The Betties in my Life

This is actually going to be a report of my week- but I decided to build it around a theme of all the people I know whose name is Betty (or Bettie!). Here is what I have decided, based on the ages of all my Betty-friends: between about 1920 and 1960, a lot of people named their baby girls Betty. Some of those (a minority) were named Betty- period- it's on the birth certificate. More often, however, the girl's real name was Elizabeth, but the parents decided to call her Betty (or Bettie!). I suppose some of them decided on the nickname themselves, but most of the time I believe it was done for the child. And while many baby girls are still named Elizabeth, they do not seem to be turning into "Betty" any longer. The oldest Betty I knew was actually my mother's age, and one of her closest childhood friends- her name was Betty Webb, and her family lived across the road from my mother and my grandparents, out on Wald Road in New Braunfels, and although Betty grew up & moved out, her parents were still there until I was a young adult, when they passed away in their 80's. I really don't know if that Betty was really an Elizabeth- I never asked her, and I have completely lost track of her. But I digress. So to begin with, of course, there is Bettie Nixon. She really does like it when people spell her name "right", meaning with an "ie" instead of a "y". So I have learned to do that always, and I try to remind other people (like my former boss) who continue to refer to her as "Betty". Most of you know, but for those who do not, Bettie & I go back a long way- to the early 90's at least. As you know, I was the PC salesperson at Entre, and after Jay Hicks left his job & Beaumont rather suddenly one day, I inherited the school districts as my customers- make that prospects. I worked for about 3 years, trying to get my foot in the door at Beaumont ISD (which had recently dissolved itself & been absorbed by South Park ISD, and then of course, they promptly changed their name to Beaumont ISD). As frequently happens in situations like that one, I had to wait for a change in Administration- not the Superintendent, but the Director of Information Services. Bettie moved into that position when her predecessor took another job, and Entre just happened to have a forum where we presented our capabilities to the business people who attended, and Bettie & her network administrator both came, and we clicked. And that began a long period of about 15 years during which she was my best customer- pure & simple. We never really had any issues about business vs. pleasure- we just became very close friends, and I made certain that she & her staff were taken care of, and just generally devoted myself to the account about 75% of the time, which it took- after all, that was like having 40 different customers. Throughout our years as friends, we have been in Bible Study, several different exercise classes, and an investment club together, and even after she retired, she continued to assist me & the school district with our summer-time rollouts. Now I'm retired, too- and sick, and as I mentioned in an earlier installment, Bettie is the kind of person who, when asked on a Friday afternoon if she would leave on Sunday for a week of Caregiving, said "Yes" without a second thought. And she is also on my Primary Caregiving Team for after the transplant. So that's "my main Bettie". Actually, she's my only Bettie- the rest of them are Bettys! On Tuesday of this week, my friend from High School, Betty Merendino Lebus, called me and said "I'm coming and bringing lunch- is 11:00 OK?" She also said she had enough for a third person, and suggested that I invite Suzanne Ryan- who is also on my Primary Caregiving Team. That lunch was (1) some of the best food I've put in my mouth in months, and (2) the best fellowship and the most fun I've had in weeks. She made corn & potato chowder, homeade pimiento cheese sandwiches on croissants, and apple pie for dessert! As Suzanne remarked, "A lot more than I usually have for lunch!" I frequently forget to eat- that was never a problem BPF (before pulmonary fibrosis). But I have no appetite- most of the time. Tuesday, the combination of the delicious home-cooked food plus the two good friends sitting at my table, conspired to see to it that I ate all my chowder & a half sandwich. Later on in the afternoon, I had some pie with a scoop of ice cream on it! And she left me more chowder, plus the other half sandwich, plus an entire bowlful of cabbage rolls, for another meal (or 4). Having been told that I need to keep up my strength & my weight- (I absolutely cannot believe that doctors are telling me to quit losing weight)- Tuesday was definitely "just what the doctor ordered"! And that's my second Betty. On Wednesday, my housekeeper comes. Her name is Betty Bass. I came to know her through Bea- we were both looking for a household helper- having decided that the one we had was no longer tending to business- and someone recommended Betty to Bea. She worked for us for a couple of months- back then (pre-Ike) I was taking care of the day-to-day myself, and once a month I had someone do a blitz. After the evacuation, followed by Bea's death, for whatever reason, I never called Betty again- or anyone else, for that matter. But I kept her number in my cell phone! And lo & behold- when I called, she answered- and she was SO glad to hear from me- that's what she said anyway! So I told her about my change of fortune- she knew that