Mary Ford was always a model citizen

LORANE – Oh my gosh! As I look at the calendar, I realize that August is on the verge of escaping us for another year! By the time you read this, it will be September – the beginning of fall and a new school year and football season.
I have a lot of amends to make and “catching up” to do this week. I completely missed last week’s column, and NOT by prior arrangement. Can I use the surgery I had two weeks ago as an excuse? It wasn’t hugely serious or invasive (laparoscopic), but I found myself pretty much sleeping through my deadline as I began to heal.
One thing I want to accomplish this week is to share the passing of a beloved resident of the Crow area who played a huge part in the school experience of not only our own kids, but many in the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School District who attended school there in the 1970s and 1980s.
Mary Ford served as the administrative secretary for the district and was adored by so many. The kids all loved her cheerfulness and support while in school and out; and the parents loved her caring and attention to our children. Mary and her husband Earl were dedicated fans of Crow Middle School and High School athletics. They very seldom missed a basketball game when our kids were playing and Mary, especially, was animated throughout each game, raising her hands in the air and fluttering them in order to cheer the team players on to their many wins.
One former student posted memories of Mary on the Lorane Facebook page: “All (through) my growing up and playing in the band, I listened as Mary cheered us on at every game she could go to. No one had such spunk and team spirit and helped encourage a generation of boys and girls on the court or on the field. Such a passionate and engaging woman. There was no one like Mary.”
Mary’s husband Earl, who served on the Crow-Applegate-Lorane School Board for many years, passed away in March of this year, so the Ford family has had to bear a lot this year. Our condolences go out to them.
Mary’s funeral has been scheduled for noon on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Musgrove Family Mortuary, 225 S. Danebo Ave., Eugene.
Now that my surgery is finally over, after proving wrong one doctor’s concern that it might be an unusually dangerous procedure, I am anxious to begin to get back into a more normal routine. I want to stop thinking about health issues and enjoy the parts of our lives that are so special to both Jim and me still.
I want to again be able to join my sister-in-law, Vicki, on Friday or Saturday yard-saleing excursions, as we did a couple of weeks ago. That day, we came home with the car loaded with a gold mine of baskets full of miniature plastic kitchen utensils, pots and pans, small plastic replicas of fried eggs, slices of ham and every kind of veggie imaginable for my great-granddaughters. They had recently been given two “play kitchens” that “Great Aunt” Vicki bought for them the week before. It was so much fun as we good-naturedly argued over which one of us would buy them. As it turned out, we split the purchases and I got a phone call a few days later from 4-year-old Harper and her 2-year-old sister, Hayden, thanking Gi-Gi and Papa for their new toys.
I’m looking forward to going out to lunch and/or a movie with my daughters without them seeing me wince with pain and asking if I am all right. I want to cheerfully answer the phone when our youngest daughter calls from Montana without her opening the conversation with, “How are you feeling today, Mom? Have the results of your tests come back?” I want my surgical-assistant son to be able to carry on a normal conversation with me without my picking his brains on what I can expect. I want to be able to write my newspaper column without references to doctors, health, surgeries or pain…
I’m blessed to be back on the road to good health and, hopefully, Jim will soon be, too. I am well aware of how fortunate we are to have relatively good health and the love and support of family to get us through these life-detours. Not everyone is as lucky.
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