Senior Prom - 1959

Jeanette and Ron - DHS Senior Prom 1959

Yes folks, that is me,  I'm the guy on the RIGHT SIDE of the photo. The girl on the left side of the photo is my date, Jeanette.  The occasion was my Senior Prom.

This morning I was talking to my long time friend Larry from my school days.  We're in the process of writing out autobiographies (like anyone is interested besides us).  We were talking about the delicate process that we undertook to select who we would ask to our respective senior proms.  We had to take a lot into consideration being the cowards that we were in dealing with rejection.

Hey, when you're seventeen years old, with all that peer pressure, one has to be very careful about asking a girl to the senior prom.  The worst thing was to be turned down because EVERYONE would know.  And I mean everyone.  Of course I had the  extra  problem of being gay and keeping that a big secret.  I did want to ask a girl who was expecting too much (if you know what I mean) AFTER the prom because I certainly wasn't going to deliver.  I had to ask someone who was pretty and well liked but not too pretty or popular because she would almost have to reject me because she had her reputation to consider too.

Larry and I of course are getting a big laugh about this now.  He did the same thing as I did.  He asked a  girl who was pretty but not too pretty and one who wasn't likely to turn him down.  I did the same thing.  Look at the picture of my date and you can see her waist size isn't exactly 18 inches.  Yes, Jeanette still had some baby fat she was nice.  In fact she was delightful, just no sexual chemistry.

Now here is who I really wanted to ask....my fellow classmate Don.

You know the funny thing about this?  Today he probably would have went with me.  Not back then in the Fifties though.  No way, no how.

Don is gone now, one of my several lost opportunities due to my sexual immaturity and lack of self confidence.  Don was a farm boy back in that day confused about his sexuality as many of us were during our teens especially in the Fifties when there was so little information about differences.

Oh Don, if I knew then what I know now I would never have turned you down.

Do you think we would have made a good-looking couple at our Senior Prom?

Quiet

Sometimes I just like quiet.  How about you?

When I was young, I always had music blasting through the house or apartment.  I couldn't get enough.  Nowadays, all is quiet at Casa Tipton-Kelly.  Sometimes I can hear polka music playing in Bill's working area in the basement.

When I had this house built, I installed speakers through the house in the ceiling.  Do I use them?  No.

I don't know why I changed.  Maybe because I'm older now, I like a less stressful living area.

We live in the Sussex County, bayside just where the curve begins

That's one reason why I moved to Delaware.  The pace is slower down here in the third and southern most county in Delaware.  Sussex County Delaware is often referred to (affectionately of course) as "Slower Lower."  That means we have a slower pace and we're the lowest (geographically speaking) county.

A few nights ago I asked Bill if he wanted to go for a ride.  We often take a ride up to Route 16 and the Primehook National Wildlife Sanctuary.  We also take a ride down Oyster Rocks Road right outside our development here to the Broadkill River.  The video at the beginning of this post was taken that evening.  Usually it's very windy at the Broadkill but that night all was eerily quiet.  The Broadkill River was smooth as glass.

The Broadkill Beach upper left - one of our favorite spots in Delaware

We live in the development towards the upper left, on the right side of Rt. 1.  I work in Lewes which is to the right, the curve of geography which is Cape Henlopen.  I would rather be no other place on earth.

Listen carefully and you can hear the song of an evening bird.  This is the music I prefer to hear these days.

Soldier Dogs

Today's post is not about me folks.  Instead, today I have a pictorial post of soldier dogs.  These are the dogs who are such an integral part of our mission in Afghanistan.  The photos speak for themselves.

Now don't you feel better after viewing these heart-warming photos of our canine heroes?


Have a great day!

Aunt Mabel

Aunt Mabel and The Twins Bud and Sis 1941

Today my cousin Barbara Keehn called to tell me that her mother, my aunt, died this past Sunday.

My Mom (left) and Aunt Mabel at her surprise retirement party from Pepperridge Farms

My Aunt Mabel was ninety years old and in failing health.  She and my Mother worked together for twenty-four years at the frozen foods (layer cake) division of Pepperridge Farms.  Yes, they were the Lucy and Ethel of the conveyor belt line.  The stories they used to tell when management sped up the line.  Just like Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory.

