Dear Bunkien -
I could not hold off until the 3rd to start sharing the news.
Maddy just got me going. So----> here is the first blurb IRT
the last Tattler-----> Stick with it; it's good reading...
"----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 10:03 AM
Subject: Here's a good story
Hi Dale, Madeline Chemino Stine here. -------------------->
Also included is
Steve's mining adventures...
As all know, it takes an extraordinary amount of energy today to
earn a paycheck. In Steve's and my life together, now 38+ years, he
and I have traveled, moved, adjusted, moved, readjusted, reared
three wonderful children, set up housekeeping over and over again
and finally settled back in Denver area. Denver is where we began.
He finished school at Colorado School of Mines in 1972, just after
we were married. I had come here for a summer job in the mountains
and never left. After proposing in November he agreed to travel down
to Bunkie to take my hand, walking down the aisle at St. Anthony's.
That was the end of January, '71. Actually his parents drove us
there b/c we had absolutely no money to travel on our own. His dad
was his best man. For some, that was the first and last time anyone
met or has seen Steve since. He was often described as a 'figment'
of my imagination! I guess it was a figment too that three kids
came out of the mix, ran amok, grew up and now are all successful,
contributing members of society. I find a lot of humor in the whole
idea.
Currently, Steve and I are separated, not by disagreements, but by
design. He is working in a small country in Africa, Burkina Faso.
Three months on, 3 weeks off. He is a miner by trade. Now, instead
of shoveling muck, he is telling other people how to shovel muck.
He is the boss of the20job there, a gold mine and his tales of life
in Last month, they poured 53 kilos of gold so it was a good month.
His job alone is an adventure of sometimes epic proportion but that
is not what I am going to tell you about.
I want to tell you about the man I know and the woman I have become.
All these long years away from home, I never lost sight of who I am
or where I started. I can honestly say not a day has passed when I
forgot my deep roots in Louisiana. The simple lessons I learned
there stayed with me. The child I was there, the people I knew
there and all the experiences I had there have been my constant
companion these long years of life. They parade before my eyes even
unto today and what a parade it is! I did not realize I had a good
memory for such things nor did I ever imagine I would find a
parallel man to live my life with. Steve values his beginnings as
much as I do mine and we regale in stories of our times before we
were a thing.
Recently, he wrote me an email and included some photos. I am going
to forward them to you. It is a glimpse of his world and it is very
different from the norm. His story will speak for itself far better
than I can speak for him.
My world is a good one too. I don't earn as much money being a
wedding coordinator but I have a lot more time off and my commute is
10 minutes where his is 36 hours flying time. I get to walk the
dogs in the mornings, be with the neighbors, spend time in Evergreen
at our cabin, entertain guests and friends who visit here, plan
professional meetings for Steve, mail stuff here and there, Skype,
email, cook and give away the things I create, check on Uncle Andy
Kojis (now 87 and living near here), play with our Grand-daughter,
Ava Rose, have lunch out once in a while, and most important,
maintain a healthy prayer life and mass schedule. I never forget
from Whom all good things come.
I am 60 now. I am a charter member of the Lola Sisterhood. Also, I
am a charter member of the Brooksters ( my USL group). I divine in
knowing and keeping up with all those women and their busy lives.
It is a great circle of friends. Once in a while, the groups
overlap but only rarely. So when I am at home, I am much in demand
which does my aging ego good! It's fun and that is good medicine.
More Louisiana connections that mean the world to me...
Today, I have a wedding to coordinate. Two young Chinese people, my
Maytag man and June Bug Wu, are marrying. I am in charge of their
horizontal and vertical. I like the job because all prospective
couples have to listen to me and do what I say or their weddings
melt into chaos right before their eyes. It has happened before and
I always caution th em that it can happen again, "so try to pay
attention even though you are head over heels in love and totally
distracted by limousines, flower arrangements, receptions,
bridesmaids dresses, etc. First comes your commitment before God."
I remember one wedding that was destined to be a mess from the
initial phone call from the MOB...mother of the bride. She was a
terror at the onset. It was so easy to see that this wedding was
about her, not about her daughter and future son in law. The
daughter was following close in the footsteps of mom and I could
only pity the young groom. I hoped he had some backbone and would
rise up eventually and take his rightful position as man of the
house. The day of the wedding, after many cross words aimed at me
through the rehearsal, I realized I could do little to coordinate
anything. So I left the bridal party to their own devices as they
tried to line up for the procession. I was sitting in the back of
the big church on the end of a pew, praying, thinking, being quiet.
Suddenly, I felt the presence of someone next to me. It was not
God. It was the FOB, on his knee at my eye level, asking me kindly
to come and makes some sense of the nonsense that was taking place
out in the narthex. He was pretty much begging. I said, "Ok, but
only because you have kindly asked..." and smiled as we walked
together to meet the menagerie. It turned out ok but was not great.
I'd give it a C- on the Lola scale of grading weddings. ( That Lola
scale would be the Lola St. Romain grading system.)
Have a great day!
Madeline Chemino Stine
Hi Maddy:
I love your emails more than you will ever know!
I am constantly busy, daylight to dark and beyond. I
have lots of things to read, but don't get much time. I
do watch a movie now and again. I have lots of little
projects, but haven't done many of them. I am focusing
on what is important here. Mainly it is my presence,
interest/concern and leadership. Seems everyone is
sensitive to my well being so I have to keep an even
keel. Upbeat most of the time, encouraging, demanding,
observant, and innovative. Presence is the most
important. Just being here all the time. I am a
comforting factor to the people. This place needs ideas.
It is like a long race where you have to pace yourself.
In this environment, you can easily lose or have reduced
productivity after a time, so perspective needs to be
serviced and renewed, also have to make sure the rest of
the staff gets breaks to renew theirs.
It is a full time job leading this group and trying to
accomplish some things myself. So I savor the short
times I take to read your emails. Change focus and read
about our life. I miss you, but feel this challenge is
where I should be right now. It is like having a big
group of teenagers to herd around. Unruly and not
disciplined or organized, cutting corners and taking
risks. Not wearing their safety glasses, not replacing
guards on rotating equipment, using unsafe equipment and
so on. They don't see a hazard when it is in front of
them. The blindly follow orders. Of course they have not
had experience, nor a good example in the past. Not many
tools to work with and the few they do have are not the
right ones, but somehow they make them do. They are a
force to behold when they get going.
I was walking across the camp last night about 9 PM and
met Fred Ametepe, a maintenance supervisor, he told me
No. 3 conveyor got ripped by a steel plate. I drove up
and spent the next few hours with the mechanics and
operators splicing in a 50 m section of belt. Only lost
3.5 hrs of operating time. You should have seen them
chant as they pulled the belt up the conveyor by hand. I
had the guys pose for a couple of photos below and took
a couple of night photos of the crusher and plant. Got
to bed at 2 AM. My little mini mag light sure came in
handy! The guys thought it was trick. I gave the light
to Fred.
Love Steve
