I am still trying to catch my breath and a little rest from the whirlwind trip to Washington to visit my future husband.
I had a wonderful time, and I am looking forward to making a home with him there. We found a nice place to live, and we looked at rings, which will be decided on soon. So now it’s down to all the wedding details here and packing up to move there come the end of November.
We plan to marry Dec. 5 here in Greenwood, and then make our way back home for our honeymoon to begin our lives together.
I know things will be hectic until the wedding is over, but maybe I can catch a few minutes of sleep here and there.
Besides gushing about how wonderful my future husband is and how badly he spoiled me last weekend while I was visiting there, there are a few other things on my mind this week.
First and foremost, the fall and winter edition of Leflore Illustrated is here, and it is once again an outstanding magazine.
We are so excited about our latest effort. The staff and freelancers worked hard to bring you an excellent product, and we hope you all enjoy reading about the interesting people and places here in Leflore County.
Nothing gives our staff more pride than putting out an excellent piece of work that can be enjoyed by our readers for years to come.
From our lead feature on Dr. Thomas E. Weldon’s fascination with a 76-year-old medical murder mystery to a feature on Tammy McCrory and her seeing-eye dog, Reagan, the stories are well-written and should provide a wealth of knowledge about the people, places and things that make our community a unique place to call home.
On a sad note, I hated to hear that Patrick Swayze, who was just 57, lost his 20-month-long battle with pancreatic cancer.
I am very familiar with that type of cancer because my aunt died of the same thing more than 10 years ago. She lived only six weeks after her diagnosis. He lived almost two years.
What impressed me most about his battle was his upbeat spirit and determination to carry on with life.
Despite undergoing chemotherapy, he found the strength to film the cop series, “The Beast.” And he refused to take painkillers during that time because he didn’t want to dull his sharpness or senses during the performance.
Back in the heyday of Swayze’s career, all the teenagers and young adult girls would swoon over him. Just to be fair, I’m sure there were a few older women who liked him as well. He was such a ruggedly handsome actor and had that bad-boy appeal.
Swayze was voted People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1991, if that explains things a bit better.
My first recollection of Swayze was his role as Orry Main in the television mini-series “North and South.” I was in the 11th grade, and we had to watch it as part of my American history class. With Swayze as the star, it made the assignment quite easy.
From there, Swayze starred in numerous movies, but probably his greatest roles were as Johnny Castle in “Dirty Dancing” and Sam Wheat in “Ghost.”
I will never forget his most famous line in “Dirty Dancing,” “No one puts Baby in the corner.”
But what I loved most about that movie was the dancing. He was a phenomenal dancer, as well he should be. Born in Houston, Texas, he was the second son of a choreographer, dance instructor and dancer.
My young female cousins, or at least they were at the time the movie came out, would watch “Dirty Dancing” over and over again.
Daddy always shook his head when he came into the room and asked, “Why are y’all watching that again?”
I guess guys didn’t have that same fascination.
Here at work, one of the editors always kids me about another Swayze film, “Road House.” The movie not only features the handsome actor but one of my favorite singers, the late Jeff Healey.
It is definitely not his most outstanding piece of work, but I can watch a movie that features Patrick Swayze and Jeff Healey any day.
When I finally get a chance to sit back and watch a few movies, I’ll pull out my collection of the “North and South” series or one of his other movies and pay tribute to Swayze. While he may not have been what some would call the greatest actor of all time, he left quite an impression on me during those early years of his career.
And from all I can tell, he was a good man who loved his wife and family. He was married to the same woman for 24 years. That’s rare in Hollywood in this day and age.
Patrick Swayze will be sorely missed.
