Prologue

Chapter 1
Beginnings

When Jeri Lyn and Jeff were going to the University of Florida, they rented a house, took in another roommate, and Jeff played the role of Jack Tripper from Three's Company. I went down to visit and Jeri Lyn had asked me to bring her fur coat, and my friend, Herbert, had asked me to bring his family silver (32 pieces of monogrammed sterling goblets, plates, etc). I decided to go all out and wear my snowflake diamond. Due to a big snowstorm in Boston, I was late getting to Miami, and missed my connecting flight to Pensacola. The airlines said they would put me up overnight, and proceeded to bus me over to the bad part of town. It was a pretty scary place and the first thing I did was take off the fur coat, turn it wrong side out, take the diamond off of my finger, and put it in my jeans pocket. That left the silver, and there was nothing I could do about that except not let it out of my sight.
 

I went down to have dinner carrying this huge tote bag of silver. Lots of unsavory people were looking at me very strangely, I was very nervous and I didn't tarry long and got back into my room where I stayed until it was time to go to the airport the next day. I made it to Pensacola just fine. I was really enjoying my visit with Jeff and Jeri Lyn, and being a good mother, decided to help them by cooking and cleaning house. I was in the process of changing the sheets on Jeff's bed when I came upon this gigantic, ugly, old rubber spider. I jumped about three feet, screamed, and nearly had heart failure. When they came home I told them about it, and they laughed their heads off. Seems this spider's name was Herman, and Jeff had brought him in and started playing tricks on the girls. He would be on the toilet seat, in the refrigerator, plastered on their windshield, or hanging from a string when they would walk into a room.
 

When I went back home to Massachusetts, who did I find in my suitcase? Herman! (I had been hermanized, a process now well known and greatly feared in our family.) I promptly sent him back to Florida in the next care package. Over the next year or so he made many, many trips between Florida and Massachusetts.
 

Chapter 2
Herman Branches Out

When Jeri Lyn graduated, I promised to take her and Jeff on a cruise to the Caribbean. At the last minute Jeff couldn't make it, so I took Aunt Betty and Aunt Wilma along. This was Herman's first cruise, and his first adventure was when we took a ferry over to the Mexican mainland and then took a taxi inland to see the great pyramids of Chichen Itza. On the way back to the ship the taxi broke down in the middle of nowhere. We were all pretty panicky except for Aunt Wilma. She found humor in the situation and had us all laughing and encouraged us that everything was going to be all right. Well, sure enough the old taxi driver got it started and we did make it back in time (but barely). When Aunt Betty got home to Arizona, Herman was tucked away in her suitcase. (I think this was the suitcase she had full of belts); Herman was snugly tucked in.
 

Now that I reflect back on it, Herman would probably been happier to stay out there in the middle of nowhere in the jungle. This was sort of the beginning of his travels. Over the next few years he went on several cruises and to different states. One of the most interesting cruises was one going from high cotton to low cotton, in other words a week on a fancy cruise ship followed by a week camping under very primitive conditions on Tortola. We rented a jeep and due to the fact that there were very few vehicles on Tortola, the natives expected to be given rides. So we became accustomed to riding in the jeep with the natives in the back seat carrying enormous deadly looking machetes. It was very unnerving to say the least. The tent was on the beach and instead of sand, the beach consisted of medium size pebbles, and day and night they rolled in and out with the surf. Sleeping was a problem because of the noise.
 

Herman thought it was great. Another cruise was when Dick and I decided to go to Greece and cruise in the Mediterranean. We toured
the countryside of Greece for a week and then went aboard the ship for a cruise up the Mediterranean into Turkey, Israel, and Egypt, where we saw the great Pyramids. Herman thought that would be a great place to hang out as there were so many corners. Another harrowing experience was taking a bus into Jerusalem, someone found a package on the bus and the driver ordered everyone off of the bus to check it out. When we got back on the bus they were passing huge rifles over our heads. It was a time of extreme unrest in that part of the world, and to see the sophisticated jets flying on one side of the Nile, and the antiquated tanks and camels on the Egyptian side, was rather mind-boggling. We were all glad to get home, and it is a good thing as the ship we were on sank the next year (the Jupiter).
 

