Miss Murdock! At 75, she is doing remarkably well. She has short gray hair, but when she smiles, her whole face lights up like it did 40+ years ago and she looks exactly the same! Same twinkle in her eye! She even STILL wears pleated skirts! I never saw her in anything else! (Think about it!)
We learned that she grew up in Richmond and went to CAL upon graduation. One of her high school teachers introduced her to the Vedanta religion and got in quite a bit of trouble over it. She taught for 11 years, then became a nun. Another lady, also a student with her in high school, joined also. There are 15 nuns and a convent/apt. house where they live around the corner from the temple. They take turns cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, and, of course, all the things connected with the temple. She gives "sermons" on certain days. Her Indian name is connected to "sweetness", being the "sweet one" --- which is definitely her! She is also quite a vociferous women's libber (I don't remember that in school!). She said to tell everyone hello and tell them that she remembers us all. She introduced us to her co-workers as her "children". She is sharp as a tack! Remembers so much about Burbank, it was amazing.
One side note that shows she still has her spunk --- a rug was stolen from the temple. It was an old, antique one. She called all the Asian rug shops in the area, posted photos of it, and --- believe it or not --- recovered it! She did the same thing with the books that were also stolen from the altar. Recovered most of them too!
Rebecca and I tried to persuade her to come to one of our reunions, but don't think she'll do it. However, she wants us to come see her again and to bring some more of her "children" with us. She was obviously pleased that we all have such great memories of her and her classes. She tried to say it was "us", but Rebecca quickly corrected her! She had also set up a 5 o'clock meeting for us with her "swami", but we had to leave before then.
So, hope everyone enjoys reading about this (Alvin, can you please email this to folks?) and hope it's put on the website (Art, are you listening?). Rebecca is also sending out her thoughts on the day.
Only one thing worries me about her --- she remembers Rebecca as being tall and "dignified"! Rebecca?????
And, including my co-driver, Dignified Rebecca, getting me lost coming home, it was quite a day!
Yesterday was quite an experience. ONLY Gail and I showed up at the Vedanta Temple in SF. Just as Gail was saying to me, �I hope Miss Murdock remembers that we�re coming to visit her today�, the front door swung open and there she was! She called us by our names. (Whew! She didn�t call me Gail.) To tell you the truth, I would not have recognized her had we met on the street. And she would not have recognized us either. 45-48 years is a long time!
Miss Murdock is now known by an un-pronounceable Indian name, but she will always be Miss Murdock to us. She is still as sweet as ever. At 75, she is sharp and alert. Her memory sure beats Gail�s. When she asked how we ever found her� can you believe Gail had a dumb look on her face and said she didn�t know? Gail is the one who tracked her down!!!!
We took a tour of the temple and must have seen every single room in the building� including not one but two different Ladies Rooms! When we finally reached the library, we were relieved that Miss Murdock asked us to sit down! The three of us together took a walk down Memory Lane.
I asked if she really remembered us to which she replied she certainly remembered me well. In her own words, she said I was so �tall and dignified� (haha!) for a young teenager. I found out the reason why she signed my Wizards as Edna Snodgrass. She said she always started her classes in the beginning of the year by writing on the board how and where she wanted us to write our names, class, and date on our papers. She�d write an example, on the upper right corner:
Edna SnodgrassWell, I just came to the country and didn�t know much English. I didn�t understand a word she said. So I copied word for word on my paper � Edna Snodgrass, etc. She used to get such a kick out of that. I don�t know how long this went on before I was set right!
L7-6
September 20, 1955
The visit stirred up a lot of fond memories. Gail and I didn�t know what to expect but we�re both glad we went. It has been 48 years since we were in L7-6! Miss Murdock was a very special teacher. She inspired everyone to do well. And she united all races so that it was never an issue. We were all one unit and we were color blind those 3 years. As for me, I was new to the country and to the language. I had just lost my Dad. Yet Miss Murdock always made me feel that I was accepted as one of the group, that I belonged. I will always be grateful to Miss Murdock for her influence on my life. I am so glad I made the effort to visit before it is too late.