Old Pals I'm Proud Of

I have a My Space page, solely for the purpose of keeping an eye on my preteen Princess. It's quite interesting, that My Space. A few weeks back, I got a message from some nice looking guy (pictures come with messages, if they have one posted for those not familiar) and the subject line had my first name and a question mark. I opened it up and all the message said was my first and maiden name with a question mark. I could not figure out who this guy was but assumed it had to be somebody who knew me when I was my maiden name, which has been quite a long time. I looked and looked and figured I had to have known this person but who was it?!?!?!

It finally hit me that it was Murrey Gropp. Murrey Gropp and I go back to first grade at Lipscomb Elementary School. I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in probably 20 years. He was/is as much as a character as his name implies. A rather robust little boy with an "overbite", his appearance and his personality is one nobody could ever forget. He was a hoot in school and had a wisdom about politics and current events that went way beyond his years. It probably wasn't very wise wisdom but it always impressed the heck outta me that he could talk politics in the 5th grade and sound like he knew what he was talking about.

Murrey was a great kid. All these years later, I can just think about him and start laughing. He lives in East Tennessee now...never married or had children as of yet. He is a drug/alcohol counselor. Apparently, he draws on experience in counseling those trying to free themselves from the bondage of substance abuse...which didn't surprise me because the last time I remember seeing Murrey was at one of those wild, Brentwood parties in about 1985. I still don't know why I was there because I didn't really participate in such, but, I was present at this gathering of Brentwood High students...seems the party resembled the party in "Sixteen Candles".

As I was leaving, I passed Murrey, no telling how many sheets to the wind he was, giving some young girl a field sobriety test. The pot was screaming for the kettle.............anyway, I'm glad to be in touch with ol' Mur and am quite proud of him for turning his life around and helping other people.