Not a Tar Heel born, missed it by 15 miles just north of Mt Airy, but definitely a Tar Heel bred, Class of 70 out of Forsyth county. Started following the Heels on the day in '57 when the Heels toppled the Stilt! Fall of 65 I only applied to UNC and was accepted into the class of 70 15 days later. Got a jump start by attending freshman camp where I learned much useful info, ie what a sock-hop is, and settled into south campus. Living in Ehringhaus I got to know the football team, who contributed to my income in penny ante card games, and other interesting characters. Unfortunately the love of playing bridge costed me and in 68 I enlisted in the USAF and spent my military in Monterey CA and West Germany.
Fast forward to 73 and I am back in Chapel Hill. Uncle Sam paid for the next 3 years! I got summoned to my advisors office in Dec 75 and was told that I had to stop taking classes or enroll as a grad student. I finished with 160 hrs of credit and several assorted majors. I had worked as a cook/chef at the POETS Corner, some of you may remember it, the last 1.5 years and decided to stay in Chapel Hill as I had gotten use to living in heaven.
Oct 1978 I was visiting a friend in Efland and met a woman who changed my life. I think smitten is an understatement. Turned out the lady was sigma cum lauda grad of Radcliffe/Harvard '63 and beyond all reason she also liked me. Summer of 80 we bought a converted school bus and hooked her Volvo P1800 to it, I had sold mine to buy the bus, and set sail for CA or bust! Broke down in almost every state we went through, but I was able always able to repair it with spit, chewing gum and assorted pieces of wire and 20 days later we arrived.
It was difficult to closely follow the Heels but thanks to the marvels of television at least I got to cheer my Heels to victory for Dean and Roy's championship teams. I gladly gave up everything for her but drew the line on Tar Heel basketball and she actually came to join me in cheering for our team! I tried the other site when I became internet enabled but found a home here on THI. I don't post often but check numerous times a day to follow recruiting, etc and over the last month THI has become the one stable element while my life crashes around me.
I got my prostate cancer diagnosis last summer but it was caught early and prognosis was excellent with radiation treatments. Began radiation in Feb but had to stop after 3 weeks due to horrific pain. It turned out that radiation also gave me bladder cancer! I was ending my chemo for the bladder and on the way back from a farewell dinner for our son and his family when my wife had a seizure as we were coming up to our home. (Our son and family are relocating to Asheville this summer
and we were to follow next spring after I was done with my cancer treatments. However my wife did not want to leave California.) I immediately sped to the closest ER and the initial diagnosis was a mass in her brain and significant swelling. Later tests revealed the primary as lung cancer metastasized to the brain. She has been in chronic pain for the past 2 years with severe osteoarthritis and degenerative disk disease and her weight has dropped to 75 pounds! Her condition and age (80) left her with no options for treatment and she entered hospice 2 weeks ago with 6-9 months at best. It is somewhat a left handed gift as her quality of life is poor because of the 24/7 pain and oxycodone. I also have d cubed but manage it with meds, tumeric, ibuprofen and the occasional cannabis treat, yes once a child of the 60s always a child of the 60s.
My main reason for posting today is to thank Andrew, et al for doing such a great job of keeping us up to date on our beloved Heels and everyone who is on this site for providing me an anchor during this time. After this is over I will be relocating to Asheville with numerous trips to Chapel Hill and joining the Ram's Club in supporting everything Carolina. GDTBATH!
Fast forward to 73 and I am back in Chapel Hill. Uncle Sam paid for the next 3 years! I got summoned to my advisors office in Dec 75 and was told that I had to stop taking classes or enroll as a grad student. I finished with 160 hrs of credit and several assorted majors. I had worked as a cook/chef at the POETS Corner, some of you may remember it, the last 1.5 years and decided to stay in Chapel Hill as I had gotten use to living in heaven.
Oct 1978 I was visiting a friend in Efland and met a woman who changed my life. I think smitten is an understatement. Turned out the lady was sigma cum lauda grad of Radcliffe/Harvard '63 and beyond all reason she also liked me. Summer of 80 we bought a converted school bus and hooked her Volvo P1800 to it, I had sold mine to buy the bus, and set sail for CA or bust! Broke down in almost every state we went through, but I was able always able to repair it with spit, chewing gum and assorted pieces of wire and 20 days later we arrived.
It was difficult to closely follow the Heels but thanks to the marvels of television at least I got to cheer my Heels to victory for Dean and Roy's championship teams. I gladly gave up everything for her but drew the line on Tar Heel basketball and she actually came to join me in cheering for our team! I tried the other site when I became internet enabled but found a home here on THI. I don't post often but check numerous times a day to follow recruiting, etc and over the last month THI has become the one stable element while my life crashes around me.
I got my prostate cancer diagnosis last summer but it was caught early and prognosis was excellent with radiation treatments. Began radiation in Feb but had to stop after 3 weeks due to horrific pain. It turned out that radiation also gave me bladder cancer! I was ending my chemo for the bladder and on the way back from a farewell dinner for our son and his family when my wife had a seizure as we were coming up to our home. (Our son and family are relocating to Asheville this summer
and we were to follow next spring after I was done with my cancer treatments. However my wife did not want to leave California.) I immediately sped to the closest ER and the initial diagnosis was a mass in her brain and significant swelling. Later tests revealed the primary as lung cancer metastasized to the brain. She has been in chronic pain for the past 2 years with severe osteoarthritis and degenerative disk disease and her weight has dropped to 75 pounds! Her condition and age (80) left her with no options for treatment and she entered hospice 2 weeks ago with 6-9 months at best. It is somewhat a left handed gift as her quality of life is poor because of the 24/7 pain and oxycodone. I also have d cubed but manage it with meds, tumeric, ibuprofen and the occasional cannabis treat, yes once a child of the 60s always a child of the 60s.
My main reason for posting today is to thank Andrew, et al for doing such a great job of keeping us up to date on our beloved Heels and everyone who is on this site for providing me an anchor during this time. After this is over I will be relocating to Asheville with numerous trips to Chapel Hill and joining the Ram's Club in supporting everything Carolina. GDTBATH!
