Thursday, November 19, 2009

Unselfish, Caring, Understanding, and Occasionally Funny.....That's my Mom.

And now back to business.


August 15, 2009

Dear Cathie, Jimmy, Richard

My grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Taft Yates were friends and neighbors of your parents and my mother, Corinne, was a friend of Cathie's. Because of this, I felt like Mrs. LeDuke treated me a little special but I think all of her students felt that way. I did not have the privilege of having your father as a teacher but I did have the honor of having your mother, two years in Spanish and a few years in drama. I graduated in 1974 and can honestly say that Mrs. LeDuke was one of my all time favorite teachers.

During the few years that I took drama, your mother made arrangements to take a car full of silly high school girls to Memphis to the Orpheum to see musicals. There were several but the one I remember the most was Fiddler on the Roof. The musicals were entertaining but the trips to and from were just as entertaining.

I had met a boy from Covington during a band trip. His mother had a little boutique in Covington and we had a little spare time so your mother stopped and let us go in shopping. We really just wanted to see what his mother looked like. I knew where he lived so she drove by his house. I was in hopes be would be outside so I could wave and possibly speak to him but he wasn't. No other teacher would have ever done that.

On another trip, I remember this very corny joke she told. We drove by a cemetery in Covington on Hwy 51. She was so serious when she told us that they didn't bury anyone living within two blocks of that cemetery. We asked why and she said they only bury the dead. We all shared a laugh and still to this day, I think about that joke and your mother every time I go by that cemetery.

Your mother was so unselfish, so caring, and so understanding. I feel blessed to have had her as a teacher, role model, and a friend.

Cynthia Beasley Webb

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