, poor George Lucas just seems to have a knack for picking actors that aren't the most expressive (notable exceptions being Harrison Ford and Natalie Portman) and for writing dialogue that even the best of actors would have trouble with. (can you say "wooden"??) He also seems more interested in the special effects than the people. So, a lot of folks were disappointed with this last flick. My take is that when you have known for YEARS what's going to happen (because you have seen the original trilogy a hundred times), and you are waiting for the movie to come out so it can tell you HOW it happens, it needs to have a lot more of that element in it than this one did. They could have --and should have-- spent a whole lot more time on Anakin's anger and frustration and arrogance and shown more than a passing scene indicating how Senator Palpatine was "stoking" those fires. (just my humble opinion)

I was at Emporia in the College Division that year, which means we may or may not know each other. (Still an awful lot of corps on campus back in those days)

I knew them in my Emporia days. Didn't know Tone that well, but Elle was the greatest. I sure hope someone who knows will tell us if they are out and doing okay.

I'd be interested. One of the main reasons I don't do chat much is that I never know when folks are there. Sounds like this program would fix that problem for me. Let me know what you'd like for it. HW

Glad... where did you spend your first year in residence? If the answer is Emporia, we might have met.

Sudo, Ahat, Can I crash your thanksgiving meet-n-greet? I live only a few hours north of Knoxville and love meeting other greasers in person.