Chapter 3
Herman and the New Family

I was raised by my mother and had never met my father until about 15 years ago. He had remarried and had twin boys and a girl. The girl found out about me and tracked me down. We started corresponding and it was decided that we should all meet. I took Jeff and Jeri Lyn to Virginia for the big meeting, (it was sort of like one of the old Ralph Edwards', "This is Your Life" episodes) Everyone met and got along really great. (Dick made the remark that only Shirley could come up with an instant family as my mother had recently passed away and my family members from her side were very few).

Anyway we spent the night at Betty Jane's house (my newly found half sister) and we were all sitting around the table talking late at night, and Jeff decided to go to bed. He suddenly appeared at the door of the kitchen holding up a big spider and saying, "Does this side of the family have their own Herman??" (Jeri Lyn had sneaked him under Jeff's pillow.) Of course we had some explaining to do, and everyone laughed after the look of astonishment left their faces.)
 

Chapter 4
Setting the Stage for a Future Trip

An earlier trip set the stage for Herman to visit Australia. Dick and I decided to go to Europe. Our first stop was Amsterdam. Dick went to find some tickets to the Concertgebouw, leaving me in the diamond district,. While I was looking at diamonds and waiting, a tall Englishman came up to me and asked directions. It happened to be to a place that I had just come from, so I was able to help him. Being very proud of myself, I told Dick about it when he got back. That night we went to a local pub which supposedly had a piano player who looked like Ho Chi Minh. It was so crowded that we could barely turn around, much less get a seat. While we were standing, the tall Englishman tapped me on the shoulder and said, "didn't I see you earlier today?" I told Dick this was the man I had given directions to earlier. We struck up a conversation and proceeded to walk through the red light district, which was very interesting as the girls sit in the windows on display.
 

                                                                        
The Englishman's name was Jon Morley, and he lived in Australia and was going on to Paris, so Dick and I arranged to connect with him there. We met in a little café and had escargot and other French goodies. I had to go to the rest room, which was down about three flights of stairs to a real spooky place. There wasn't another person down there, but on the sink there was a ring. I picked it up and as the café was practically empty, and it was very late, I took the ring. After we left Jon Morley, I told Dick about the ring and he insisted I turn it in. (Dick denies this, and says he only wanted me to tell the management I had found a ring.) I got greedy and said they would just keep it and I might as well have it as them. This caused a big fight ending up with us walking half way across Paris in blinding rain. I felt like it was meant for me to have that ring as it had my initial, a big S in a crest.
 
 

Our next stop was London, where again I was waiting, in Piccadilly Circus, for Dick to get some tickets and, looking down, I spotted something shiny in a pile of pigeon manure. I poked it with the toe of my shoe to see what was shining and, low and behold, there was another ring. I picked it up and cleaned away some of the pigeon manure and discovered it was a beautiful diamond ring with 4 diamonds in the shape of a P. Dick said only a witch could find her initials in two different countries, and did not mention trying to find the owner. We started corresponding with John Morley and his family and they started visiting us on a regular yearly schedule. He was in the freight import business and transported people like Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Chicago, and other celebrities' equipment for their shows. These visits set the stage for Dick, Herman, and I to visit Australia. Also it was the end of my history of finding things, such as an emerald and diamond bracelet, which I got back to its rightful owner etc. At any rate I haven't found anything since which proves that greed does not pay.
 

