Have your son get you some Nottingham lace while he is there. My son brought me a few pieces and I picked up a few when we went to pick him up. I made temple bags for my daughters out of them. Sally ----- Original Message ----- From: <LCFlu@aol.com> To: <WVMARSHA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2002 12:29 PM Subject: From Linda Fluharty - New Page - PLEASE READ > Hi, Everyone: > > Not long ago, I put a new page on my Pleasants County site for the writings > of Jim Ruckman. It is called ROCKERTALK. Jim can explain what that means; > in fact, I should put the explanation on the site. > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvpleasa/rocker/rocker.htm > > <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvpleasa/rocker/rocker.htm">ROCKER TALK</A> > > Jim, aka "Rockerbilly," is really smart and very funny. I think West > Virginians and beyond will enjoy what he has to say... some hilarious and > some deadly serious. > > I know Jim will be mad at me for saying this but .... Jim grew up in > Pleasants County and graduated from WVU. He served 2 tours of duty in Viet > Nam and has 2 Purple Hearts. He also has 2 Masters Degrees. (I hope I have > this straight!) > > Jim is my idea of a hero. - - - He is a loyal patriot, a proud West > Virginian and a wonderfully sincere man with incredible depth. > > The Ruckman family is associated with both Marshall & Pleasants Counties. I > know Jim from my Pleasants County site and I actually had the pleasure of > meeting him last summer in St. Marys. > > This is the most recent addition to ROCKERTALK: > > The late Pat Gainer, Professor-Emeritus of English, West Virginia > University, once noted in a class I attended that a West Virginian could get > away with the most awful kind of insult just as long as it was prefaced with > the words, "Bless her heart" or "Bless his heart." As in, "Bless his heart, > if they put his brain on the head of a pin, it'd roll around like a BB on a > six lane highway." > > Or, "Bless her heart, she's so buck toothed, she could eat an apple through > a picket fence." > > There are also the sneakier ones that I remember from the tongue-clucking > old biddy types in the Billsville of my childhood: "You know, it's amazing > that even though she had that baby seven months after they got married, > bless her heart, it weighed 10 pounds!" > > As long as the heart is sufficiently blessed, the insult can't be all bad -- > at least that's what my Great Aunt Gladys used to say, bless her heart. > > I was thinking about this the other day when a neighbor was telling me about > his new Northern friend who was upset because her toddler is just beginning > to talk and has a Hillbilly accent. > > The neighbor, who is very kind, bless his heart, said he was justifiably > miffed about this. But, after all, this man had CHOSEN to move to West > Virginia a couple of years ago. > > "Can you believe it?" said the man's friend, "A child of mine is going to be > taaaallllkkin' liiiike thiiiissss." > > Now, don't get me wrong. Two of my good friends are from the North, bless > their hearts. I welcome their perspective, their friendships and their > recipes for authentic Northern Italian and Jewish food. I've even gotten > past their endless complaints from them that you can't find good bread > around here, bless our hearts. > > The ones who really gore my ox are the native Hillbillies who have begun to > act almost embarrassed about their speech. Bless their hearts, it's as if > they want to bury it in the Hee Haw cornfield. I say we've already lost too > much. > > I was raised to swan, not swear, but you hardly ever hear anyone say that > anymore, I swan you don't. And I've caught myself thinking twice before > saying something is "right much," "right close" or "right good" > because non-natives think this is right funny indeed, bless their hearts. > > I have an acquaintance from Bawston who thinks it's hilarious when I say > I've got to "carry" someone to the doctor or "cut off" the light. He also > gets a giggle every time I am "fixin'" to do somethin. > > My personal favorite was uttered by a St Marys lady who said, "Bless her > heart, she can't help being ugly, but she could've stayed home." > > To those of you who're still a little embarrassed by your Hillbilliness, > take two tent revivals and a dose of red-eye gravy and call me in the > morning. Bless your heart! > > And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this > Hillbilly stuff, bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes > on Mountainspeak as a second language. > > > Linda Cunningham Fluharty > www.lindapages.com > > > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >