"HA-WOE ... MRS. WOOOOOM"

The people in the photo with me are Roy & Ruth Roome. This photo was taken in Florida on Christmas Eve, 1995. Both have passed on now, but like a select number of people, they had an impact on my life which helped format me as I am today. [Does that mean credit AND blame ??] I like to think they get strictly CREDIT for the good they did & the help & love they gave me always.

When I met the Roome's -- around 1962 -- I was a sophomore at Honeoye Central School, in Honeoye, New York. They had three kids -- Roger, David & a daughter the brothers taunted with the name "Weiner". [Ahh... I just heard some light bulbs click on in some brains.] Yes, the daughter was Marlene Roome, & we were an "item" -- between break-ups -- in high school.

Those high school years corresponded with a difficult time in my life & I faced some major problems. Luckily for me, Roy & Ruth -- well, actually the whole family -- took me in as the seventh member. They provide a proper family atmosphere & included me in so many activities, as well as giving me a sense of discipline when & where I needed it growing up.

Through the years, we always stayed connected in some way. Marlene & me went our separate ways but to this day remain in contact. Roy & Ruth were "snowbirds" in Florida & had a home not more than a dozen miles from my Mother's home. We would all visit when the Roome's & I were in the state at the same time.

Ruth Roome was a first grade teacher at Honeoye Central. As such, she had an influence on many more lives than just mine. To this day I still remember one little girl -- I believe her name was Debbie -- always yelling across the street to Mrs. Roome when she saw her in town -- in a high, squeaky voice which only exists in my memory -- "Ha-Woe Mrs. Woooom". Ruth -- in her sweet, school teacher way -- would always acknowledge Debbie for her greeting & was truly glad to see Debbie each time.

In all the decades which followed, to the last time I saw her in Florida, a few months before she died, I would always attempt to copy little Debbies voice as I greeted "Ruthie" -- "HA ... WOE MRS. WOOOOOM." Ruth would always have a chuckle at my greeting -- another voice which exhists only in my memory today.

Roy & Ruth Roome ... gone from this earth, but really, never far away.