Chapter 5
Herman goes Around the World

I was born way back in the mountains and did not know very much, but one thing that I did know was that I did not want to spend my life there, married to some overall-dressed, moonshine-making, snaggle-toothed, banjo playing, mountaineer, and have fifteen children, probably half of them retarded. I did manage to escape but I always had this dream, probably to prove to myself that I had really had managed to escape those mountains, to go around the world. On my 50th birthday, Dick made this dream come true by taking me on a trip around the world. When I opened my suitcase on our first stop in Europe, there was Herman. We touched down in exotic places like Bahrain, and then to Hong Kong. Herman was ecstatic, as, at long last, he had come home to his humble beginnings.
 

We thought we would have to unleash him to protect us when the largest roach you could imagine came tearing across our hotel room standing on his back legs obviously in attack mode. Luckily Dick was able to kick him to death (my hero). We took public transportation out to the border to Mainland China but could go no farther. We especially enjoyed Bird Street, an entire block of nothing but birds. Also, all the scaffolding for the new construction was bamboo, which I found interesting, if not too sturdy looking. Of course the shopping was great. We were on the street one evening and Dick ordered something to eat. We all know that Dick will eat anything, but this particular thing was God-awful. Even the natives were standing around snickering behind their hands. I never thought I would see the day but Dick left it sitting on the table.

We touched down in New Zealand and finally on to Australia to visit the, by now our very good friends, the Morleys.
 

Australia was beautiful and the Morleys had a gorgeous home on top of a mountain, where you could see the ocean from three sides. They knocked themselves out taking us places and sight seeing all around Sydney and up into the wine country. The next stop was Hawaii, and from there across country, getting off in New York and heading south for home.
 
 

Chapter 6
Herman Goes to Japan

Having never been to Japan, we decided that would be a nice place to visit. We found the people to be quiet but watchful. Not speaking the language we sometimes, well, a lot of the time, we would find ourselves in a quandary. When this happened, always someone would shyly step forth to help us. Walking in Japan was very interesting and coming upon a large statue of Elvis Presley in one of the parks in Tokyo was especially meaningful for me, being an old Elvis fan from way back. We took the bullet train across the island stopping at all of the cities and shrines. Herman especially liked the one with the See-No-Evil, Hear-No-Evil, Speak-No-Evil monkeys, and would probably liked to have stayed in those dark places with all of the corners to hide in, but we dragged him on to other cities, including Hiroshima, where the atomic bomb was dropped.
 

                                                                                                    
It was a sobering sight, and every person should visit just to see how devastating nuclear war is. The food consisted of a lot of noodles, but ordering was easy; they would have pictures and you could just point at what you wanted to order.
 

Chapter 7
Herman Goes Backpacking and Rides the Rails

We decided to take a Eurail trip through Europe. Of course we had to tuck Herman in the suitcase. We started out in Hungary, as that was the home of Dick's family before the war. Budapest was very interesting and the men flirted with me, making me feel very flattered until I discovered they were only interested in my blue jeans. In the restaurants, they were always patting Dick on the head rambling on in Hungarian, but the only word we could understand was "Hitler". We never did figure out those conversations. We loved the food. One harrowing experience was a ride on the subway. A man started following us and every time I would look back he would motion for me to come with him and wave a bye-bye gesture as he pointed to Dick.
 

                                                                
 I didn't think much of it until he started changing trains every time we did and kept up the motioning for me to come with him and waving the bye-by gesture for Dick. I didn't want to alarm Dick that someone was following us, but when we started up a long escalator to change to another line and I looked back, he was still following, and this time he motioned for me to come with him and pointed at Dick, doing an imaginary knife gesture across his throat. I knew then that we were in trouble. At the top of the escalator, I grabbed Dick, threw him up against the wall, and told him a man was following us, and what he had done. Of course Dick didn't believe me and said I was imagining things. The next train was across a very dark area that I was not about to cross. When Dick started out I whirled him around again and pointed out the man; he finally believed me and did a fast turn about going back down the escalator where we got in the middle of a bunch of Russian solders.
 

