  Gary A. Collier LHS '66 August 25, 1947 - November 16, 2017 Gary Collier passed away Thursday, November 16, 2017 at Tranquility at Cobb Hospital in Austell, Georgia.  Memphis, TN - Friends, it has been a long two weeks. As stated last week, I came down with a cold and was having trouble shaking it. This week I want to reinforce something that Dr. John Drummond, LHS '65, has been trying to drum into our brains for years now. Take care of yourself. Last Monday, Sue's daughter and family came in from Iowa and on Tuesday her other daughter and family came in from middle Tennessee. I was still trying to shake my cold and Sue was just getting one, but we thought we could fight them with over the counter cough medicine and still try to enjoy the holiday with them since they had made the effort to visit us. We had our big Thanksgiving meal planned for Wednesday night so I tried to help as much as I could. My nose had been running like a fire hose, I had a little fever, and just generally was stopped up. When I went to bed that night I was having trouble breathing and finally about 2:30am my breathing had become so bad I had to get Sue up to take me to the emergency room, fearing I was coming down with pneumonia. The reason it concerned me was back in 1982 when I was in the Air Force my step-mother had a similar spell over the holidays and my dad kept trying to get her to go to the doctor and get it checked. She refused, saying she was afraid they would admit her and she did not want to spend New Year's Eve in the hospital. Well, she put it off so long that when she did go her pneumonia had advanced so far they could do nothing to help her and she died - just because she didn't want to spend the holiday in the hospital. I took that memory as a sign and had Sue take me in. In the four hours I was there, they ran all the tests and it turned out I did not have pneumonia, but instead I had an acute case of bronchitis. They ended up giving me a breathing treatment in the emergency room and sent me home with an inhaler and two different types of medicines including an antibiotic. That and the house full of company (my computer was in one of the bedrooms being occupied) was partially the reason I did not get this week's Traveller out in the usual time slot I normally aim for. Anyway, please take this as a lesson. Take care of yourself. Get the checkups you need and don't let something minor become something life threatening. Follow your doctor's orders. Take your medicines as directed. I know they may be expensive, but what are your alternatives. I, your friends and family want you to be around for a long time more. Thus, endeth the lesson.  John took this in Lexington next to Lee Chapel and sent it to me. Looks like some people left a great (gift) for his ghost!  
From Our Mailbox
Subject: Maria Cianci Turner Moore Linda Kinkle Cianci LHS '66 Maria Cianci Turner Moore (LHS 1966/67 & 67/68, before moving to NC in her sophomore year) passed away on October 29, following a short battle with cancer. Maria had resided in Ft. Walton Beach, FL since 1971. She is survived by brothers Ricky Cianci of Fairfield,CA, Mike Cianci (Linda) of Nashville, TN, and Charles Ditto (Bonnie) of Crestview, FL; sister Linda C. Brown (Mike), daughter Saandra Turner Vierheller, and granddaughter Taylar Vierheller, all of Ft. Walton Beach, FL. She was preceded in death by her parents, Steve Cianci and Maggie Ditto. Maria loved Nascar and football, and was a passionate Crimson Tide fan. Subject: Deodorant Linda Kinkle Cianci LHS '66 My mom and I used 5-Day Deodorant Pads when I was a teen. I found a jar of them in her vanity when she passed away in 2009. I don't remember my brothers using them, so maybe they were only for females. I think we used them because they were unscented and cheap. But, I don't recall that one ever lasted more than one day, not five. Deceptive advertising? My perfumes of choice were Tabu and Chantilly. In 1970, Mike and I moved to Colorado for a brief time. He drove out ahead of me and I flew out later. I had put a new spray bottle of Chantilly perfume in my suitcase, and it went into the baggage compartment. Maybe those compartments are pressurized now, but they obviously weren't back then. That bottle exploded in my suitcase enroute. I never forgot that smell and still associate it with my first week in Denver, in a motel at the base of a mountain. Beautiful place, beautiful memories --- strong memories. Ha! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. May you be filled with thanks for the Lord's abundance of blessings. After learning last week that two of my ancestors were Mayflower Pilgrims, I'm thankful that they made that journey to America.
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