[Oe List ...] A Very Brief Collegium

[Isobel A Bishop via OE]

Hello Gordon,

This is a memory which has sustained me over the years.  

You  will recall that you and Roxanna and Jim and I were part of the first HDTS in Maliwada. 

On some occasions we had some moments to ourselves, and we used to catch the bus in to Aurangabad. We waited at the bus stop where a small woman brewed the most delicious Chai. She made it in a big brass  tea pot, and the buffalo milk was boiling 

over the gas, as she threw in a few handfuls of Chai. Since then, I have never been able to find the same exotic taste of Chai….! 

Then, when we arrived in the city of Aurangabad, you and Roxanna would go off to find  a hamburger, and Jim and I would find a place which made omelettes! Your  Pipe would always be around, too ! 

I recall how much we all used to meet in the kitchen, and struggle to get ice to keep us cool, not to mention the dear little mice that used to run all over the flour bags -  poised to be used for chappatis...

I have already mentioned our year we spent together in the Singapore Centrum, when Roxanna was the Supervisor of our son Peter as he  worked at his Correspondence School work.  This was the way he was educated from Australia, and Roxanna was 

assigned to make sure he did all his School work in the early part of the day, before the afternoon got so very humid…

Go well dear friend. 

"Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end….." 

In love and peace,

Isobel and Jim. xxxx





On 15/09/2015, at 1:08 AM, Herman Greene via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:

> 
> 
> Gordon,
> 
> Will never forget those rides with you to the University of Chicago and the mandatory stop at the newstand to buy The New York Times.
> 
> Throughout your days you have brought a keen intellect and wit to our fellowship and you have guided us in preserving our memories and insights.
> 
> We are good at seeing death as the completion of life and a time of celebration, maybe not so good at the grief and suffering and being with the mystery of death.
> 
> Oh, and you're not dead yet. You have miles to go before you sleep and promises to keep, promises to keep.
> 
> God be with you and Roxanna and your family and with all of us as we journey with you. You are surrounded by love, affection and gratitude, certainly from me.
> 
> Love,
> 
> Herman
> 
> On Fri, Sep 4, 2015 at 12:19 AM, Gordon Harper via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
> Beloved Colleagues --
> 
> Few of us, as the end of life approaches, get the chance to speak directly to anything like our whole community.  It appears that I have that opportunity, and I’m taking advantage of it.
> 
> Last week, after two months of medical testing to find out what had suddenly landed on me and drained me of my strength and usual energy, Roxana and I got the diagnosis.  It’s a rare form of fairly fast moving (typically two months to two years) leukemia, called CMML.  There’s little to be done to treat it, especially in someone my age (about to be 79).  I'm getting good medical care and have a fine local support community here in Seattle.
> 
> First of all, I want you all to know that I am at peace with this, as is Roxana.  My life--in good part because of you--has been rich, crazy, wonder-filled and a unique and unrepeatable journey with the Mystery. And no one knows better than you and I how to celebrate both our being here and the completion of our journeys.
> 
> I am taking this rare chance to express to all of you how much you’ve meant to me over the years--as the amazing collection of individual nobodies we are that rode out like the Man of La Mancha to throw our beings into the challenge of bending history.  More than that, you all contributed your own weird and special gifts, neuroses and idiosyncrasies to the makeup of our corporate life and community, all over the world.  Without you, there’d never have been such a community; so thank you, thank you, thank you.  
> 
> I hope to be able to chat with at least some of you individually or collectively over the time remaining to me, through one of the dizzying array of communication tools at hand today, and give you a little abuse.  (What else would you expect from me?  And please--do return the favor.)  We’ll see how things work out.  In the meantime, this note will have to stand for my salute to all of you, my heartfelt gratitude for your having been and continuing to be who you are and for that remarkable webbing and mission that connects us.
> 
>  The peace of God is yours this day --
> 
> Gordon  
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> __________________________________________________
> Herman F. Greene
> 2516 Winningham Road
> Chapel Hill, NC 27516
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> __________________________________________________
> Herman F. Greene
> 2516 Winningham Road
> Chapel Hill, NC 27516
> 919-942-4358 (ph & fax)
> hfgreenenc at gmail.com
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