From there we went to Salzburg, home of Mozart. Seeing where he lived and wrote his music was very interesting. I was wishing that we could have brought Jeff (the musician in the family) with us. We were on a tour of an ancient castle with probably forty-foot ceilings when a huge piece of plaster fell and skimmed by my nose and hit the floor. Had it hit me it would have ended my trip and any others in the future. We traveled on the trains getting off in different towns in different countries, including Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and England. If the weather was bad we would just stay on the train and go on to the next city. Pisa was mind-boggling, pictures of the leaning tower just don't prepare you for actually seeing it. The same with the Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, the Vatican, all of the famous art works in the different museums, the big cities and the little cities. One little walled city in Germany was especially picturesque.
 

                                                                
 At least I enjoyed it. Dick just happened to be sick and I mean really sick; he had thrown up on the bus and everywhere else we had been. He was, deathly white, and very weak, wrapped up in a blanket. He was laying on a bench with his head hanging over the end when this big black BMW motorcycle pulled up right next to us and this beautiful girl got off, took off her helmet and shook out her waist length blond hair, opened her black leather jacket to show her white lace blouse. It was definitely a Kodak moment as she was a most beautiful young girl. I thought she looked like something you would see on a billboard advertising leather and lace. Even Dick was able to lift his head from the bench and stare at her. It was the best medicine he could have found.

In Lucerne we were in a café as was becoming our custom when I saw something on a lady's plate and told the waiter that I wanted what she was having.
 

The lady took it all in and proceeded to invite us to sit at their table. She and her husband were there for the weekend and when they found out during our conversation that we had a sailboat and Dick was an avid sailor they invited us to come out the next day to go sailing on Lake Lucerne. They picked us up the next morning and took us to their cottage. I say cottage but it had lots of rooms and was filled with antique furniture. They kept apologizing, saying every thing was old. The next villa over belonged to Audrey Hepburn and they pointed out numerous homes belonging to famous Hollywood stars when we were out on the lake. Their names were Christine and Christoff and, when we went back to the villa they prepared a 7 course meal for us. It was a most wonderful day and we corresponded with them for several years (until they got a divorce) after returning home.
 

We took a cruise down the Rhine River and saw all of the castles built high up on the banks, so high up that it had to be an engineering feat to get materials up there. We passed Hoechst AG. We learned that it was so powerful that bombing during the war didn't touch it. This was interesting to Dick as American Hoechst employed him at that time.

Venice was sort of like a European Disneyland. It didn't look quite real. It was beautiful. The trains in Italy were wild and crazy. We felt like we were in a Fellini movie when we traveled on them. Going by train through the Swiss Alps was breathtaking. Literature on the train told us that we could tell what part of Switzerland we were in by the way the people stacked their wood. The Germans stacked it very precisely, the French very artistically, and the Italians, just in a big old pile. We had one harrowing experience in France.
 

We toured Monaco, saw Princess Grace's palace, the casino, and other little towns, but while we were in a flower market in Nice, we were robbed. The thief was really good as I had on a little day backpack and he unzipped it, reached down to the very bottom and took our passports, travelers' checks and airline tickets. I never felt a thing. We took the train back to Paris, paid $75.00 each for new passports; American Express replaced our travelers' checks, and the airlines replaced our tickets. We accomplished all of this but not without a struggle. It was a time when the embassies were being bombed and they went over us with a fine tooth comb just to get in, plus it was on a holiday, making things very difficult. But we persevered. We were in eight different countries and traveled 6110 miles with nothing but backpacks, with Herman tucked in all safe and sound.
 

Chapter 8
Herman Goes into Outer Space

A psychic named Susan Kinsgley Rowe came to Virginia Beach to write a book. She met Jeff, who had just moved here at that time, and persuaded him to do the background music for the accompanying tape for her book. She was from England and had a background of royalty. (Dick remains skeptical). Jeff invited her to come to my house for Thanksgiving. She came and stayed for about 4 months. At Christmas time we put Herman into one of her gifts and when she went back to England, Herman went with her. This woman claimed to have been on numerous space ships, was a healer, and many other things that I would like to write about. The only tangible thing I ever saw her do was find Dick's glasses. We were cooking Christmas dinner and Dick was driving everybody crazy looking for his glasses.
 

