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I hope that you can hang around for a few as I do tend to get a bit
wordy!
Hello! My name is Lonza J. Farkas, I was born January 09, 1962, I attended school
in New Brockton, Alabama, USA, and I graduated from high school in the year of 1980. During my senior year, I was one of the
two co-editors of our yearbook. I can proudly say that, for the first time in many years, that yearbook reflected the entire
student body, not just the select, popular few. I was also one of the ORIGINAL members of the New Brockton High School
Marching Band. Being without a band at the time, a number of my classmates and I were among the small group of students that
got a band to its feet in the mid- to late- 70's. I understand that those who followed in our footsteps have kept up the proud
tradition.
I've been married to the same wonderful man since June 20, 1982, and I've spent
the past 36 years in Coffee Springs, Alabama, being the ordinary little housewife. Though I haven’t
any children, I did have a beagle-mix dog, Bogart, that I spoiled like he was my child and he was/still is. However, we lost
him on Thursday, March 03, 2005, when he was just one month away from celebrating what would have been his 16th
birthday. (Please be sure to see the page of this site that I’ve lovingly dedicated to him.)
In
the month following, I was so devastated, so utterly lost without my Bogart, my child, that I couldn’t
function. More than once, my husband James found me sitting in front of this computer, staring misty-eyed at the wallpaper
which was/is a picture of Bogart, my arms wrapped around myself, just totally out of it. I had to do
something.
So, early Saturday morning, April 02, 2005, I got into my car and I drove to the Greater
Birmingham Humane Society in Birmingham, Alabama, and there I found Jolson, a 3-month-old rat terrier. (Jolson’s picture
is at the top of this page beside the picture of the baby hedgehog.) When a young internet contact of mine asked me if I was
"replacing" Bogart, I told her, "No, I could never replace Bogart. I'm not trying to
replace him; I'm just trying to fill the space he left behind." And that’s precisely what
Jolson’s done for this severe depressive; he’s filled the space in my life, the space at my side that
was so faithfully and lovingly filled by Bogart for over 15 years.
Saturday evening, June 09, 2007, a neighbor
of our's brought to us an adorable little kitten that I estimated to be about 8 weeks old at the time. She found the kitten
wandering around in some bushes in her yard. Just as Jolson is named after the late, great Al Jolson of the early screen,
I named the kitten "Allie", after one and the same. She's grown a lot since the picture of her was taken and
has become a perfect little playmate for Jolson. (See the picture to the right of this paragraph.) Incidentally, the little
nub of a tail that you see in the picture was all this little darling was born with, which just makes her all the more
adorable.
In early November, 2007, I began to
volunteer some of my time to an animal shelter in Enterprise, Alabama, and there I came to meet Skippy, a male tabby
of approximately one year of age. So hungry for love that he'd give me kisses, it's no wonder that I soon
fell in love with the little guy! On Wednesday, January 30, 2008, I adopted him and brought him home to meet his new, "very
own" family. Keeping my custom of naming our animals after late, greats of the early screen, I changed his name
slightly to "Skipper", naming him after the character in the old TV series "Gilligan's Island". He has
since fit into our family perfectly. You can see a picture of him to the upper right of this paragraph.
I've written a couple of short stories about different things that have happened since
I came to the internet and that I have shared with e-mail contacts of mine. (If you would like to read these stories, just
click on the links at the upper right corner of this page.) I am also in the process of compiling a collection of short stories
about the misadventures of my family, The Johnson Clan. With a little luck, I just might finish the darned thing eventually!
The picture to the upper right of this paragraph is of my husband,
James. The picture to the lower right of this paragraph is of "Girly", a squirrel that became a special friend
of my husband's. When James left a paper bag full of pecans on our back porch and it was rained on, the bag tore and the pecans
spilled out only for this little lady to find them. Soon, we began to notice pecan hulls scattered on the porch and he
came to realize that Girly was responsible. With a "grocery store" nearby, she had decided to take up residence
in a pecan tree located just a few feet from our back porch. (You can see a picture of this tree if you look at the photograph
of James. The tree in question can be seen behind James and to the far right of the picture.)
By the way, it happened that the very same pecan tree had been the
former residence of a family of wood ducks during the first year or so that James and I lived on the land that we now call
home. I will never forget his reaction when, after he told me about the ducks, I refused to agree to his cutting the
tree down.
At the time, it appeared as though the tree was dying and I remember
James saying something like, "If that tree should fall onto our cars, fine and dandy, but Heaven forbid we disturb those
birds!" I can also well remember the huge smile on his face as he told me about seeing the mother duck and her babies,
lined up single file, crossing the road as they began their journey towards the wonders of the life that lay ahead of them.
Well, here’s what the old bat behind the mindless meanderings at sites looks
like. For best results, I recommend that you print out this picture, tack it to the wall and aim for right between the eyes!
(Aim a bit low, though. I’m the sum total of 4'8".)
"Hey?! Where do you think you're going? There's more to come on
the next page!"
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