My Mom and ten paternal aunts at the Tipton Family Reunion 1960
(My Mom is second from the right in the back row and Aunt Mabel to her right with arms folded)

I had many aunts (my father had ten brothers).  Aunt Mabel was one of my very favorites.  When my brother and I were young and lived in the center of Downingtown, almost every Sunday our parents would take us "out in the country" to visit Ed and Mabel (we never called them "Aunt Mabel" and "Uncle Ed.")  Mabel was from the South and to her dying day had that melodious, infectiously happy Southern accent.

We started our Sunday visits early!  This was about 1948 - I'm 3rd from the right

The Tiptons gather at Ed and Mabel's place in the county for a Sunday outing (I'm in the first row fourth from the right with arms folded - my brothers are to the right of me) - 1951

What I remember most about Aunt Mabel was her home made southern biscuits and fried chicken.  Oh my God!  I've never had better since.

Ed and Mabel had five children.  The two oldest were fraternal twins "Bud" and "Sis."  Real names Edward, Jr. and Joan.  They were twins but as different as twins could be.  Bud was very dark (reflecting our grandmother Hester Lewis's Indian ancestry gene pool) and Sis was blonde.

Me with Sis and Bud and our cousin Louise - we all graduated in 1959

My cousins Sis and Bud with Mabel and Ed after their graduation 1959
I am the same age as Bud and Sis

The other three children were Barbara, Janet and the youngest Linda.

Barbara was my brother Isaac's age.  Janet was my brother John's age.  And Linda, well Linda was the baby of the family.  Sadly she died was too young about ten years ago.

Me (skinny with arm on hip) with my brothers John and Isaac and cousins Bud (arm around me) and Janet
After a Summer Sunday of hard play - 1951

Yes, almost every Sunday up until I was about twelve years old we used to go over to Ed and Mabel's in the country and have the best time enjoying a kind of life that we could never have on the cement sidewalks where we lived in a second floor apartment at 120 Washington Avenue in Downingtown, PA.  Oh how I remember running in open farm fields on those late summer days playing hide and seek with my cousins.  Some of the best memories of my childhood that I will never forget.

However, as sometimes happens our families gradually grew apart.  We would see Ed and Mabel and The Kids at the family reunions and sometimes at the family funerals.

Me, Mickey and Aunt Mabel at Disneyworld -2000

In 2000 I won a four day trip for two to Disney World as a recipient of the President's Award for Best Guest Service Representative of the Hampton Inn.  No one was available to accompany me on the trip.  My Mother had a suggestion.  She said "Mabel would love to go!"  I asked her and sure enough, my Aunt Mabel was up for the trip!

Aunt Mabel getting ready to eat at the Luau

We took a plane out of Philadelphia International Airport and landed in Orlando, Florida.  We were met at the gate by our driver (the thrill!) bearing a sign with the name "Tipton".  First class!

We had an absolutely wonderful time, even getting to meet Mickey himself!

Sad to say, that was the last trip Aunt Mabel made.  Her health started to fail a few years after that.  I am so glad I asked her to go on this jaunt to Disneyworld.  She was a joy.  Always a hearty laugh and never an unkind word about anyone.

Aunt Mabel and me at the Epcot Center, Disneyworld - First Class! - 2000

This past October I held a family reunion.  Aunt Mabel couldn't make it, she was too ill.  She was being cared for by her son Bud, my cousin.  Our cousin Tommy Tipton hadn't seen his aunt in a while so I suggested that he visit her.  This might be the last time he would see her.  I'm glad he did.

I do not know of anybody in my family who didn't like and love her.  We always left smiling after visiting Aunt Mabel.

If there is any solace in her passing it is this, she is now in heaven with her longtime co-worker my Mother and I bet they're having one heck of a time on that layer cake line!

Mabel Ruth Tipton 

  |  

Mabel R. Tipton of Downingtown Mabel Ruth Tipton passed away on Sunday, March 11, 2012, at her home in Downingtown. She was the wife of Edward Tipton, with whom she shared 58 years of marriage before his death in 1998. Born in 1921 in Lansing, N.C., she was the daughter of the late Virgil and Bessie Thompson. In 1985, she retired from Pepperidge Farm, where she worked for many years in the frozen foods department. She is survived by a son, Edward Tipton Jr., of Downingtown; daughters, Joan Salluzzo, of Lancaster, Barbara Keehn, of Downingtown and Janet Drozdowski, of Waldron, Ark.; seven grandchildren, fourteen great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild, all of whom brought her great joy. Her daughter, Linda, preceded Mabel in death in 1998, as did granddaughter Kimberly in 2005. A funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 15, at the James J. Terry Funeral Home, 736 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, where family and friends may call from 9 to 11 a.m. Interment will be in Union Hill Cemetery, Kennett Square.www.jamesterryfuneralhome.com.