                                                    
Susan spun around a couple of times, snorted three times, and told Dick to go look under his side of the bed. Low and behold, that was where they were. She also proceeded to clean my colon by giving me some weird stuff to drink every morning. I am still waiting on the results of that. But that is another story and I have to stay with Herman. Anyway Herman was gone for over a year and we thought we would never see him again and could visualize him roaming around out there in outer space somewhere. But one day he showed up in the mail, looking not too much worse for his ordeal. And needless to say we were glad to see him.

Chapter 9
Herman the Creepy Crawler Bouquet

Tommy and Jeff got into the "Gotcha" mode with Herman. Tommy has a friend who owns a flower shop. He persuaded this friend to hand deliver a huge bouquet of flowers to the place where Jeff worked. When Jeff accepted it in front of his colleagues, there was Herman entwined in the flowers. Of course Jeff had some tall explaining to do.

Chapter 10
Jeff Gets Even

At the time Tommy was practicing in Blacksburg, Jeff persuaded Tommy's veterinarian associate to take part in the grossest episode of Herman's life. He inserted Herman up a cow's rear end and had the farmer to call Tommy to come out for a farm call. I guess the first thing they do is put on this long, up to the shoulder, glove and stick their hand up the cow's rear to examine it. Well. Tommy did this and pulls out Herman. Of course the expression on Tommy's face was priceless and the people standing around waiting for his reaction were in hysterics.( I am sure that Herman soaked for a long time in a sterilization bath after that episode).

Chapter 11
Hawaii and Parts Unknown

The last time we went to Hawaii, we took Aunt Betty. We spent a week on the island of Maui. When she got back to Arizona and opened her suitcase, there was Herman with an attached note, explaining that he had not been to Arizona in a while. Aunt Betty promptly put him into a very small package, and gave it to a friend who was going to North Dakota. This friend mailed him to Jeri Lyn in Blacksburg, to the clinic where she was practicing. UPS delivers this package with nothing except the postmark of North Dakota. She opens it in the presence of the other vets and technicians and there is no note, no nothing, except for Herman. Her colleagues look at her and she is trying to explain, knowing they think she is crazy and the more she tries to explain the crazier she sounds. She gets on the phone to me immediately and asks," Mom, How in the world did Herman get to North Dakota?'' I did not have a clue until Aunt Betty explained it to me.
 
 

Herman goes honeymooning with Jeri Lyn and Tommy

Jeri Lyn and Tommy got married in Blacksburg, and friends and relatives came from far and wide. Her friend Ann, who had come from California, helped me by sneaking Herman into their suitcase before they left on their honeymoon, which was a cruise in the Caribbean. Tommy's friend, Mrs. Hutchinson, had provided the beautiful flowers for the wedding, and we tried to think of some way to hide Herman in some flowers, but gave up and just stuck him in the suitcase. I don't know which islands they visited, but I am sure they all had a great time.
 

Chapter 12
Herman Goes to Canada

Herman had made numerous trips to Montreal and other parts of Canada while we were living in Massachusetts. Once Jeff, in his hippie stage, got us stopped at the border while the border patrol searched our car from top to bottom. Herman was of no help and we had to keep him hidden. Another trip to Canada was through Seattle and on to Vancouver. There was one huge depression left over from a volcano erupting years ago, and all planted with flowers, trees, etc. Herman and I would have been happy to stay in that place for a while. Another trip was up through Maine and to Nova Scotia, where we drove the Cabot Trail. We were in route for a week and I am unhappy to say that it rained every day and mostly what we saw was the windshield wipers going back and forth. Both Herman and I felt lucky that we didn't develop root rot before we got home.
 