Bea had passed away- and I told her that I had reached the point where I could no longer mop, sweep, vacuum, change bed linens or clean bathrooms- those being the main things, in my opinion, that speak to a "clean house". Anyone who knows me well can attest to the fact that I am a bit of a packrat- I just take the path of least resistance, which is NOT to toss things that SHOULD be tossed. Hence I tend to have a lot of clutter around, but I am basically CLEAN- it's CLEAN CLUTTER!! And there is hope- since we moved, when we do unpack a box, if it needs to be given away or thrown away, that's what happens to it- then & there. That's also why we still have a carport full of boxes- but Stratton is coming Labor Day for a week! And knowing him and his energy level- assuming they have NOT called me to come to Houston for surgery, he will probably get the carport cleaned out while he is here. So that is Betty #3. For many years, on Rosine St., my down-the-street neighbor was Betty Heacker. She has moved to South Carolina, to be with her daughters, both of whome live there, along with spouses and 5 of her grandchildren. At Entre, back about 1989, my boss (who was then Andy Bridwell) told me to interview and hire an assistant. I couldn't believe it! I had never in all my life had an assistant at work. So I set about it, and I do believe I picked the best of the applicants- her name was Betty Whitehead, and she worked at Entre for over 5 years- she outgrew her job as my assistant in short order, however, and I never got a replacement! And on Friday (yesterday), mid-morning, into my house walked Betty Linscomb- who happens to be about the very first person I think our family met in Beaumont. We (that being me, my parents & my grandmother Nancy Schnautz, whom I called "Mom") moved here from Houston at the end of June 1955. We rented a little house on Parkway Drive in the South Park neighborhood, and directly across the street is where the Linscombs lived. It is amazing when I think of it- the passage of time- I'm talking about 55 years ago last month, but I remember it like it was yesterday. For one thing, I was in my diary phase, and I recorded that it rained in Beaumont every single day in July 1955. The Linscombs had a son Craig and a daughter Sue, and I think Sue was about 2-3 years old when we moved in across the street. Craig was closer to my age and he & I used to put bacon on a string and poke it down a crawdad's hole in the ditch in front of our house. We caught some crawfish, but of course there wasn't anything to do then but let them go- it was fun, however. Fast forward- when I got to high school, I decided against babysitting for income, and decided instead to teach piano lessons. (This impacted my future in 2 ways: I made more money than my friends who babysat, but since I was an only child, I was electively by-passing my only opportunity to learn anything about early childhood development, and thus was a totally unprepared parent.)I had studied the piano for over 10 years by then, and seriously, and my teacher even helped me get started, because she had more beginners every year than she could take. So she told the parents that if they let me train their child for the first 2 years (I was beginning my junior year in h.s.), then she would promise to take them if they still wanted to study. (That was a good way to filter the keepers for Mrs. Hebert!) Anyway, Sue was one of my piano students when she was in elementary school. Fast forward- after I graduated from high school, I was not in or around Beaumont very much at all for 25 years until I returned in 1979 following my divorce. After Steve & I married, we eventually moved our church membership to Wesley United Methodist, and it wasn't long before the Linscombs joined as well! Steve's family had known the Linscombs quite well all during the years I was elsewhere, because the Linscombs moved from Parkway to Giles, a couple of doors down from the Garretts, and both families were very active at St. Paul's UMC! So now Steve & I see Betty & James from time to time at church, but Sue (of course) has grown up, married & divorced, and since she doesn't attend Wesley, we haven't had an opportunity to see her. As I've said, my job for most of my 22 years at Entre was working with the schools- primarily the Beaumont ISD. Each school has a technology liaison- someone on staff who has some interest in & ability to handle technology problems, and I dealt with those teachers frequently- almost always via email or phone, however, because I didn't want to interrupt the classroom during the school day. For about 3 years, I had been emailing a teacher named Sue Little who worked at Southerland Head Start. It never occured to either of us that we knew each other in another life. And then one day, we were in a meeting together, and it all fell into place- she was little Susie Linscomb. So that is the story of my week, and the four Betty(s) (or Betties!) who have been a part of it. I thought I had listed most of the people named Betty (or Bettie!) whom I have known well recently- but then of course I can't forget my Insurance Agent! Betty Tipton LeBlanc has held our automobile & Homeowners insurance for as long as we have been married- she was also a member of the SPHS Class of 1962! I think all the people profiled herein fit the demographic of being born before 1960. If you know of any glaring omissions I have made- well, that's why there is a place to post comments! Until the next time, then......