Published in The Daily Local on March 13, 2012

Four fabulous Moms - my Aunt Miriam, Mabel, my Mom and Aunt Teresa - 1945

Aunt Mabel and my Mom - 2008

Thoughts About My Pop

As the oldest child and son of Isaac Walter Tipton, Sr., I find that I am turning into my father.  Not only do I now strongly resemble him in physical appearance, I have many of his same mannerisms.

The photos displayed on this post are of my father at age 70.  I am 70 years old now.  My father died in 2000, at the age of 80.  He did not have one gray hair on his head.  His beard was white, as is mine but no gray hairs.  All of his ten brothers didn't have gray or white hair either.

I have some gray hair on the sides of my head and a few gray hairs on the top of my head.  Those gray hairs come from my Mother's side of the family.  My grandfather George Hadfield had steel gray hair.  I'll never have a head of solid white hair which is just fine by me.

I was never close to my father.  More his choice than mine.  My good friend said my he was always afraid of my father.  I told him I was always afraid of him too.

I've written about my relationship with my father before in previous blog postings so I won't repeat myself now.  However, the one thing I will never forget about my father is that whatever I did, it wasn't good enough for my father.  He mocked me the whole time I was growing up.  By the time I left home at 18 years of age to join the Army, I thought I was the biggest loser in the world.  I matured a lot during my three years in the Army.  I found out that I wasn't the Worst Son In The World.

A few years after my father died my Mother told me that Pop was surprised that I completed a three year tour of duty in the Army. I couldn't  believe what I heard.  She said "Pop didn't think you would make it through basic training."  I was totally confused.  I told her "I had problems in basic training but I was always going to complete basic training.  I never considered the option of quitting.  Never."  

I wasn't angry when I she told me this news.  I felt sad.  Sad that my father thought so little of me that he didn't even consider the possibility that I would succeed.

Me (center) with my brother John (on left) and my father - 1962

After my father died, my Mother gave me a picture he had in his wallet.  The picture is below.  I did not know he had this photo of me which was taken on the firing range at Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland in 1962.  This must have been the original photo because I had no other copy.  I had forgotten about it.

I'm on the right

Who knows, maybe he was proud of me after all.  It's a shame he never told me.

Daffodils and Other Things

"Ron's Rescued Orphan Daffodils"

Just got up from my afternoon nap.  A wee bit tired here folks after transplanting three flats of pansies.  Yes, it IS that time of year...spring is finally around the corner.

Last night Day Light Savings Time went into effect.  This is the one time of year that I hate my obsession with clocks.  I think I have about forty-five (yes, FORTY-FIVE) clocks to change.  I love clocks and rarely pass up an opportunity to feed my acquisitive nature for clocks.

I think I have all of them changed.  There is usually one or two I miss that I discover around May or June when I wander into one of our little used rooms here at Casa Tipton-Kelly and wonder what happened to the time when I look at one of those clocks I missed "springing forward".

Pictured above is one of my several clumps for freshly popped out daffodils.  Like our previous property, all the daffodil bulbs around here were stolen taken rescued from an abandoned house site.  Ever see an old run down house or just an empty overgrown lot that in the spring time has clumps and clumps of fresh faced yellow daffodils insolently bobbing in the spring time winds?  A couple of years ago I noticed that the weed overgrown lot at the end of the back lane behind our house had hundreds of daffodils that bloomed every spring.  Two years ago I decided to steal rescue those little baby orphans obviously begging for a loving home.  They be rescued now and don't they look happy?

Another heavy work schedule again last week.  My nappy time yesterday was over three hours!  I'm turning into my Mom, sleeping all day and night.  Another sure sign of Getting Old.

I'm loving this extra hour of daylight and looking forward to the days getting even longer.  Now we're headed into the best time of the year, spring and summer and fall.  I love all the seasons and would only live where I could experience the change of seasons but January and February are really the JUST GET THROUGH IT MONTHS aren't they?  Every year I tell myself I'm going go be like so many of my well off LGBT peers (with their VERY GENEROUS government funded pensions) and head for warmer climes during the dead of winter.