                                                        
                                                                                
Chapter 13
Herman Gets a Soul Mate

A year before Tommy and Jeri Lyn got married, Tommy had to go to Nebraska. He was there on Halloween on the one-year anniversary of their engagement. He was in a bar, and as part of the Halloween decorations a big ugly spider was hanging down from a web. It looked just like Herman. Tommy was very familiar with Herman by this time and asked where he could find one like it. The bartender directed him to local stores, where he proceeded to go with no luck. He came back to the bar, and after much explaining, bartering, whining and begging the bartender gave it to him. Jeri Lyn had sent him flowers in honor of their anniversary so he was happy to bring her a mate for Herman, which he named "Henrietta".
 

Chapter 14
England and Ireland

Another one of my dreams was to visit the land of my ancestors, Ireland. We gathered up Aunt Betty, and our first stop was London. We traveled south past Wimbledon; at least I got to see it even though they were not playing a grand slam at the time. We spent the night at the house of a friend, who was doing an exchange professor's program for ODU. They showed us the local castles and restaurants, and when we got up to leave in the morning, made the famous scones to send us on our way. The next stop was at Cousin Sammy (a.k.a. Cousin Turd) and Anne's. They had been in England for several years and they gave us a wonderful tour of the surrounding countryside, including Stonehenge and Bath, where we saw the ancient Roman baths. Herman would have liked to have stayed and hung around in those  bathhouses, but we had  other stops to make. Anne went on to Ireland with us, and I was able to feel the impact of my roots. In other words, another dream come true.

Chapter 15
Herman Assists in Jeff's Proposal
 
 

When Jeff told me he was planning on asking Barbra to marry him, I gave him his grandmother's ring. On Christmas Eve he was down on his knees in the living room and presented the ring on one of Herman's eight legs. Of course Barbra said yes and the rest of the family were sneakily listening in and couldn't wait to congratulate them.
 

Chapter 16
The Trip from Hell, Causing Herman to Go into Hiding

Since my Mother had passed away nearly thirty years ago, Aunt Betty and Aunt Wilma had stepped in and made her loss much more bearable; so, since Aunt Wilma had children who adored her and did everything they could for her, and Aunt Betty had only one renegade, rotten son, Gary, she decided to move back East to be close to her family as she really had no one out there and Gary was in prison. I tried to help her whenever I could. I helped her find a house in Dover, Delaware. Then I flew out to Arizona to help her make the move. She pulled me off to the side just before we pulled out of Holbrook and said, "Listen, little girl, I am going to be doing the driving"; that was my first inkling that it was not going to be a fun trip. But we had the car loaded along with the two dogs and left Holbrook with her behind the wheel.
 

Our first stop was Albuquerque, about 100 miles, as it was late when we got started. I was white-knuckled and a nervous wreck by the time we got to the hotel. I knew we would not live very long if she was determined to drive. My next surprise was when she threw this big gun up on the nightstand. I asked her if she had a permit to carry firearms over state lines. She started yelling at me and saying, no, she didn't have a permit, didn't need one, and always carried a gun. She then proceeded to yell at me for a suitcase of blouses not being in the car. By this time I was wishing I had never volunteered to help her move, especially if she carried through with the driving threat. However, the next morning she threw the keys at me and said I could drive. I was very happy and did not question, just gathered up the dogs, and was even able to sneak the gun, which she had put in the front seat, into the trunk, which was a good thing, as we hadn't traveled but about 200 miles when we got pulled over (it was Labor Day and cops were plentiful).
 

                                                                                
We didn't get a ticket, but I saw Aunt Betty look for the gun first thing. We would have been in big trouble, had it been still laying in the front seat.

The worst thing she did was to nearly get us killed. We were in the boonies of Oklahoma and pulled in to a gas station for gas and to let the dogs out. There was only one pump and two red neck women in a pick up truck with a fully loaded gun rack were at the pump. They were through pumping the gas and were just chatting. I waited about five minutes and said, "That is really rude, the least they could do is pull up so I can get to the pump". Well, Aunt Betty leans over and hits the horn and just lays on it. I tell her to stop that we could get hurt. Of course, I am behind the wheel and they think it is me blowing the horn.
 

