William Craig Matthis 1921 - 2012

We in our family have lost a beloved brother, father, grandfather and friend.

He lived a long and full life, starting in the small mountain town of Pineville, Kentucky.  He was the fifth child in the family of Rose Gamp Matthis and Chester Craig Matthis.

When he was five years old he was eager to read and ran constantly to his mother to ask her what words said.  She said he taught himself to read as he had a curious and quick mind.  He grew up in another location in a small mountain town called Gulston, Ky.  The distinguishing feature of this area was a grocery store at a crossroads.  Where Bill's family lived was in a large house surrounded by plenty of land for raising kids and cattle.  At an early age he learned to milk the cows which my father kept, to sell milk to augment his income as a bookkeeper.  There was a tennis court and a woods behind the house, plenty of room for exploring outdoors.

The family grew however,  and they  moved into the county seat of Harlan, Kentucky, where Bill and his siblings entered the Harlan Independent School System.  As the years rolled by Bill wanted to get out and be independent.  He had an agreement with his parents that when he had graduated from high school they would sign papers for him to join the army.  Bill already had a talent for understanding engines and mechanical machines.  When our  mother wanted to find Bill she went to the Motor company not far away and looked in the window where she always saw him down on the floor helping and learning from the mechanics there.

When he did enter the United States Army Air Force, he signed up to learn airplane mechanics.  Eventually he was sent to the China, Burma, India theater of war, during World War II.  He lived in the jungles and salvaged airplane parts from downed planes.  During this time he wrote to his mother and used a code they had worked out, to let her know where he was at each letter writing.

After the war he returned home to work on the large machines used to extract coal from the mines in Bell County, Kentucky where his brother Kenneth was the General Manager.   He fell in love with, and  married the sister of Kenneth's wife.  His bride's  name was Axie Belle Marsee.  Bill and Axie had two daughters, Ann and Jane. 

When the girls were in their teens, Bill and Axie went to live in Litchfield, Illinois where he continued to work on giant machines, in a large number of Coal Mines.  In order to minimize travel time between the various mines he trained for a pilots license and flew himself where he needed to be.  He and Axie found many new friends, in a new hobby of square dancing, as they traveled around with a dance group.  He was a member of the Presbyterian church and served as Elder for many years, in The Parish of the Open Door.

Cancer took Axie, the love of his life and he slowly began to build a new life. He continued living in his home and was always finding ways to help his neighbors and also the farmers in the area who had large machinery needing maintenance.  Bill was adventurous all of his live.  At age 85 he went sky diving with a friend.  He spent years helping his grandson Adam with scouting and other pursuits over the years.  He went each year to the annual reunion of the Veterans of the China, Burna, India theater of war.  An event he enjoyed as long as he was able.

We grieve for the presence of Bill.  When a man has lived a productive life and served his God, his family, his country and his friends in positive ways, we remember him in positive ways, by honoring him with memories of who he was and what he did with his life.

His daughters and their families were with him when he passed on to another dimension, a journey he embraced with hope and courage.  As a symbolic "bon voyage" they opened the window of his room so his spirit could fly away  home.  We can rest in the knowledge that his last journey will be as successful as all the others.  God bless you Bill.  The world is a better place because you of what you did to make it so.

Martha Says: Use Vinegar

I hear about cooking ideas all the time and usually I just file the idea away and  then it may come back to me later.  Recently I stumbled upon Martha Stewart on television doing her online cooking class.  She was showing different ways to cook eggs.  She was using eggs grown on her estate and of course they were fresh and naturally fed via free range or organic food.  One of the ideas hit me as worth trying, so I did.  I share it now as it really does make the egg taste better cooked by her vinegar/boil method.

First she got a small pot of water up to a fast boil, then while boiling she added a little vinegar, then promptly cracked an egg into the boiling water.  I have forgotten what chemical action caused it to happen  but the white immediated began to gather itself  into shape and in about three minutes it was removed with a slotted spoon and placed on a plate.

When I tried it , I had to have a couple of runs to get it right but even after the first try the egg white had a much improved taste.  For about three cups of water I used almost 1/4 cup of white vinegar and let it boil about 2.1/2 minutes.  My water comes from a deep well and I think has a much better taste than the common faucet water in a city.

For breakfast this morning I had cheese grits, the vinegar boil eggs and sliced mellow, green delicious apples.  It was a fine breakfast and I choose not to have the yolks but I did taste them and they had a better flavor also.  So, if you are tired of corn flakes you may like to try Martha's trick.

This vinegar method reminds me of the first time I had breakfast at my new husband's home.  His mother also raised chickens for eggs and she prepared for my breakfast eggs cooked in hot bacon grease.  They were delicious but I am not so sure about the health aspects of her method.  I think Martha's way is far healthier.  So, if you are a vegetarian or just aspire to eat healthier, I recommend the vinegar egg method, and it has definitely been tested and tried by me, as recently as this morning in October , the 21st.

Being Silly

Once when I was having a conversation with my daughter, she said to me, That is what I like about you Mom, you can let yourself act silly.  That thought came to me one day when I was sitting in my doctor's office in the waiting room.  I was looking at a magazine and there was an article about dressing up for Halloween.  The question was asked, " What is the silliest thing you have ever worn on Halloween?"

At first I thought about the things my  children and more recently what my grandchildren had worn.  It took a few minutes for me to remember my own dressing up for this fall event for the fun of children.  Then it hit me, I had dressed up!  It was for an event  with our faculty party.  Some of us were putting on a skit about a fictional place called "The Lizard Lounge".  I was asked to dress up as a bar maid for this so called Lounge and to be in  costume as this was on Halloween.  I had to scrounge around to find something sleazy and silly.  I found something and because it was so out of character my husband took a picture of me.  Luckily I had on a mask and hoped no one would recognize me.

Another time I pulled a silly stunt when I was in college.  I played on the girls field hockey team.  We had uniforms and they were short.  One evening the girls were all hanging out in the dorm and one girl was cutting the hair of another friend.  The floor was covered with hair.  I asked if I could have the hair.  They all thought I was crazy but gave it to me.  I went back to my room, put on my field hockey uniform and some long hose.  Then I proceeded to glue that hair all over my legs, all around. 

Then I sauntered down the hall and casually walked into the room where my friends were hanging out.  It caused quite an uproar !  They made so much noise it attracted the attention of all the other girls and we had the whole top floor of Burnham hall full of girls laughing and having a generally riotous good time.  I cannot remember if the house mother heard us and came up.  Mostly she ignored our noise unless there was screaming going on.

During the time that I grew up we did not go out on Halloween night.  Possibly because we lived in the country and it was in the l930's and no one felt like being that frivolous then.  My older siblings did have parties at our house and dancing took place.  They would have parties to make fudge, then put the platter on the widow sill to cool.  That was too much of a temptation for the younger kids and they frequently would slip by and snitch some of it.

Kids seem to like to play silly games.  And I have known many grown-ups who had their moments.  My mother was know to throw decorum out the window from time  to time.  One of my brothers-in-law would keep us younger kids entertained for hours with his witty songs.  And what was Vaudeville about if not just plain being silly, and down right outrageous?  Comedian Steve Martin had his arrow in his head routine, Jack Benny had his sideway look and Bill Cosby could really roll those eyes.  I am willing to bet that every human being who walks this earth has at some time, done some really endearing and positively, absolutely silly things.

So, I declare that there is a place for being silly.  Laughing is supposed to be good for us.  Someone said it was like jogging on the inside.  And the kids would prefer some  to seeing a frown.