The Other Half in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Fun in the Sun

But alas, I am but a poor LGBT with a few meager Philadelphia bank pensions (which have no cost of living increase unlike government pensions)  and I cannot afford that luxury.  Now if I had stayed at my job at the National Security Agency I could have been one of these rich gay Washington D.C. types that are the reason we have so many overpriced restaurants here in Gayberry Rehoboth Beach, DE.  In fact I see where a few of my Friend of Judy peers have just returned from several weeks of idle rich lolling about at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  As the Church Lady used to say "Well, aren't we special?"

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

I got called into work again on Friday on short notice.  Hopefully I can go back to my regular schedule of working Wednesday and Thursday nights.  I like that work rhythm.  Hopefully I say.  There always seems to be some kind of drama going on at work with my co-workers.  I feel like a fireman, called in at the last moment to stomp out another fire.

Friday I also got the stitches out of my back from the removal of the golf ball sized cyst that was growing on my spine.  The lab reports came back negative.  NO CANCER!  Dodged another bullet.  There's one out there for me but My Time hasn't arrived yet.

Bill has a cold.  I had one last week that only lasted one day.  My nose was running like a leaky spigot.  I'm all right now, thank God.  I don't need another cold.  For a mild winter I sure have had my share of colds this winter.

I see the late afternoon sun beckoning me for my daily walk back in the Oyster Rocks development.  I would walk in my neighborhood but I run into too many of my neighbors. I prefer to be the Unknown Stranger in a Strange Neighborhood when I take my daily constitutional.

Well, I'm off for my walk.  Have a great day!

Prince Harry Beats Usain Bolt In Matchup!

Here is proof positive folks, Prince Harry beat Usain Bolt in a matchup race.

The Prince is a charmer.

Prince Harry - The People's Prince

A "quickie" here today folks! I've been busy working and not had time to do a proper post but I saw this video this morning on TV and I just had to share it with everyone.

It is a feel good video. I love Prince Harry and I'm not even into redheads but Harry works for me!

By the way, my ancestor Jonathan Tipton, the first Tipton in America came from Jamaica. His father was from Shropshire, England. I know, I know, it's a stretch but it is my very own Kevin Bacon six degrees of separation.

My Annual Trip to Philadelphia, PA

Arriving in Philadelphia yesterday morning - I always believe in letting someone else do the driving.  Lots of White Heads in the bus.  Check out the Philadelphia skyline in the distance.  Returning home to my former home!

My visit to the Philadelphia Flower Show was a success!  The flower show was all right.  This year it had a Hawaiian theme.  Lots of color, delightful smells, and beautiful music and lost of crowds too.

Even though the flower show was crowded there seemed to be more room to move around.  At previous flower shows I felt like I was part of a lava flow, moving with the crowd.  This year I actually saw the floor.  Also there were plenty of benches for the weary to rest their feet.

No need for me to rest my feet though.  I moved through the crowds quickly, taking my photos and occasional videos.  This is the first time I've attended the flower show solo which actually turned out to be pretty good.  I could move around as fast as I wanted to and go where I wanted to without trying to keep track of my slower, plodding companions.  I move fast.  I'll take future trips by myself.  Lesson learned.

Me at the Philadelphia Flower Show 2012 - photo taken by a stranger (blurred)

One thing I won't do in the future is take extra cameras.  This time, just in case I needed them, I took my Canon SLR camera as well as my Flip video camera. Guess what?  I took all my pictures and videos on my iPhone!  I didn't take ONE PICTURE OR VIDEO with my other equipment.  Wow. I'm not loading myself down with extra unneeded equipment in the future.  That will make my future trips much easier.  I love my iPhone! I love traveling light!  I move fast!

Color at the Philadelphia Flower Show 20122

After making the rounds of the flower show I left the convention center to meet my long-time friend and former c-worker Don for lunch at Woody's on 13th Street.  I get to Woodys and pull a "George Bush"(remember his famous trip to China when he tried to open up those large red doors as he was exiting the stage only to be stymied?  That was me yesterday.  I looked as foolish as Georgie Boy did then)  and try to open the door and it was locked! A couple of gay guys who were dawdling outside this famous Philadelphia gay bar/restaurant told me that Woody's was closed and wouldn't open until next week.  Okay, Plan B in effect.