                                                    
They give me the finger, but they do pull out, but instead of leaving, they pull in front of the building. I get out and start pumping gas and thy are looking at me, saying things like, "The bitches need an attitude adjustment", among other ugly stuff. Meanwhile Aunt Betty says "Where is my gun?", pops the trunk from the glove compartment, gets out, gets her gun, and throws it in the front seat, then strolls in front of them into the station in all of her jewelry while they are making remarks about her being a rich bitch. As she has a hearing problem she couldn't hear them (but I sure could). She paid for the gas and strolled back out and started to get the dogs out. I very quietly said, `Get in the car, Aunt Betty, don't argue with me, just get in". She got in and I pulled out and sure enough, the pickup was right behind us. We were in a Lincoln Town Car and I floor-boarded it, leaving them to eat my dust. It was not a pleasant trip, and when we pulled into Aunt Wilma's, 2300 miles later, I told Aunt Wilma that another 100 miles and Aunt Betty would have been road kill. Thank goodness she let me drive. I even excused her horrible, traveling behavior (later after my nerves got calmed down) as I knew it was stressful , being her age and making such as big move. I stayed a week and got her settled into her new house. The next year passed, and Aunt Betty was the happiest I had ever seen her. Aunt Wilma, Sammy, Anne, Jeri Lyn, and the whole family had great get-togethers and were close enough to help her anytime she needed it. Then "Rotten Gary" got out of prison and things went downhill in our relationships, as it was his goal to turn her against her whole family and as I am writing this I have to admit that he has been successful, and hate to say it, but after nearly thirty years of helping her, she has turned on the family, especially, Aunt Wilma and me like a snake.
 

I think that after that trip with the dogs and all, Herman decided that he had had enough and promptly went into hiding and didn't come out for nearly two years, when I found him hiding in packed away Christmas decorations.
 

Chapter l7
Herman Goes to Branson, Missouri, with the Goldsmiths.

Several years ago a new family moved into the neighborhood, Capt. Jim and Rose Goldsmith.
They immediately brought the neighborhood together by giving great parties at Christmas and ice cream suppers in the summertime. We became friendly and I started house sitting and kitty sitting for them when they went out of town. We became great friends and shared the weddings of our children, births of our grand children, and many other events, especially in Maryland with their family. When Capt. Jim retired and they moved back to Maryland, our friendship remained tight and there has been a lot of visiting back and forth. Capt. Jim and Jeff have had a friendly rivalry over banana pudding for several years. When one visits here and I make banana pudding, he immediately gets on the phone to gloat to the other.
 
 

 When they were here a few weeks ago, I decided it was time that they got "hermanized". They were going to Branson, Missouri. I sneaked Herman and Henrietta in to their suitcase explaining in a note that they had never been to Branson. They took them through about 6 states looking for banana pudding, then sent them to Jeff at the college with a note about the banana pudding search. Of course Jeff knew immediately who had sent them.
 

Epilogue

The year is 2002 and I am 67 years old as I am writing this. I am in my twilight years and my memory is not what it used to be: an example is we went on a cruise up the Mississippi River and I totally forgot Herman. I think he would have loved that trip on a steamboat. They had the world's largest calliope on board. This gave Dick the incentive to come home and build one from scratch. We went to California and I had Herman all packed and ready to put into Dick's suitcase and forgot to put him in at the last minute. However I did remember to sneak him into Jeff's suitcase when he made his yearly trip to Memphis and Pensacola. Herman and Henrietta have their own little traveling case now and in their twilight years also, usually travel together. Herman's last journey was a short one. I took a little emergency trip to the hospital and when it was time to come home, I asked Jeri Lyn to bring me some clothes. When I started to get dressed, there was Herman tucked in my bra. That was a first.

Dick and I have been married 31 years and the first 10 years we did a lot of traveling but I have tried to keep this account to the last 20 years after Herman came into our lives.