I called Don on his cell phone but of course he had his cell phone turned off.  I went to the corner of 13th and Walnut which is where I thought Don got off his bus.  On there way there I saw Don rounding the corner.  Don and I used to work together back in the 80's on this very block.  Now we meet this way on the street for a reunion once a year.

Don suggested a little hole in the wall restaurant a block down the street.  I was a little apprehensive because I had never been in this restaurant before but my fears quickly proved to be unfounded.  I forgot that I was in The Big City, not Gayberry (aka Rehoboth Beach, DE) where almost ALL of the restaurants serve good, reasonably priced food, even the "holes in the wall."  No overpriced Tourist Trap Restaurants in Philly today.  Oh how I was spoiled all those years I worked and lived in Philadelphia.

My friend Don "on the street" in Philadelphia

I ordered Chicken Quesadilla.  The only other place where I have had a good Chicken Quesadilla before was the Brickside Grille in Eagleview, PA.  I've ordered it several times down here in Gayberry at these pseudo Mexican restaurants but what I get is a overpriced wrap of tasteless cheese and rubbery chicken.  Note to Rehoboth area restaurant owners:  A WRAP IS NOT A QUESADILLA! 

The Chicken Quesadilla I had yesterday was prepared properly which is gently friend tortilla, quartered, with TENDER chicken delicately flavored with Mexican cheese.  The so-called "Mexican" tourist traps restaurants in Gayberry should learn how to properly prepared Mexican food but I guess they figure they don't have too since they can fool the touristas.  But I digress from my Philadelphia Trip.  Don and I had a great lunch!

Don and I at lunch yesterday at the "Hole in the Wall" luncheonette which is way better than most Rehoboth restaurants!

After lunch, Don and I parted and I took off for the ten block walk to our former home on 24th and Naudain Streets.  Walking down Walnut Street I saw an Apple store.  I meant to stop in just to take a look at this new way of retailing.  I WAS AMAZED!  I was so impressed.  In fact, I was so impressed that I made a purchase (more about this in a future blog posting.)  In my previous paragraph I was talking about how our overpriced Tourist Trap Restaurants here in Gayberry could learn a thing or two from Philadelphia restaurants, our retailers could really learn something BIG TIME from the way Apple retail stores do business.  I can't emphasize how impressed I was with my Experience in the Apple store.  Of course it helps that I had a cutie waiting on my too.  I am a sucker (no pun intended) for cuties.

Apple Cutie

After "submitting" at the Apple Store I headed down to our former home, taking pictures all along the way.  Our old house looks great from the street.  I was tempted to knock on the door and ask for a tour of our old home.  However I was running out of time so I couldn't spend too much time around the old stomping grounds.  My bus was scheduled to leave at 4 pm and it was already 3 pm. I didn't want to miss my bus!

Rittenhouse Square (on the way "home" yesterday) I used to walk this every day when I lived and worked in Philly!

I had about fifteen blocks to make in a half hour.  Huffing and puffing with aching legs, I made it and caught my bus on time but I am paying the price now. I am sore all over.  I feel like someone "tuned me up."

Our former home in center city Philly - we moved in 1980 but the doors are still red!

Walking around Philly yesterday I'm surprised that I worked and lived over thirty years in that  crowded, noisy and dirty environment.  Maybe it was because I was young and had other "priorities."  I was on The Prowl in those days.  Young, handsome, successful, I had it ALL baby! And I am proud to say I didn't waste any time either.  The crowds, noise and dirt were minor distractions back then, now I couldn't take it.

Broad Street, Philadelphia High Noon - Across the street from the bank where I used to work - I can't believe I dealt with this EVERY DAY for YEARS!

I'm glad I made my trip to Philly yesterday but I'm also glad I'm back home.  I am just too comfortable here at Casa Tipton-Kelly.  I enjoyed my trip but taking this trip also has reinforced my love for where I live now.  Every now and then one has to take a trip away from the comforts of home just to appreciate what one has at home.  And believe me, I DO APPRECIATE WHAT I HAVE!

This is what Bill LOVES!  Actually he doesn't, that's why he stayed home. 

It was good to see Bill waiting for me in the dark at the Delaware Tech campus in Georgetown.  I had a long day, I was exhausted but I am glad I made the trip.  I was home again.

Home in Delaware at the end of a long day