Spotlight on your AR Sister January 2016

Joey Lord

Have you ever had any celebrity crushes and/or what performer(s) have you seen that was
especially memorable?

I have always adored Clark Gable. My grandparents lived next door to

Clarks parents in Beverly Hills. I visited my grandparents for 2 months in
1942 during World War II and I never did see Clark which was terribly
disappointing! He didn't visit his parents often, and when I asked Brom (my
name for my grandmother) if she had seen him, several times she said Oh
I'm so sorry, dear, he was just here yesterday or . . . while you were at school,
etc.! I would be so sad! Here is a photo of a small vase that Clark Gables
mother gave me on my fifth birthday. Of course I treasure it.

I have seen the shows of quite a few famous people and my favorites were Eddie Fisher,
Beach Boys, Elvis, Bette Midler, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Engelbert Humperdinck, Kenny
Rogers, Barry Manilow and Tom Jones. Most unforgettable was being kissed by Tom Jones!
I took my then 12-year-old daughter Margaret to his concert at the Assembly Hall. On the
 way to our car we stood inside the ramp as he was leaving and he kissed each of us! It
was Margarets first kiss! Not bad for a first kiss!

What is one item in your home you cannot live without?

Because I can't live without my Xarelto (blood thinner) and CPAP machine, I would have
to save those. Then, Dick, my cell phone, computer and worry stone. I picked up this stone
while walking with friends along Lake Michigan. When I showed them how it fit my hand
perfectly and was cool and wonderful to feel, they said I had found my comfort stone. I
had never thought of such a thing! It has come in handy quite a few times since then!

What is a favorite trip you have taken?

I have been horse-crazy since I was born I think! One day when I was in 5th grade my Dad
and Grandfather picked me up from my class picnic at our small town park in Adel, Iowa.
They drove me a half hour to a town that was having a horse show. They let me pick from
two horses that they had already chosen. I could choose the one I wanted for my very
own. I chose easily and named him Flash, because he could run like a flash! This was
September 1948. Dad paid $150 for him
and it would cost $5 to get him shod! He
was just a 2-year old and would buck me
off much of the time. Finally my
grandfather asked me what Flash did just
before he bucked and I said well he puts
his head down. He said I wonder what
you could do about that? So I kept his
head up and he didn't buck me off again
for years. I trained him myself by reading
books on the subject and he became a
great well-rounded horse. He could do
everything from barrel racing to English
pleasure class and we won many ribbons
at horse shows. He had a large white star
on his forehead and four white feet and I
thought he was the best and most
beautiful animal in the world! Here is a
picture of Flash in 1963 (at 18 years old)
with my two oldest boys on him.
Dick's parents took Dick and sister Barb and their spouses on a one-week cruise for eight
years. We continued cruising after they passed and two trips were very memorable. In
1999 we cruised the Bering Sea and docked at St. Petersburg, Russia. We went with about
200 tourists on a Russian plane to Moscow. It had totally bald, slick tires and only one
bathroom open. The stewardesses would not open another bathroom because they didn't
want to have to clean it! Instead of a ding when the pilot wanted our attention, a siren
 would go off (just like a police siren)! What a fascinating and kind of scary 90-minute
ride! We visited the Kremlin and had a lovely lunch with a string quartet and delicious
borscht (cold beet soup) and beef stroganoff. When we left the building, on the 2nd floor,
part of the Russian gymnastics team was practicing which was remarkable to see.
At Red Square a very nervous young English speaking man (who I believed was an
American), begged me to buy something from him. He said you don't understand, please
help me and buy something from me right now please! He was afraid of something and
his eyes were searching everyone and everything going on around. I bought some items
and he was very thankful and then he hurried off. I have always wondered if I helped one
of our American spies and didn't blow his cover!
The other unforgettable cruise was in 2003 down the east coast of Canada and the U.S.
The ports included Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, Bar Harbor, Boston, New York, Baltimore
and Norfolk and ended in Ft. Lauderdale. Because of 9/11, security was very tight arriving
in New York harbor. We had escort boats and helicopters with us but it was nothing
compared to arriving at Norfolk, VA. It is the
largest naval base in the U.S. We were met by
an escort vessel way out in the Chesapeake
Bay and they were fierce in their defense of
us. The ship was ahead of us and shot a
rooster tail (water violently shot up hundreds
of feet in the air) and a siren went off
whenever a ship looked like it was coming
too close. Helicopters were flying overhead
and it was amazing! On departure, Navy Seals
checked out the whole bottom of our huge
ship. Helicopters were circling and escort
vessels stayed with us including tugboats that
surrounded us!

Here is a photo of Dick and myself on one of our early cruises .

What jobs have you had outside your home?

I was a camp counselor for two summers teaching riflery, riding, and swimming and in
charge of eight 16-year-old girls at Camp Lake Hubert for Girls. I had been crazy about
boys when I was a teenager and we had a cottage on Gull Lake, MN just three miles from
this wonderful camp. I was the only girl on our beach for years and loved hanging out
with my brother and his friends on the beach and boats. My wise Mother and
Grandmother signed me up to attend Camp Lake Hubert for a month for seven summers
and although I missed my brother and his friends, I loved camp! My favorite sports were
riding and riflery, and I am five targets short of my Expert Rifleman.

I was a dental hygienist in San Marino, California for two years for my uncle and three
other dentists in Laguna Beach. After marrying Dick, who was a dentist in the Navy, I
 worked for a dentist in San Diego. In Champaign, after our children left for college, I was
a dental assistant and receptionist in my husbands orthodontic practice for ten years.

I had an antique shop called Howdy Pardner for several years in Pesotum. In spite of
loving it, I gave it up because of all the government paper work involved!

What's something that most people don't know about you?

I have a guardian angel who speaks to me on occasion. He first talked to me when I was
five years old when he told me Your Mother is going to have twin babies but the twins
will not live. Do not tell your mother this and don't get involved; just go on and live your
life. Mother had not yet told me that she was pregnant. Mother was eight months
pregnant when she lost a set of twins two days before Christmas! My guardian angel has
visited me other times as well. He has a young late-thirtyish voice and he speaks very
clearly in a totally silent background. I have decided he sounds like a Michael. I know
when he comes and messages me that what he says will always be totally true.

I have communicated mentally with people who are deceased. I recognize that paranormal
experiences are difficult for most people to understand and appreciate. However, since I
had my first visit with my guardian angel when I was five, it has always been a natural
part of who I am. I am very comfortable with it. Through the years, I have learned that my
grandmother and father also had this ability or sense.

In May our chapter is having a social meeting (coffee) at which I will talk more about my
experiences. I appreciate the Social Committee giving me the opportunity to have a
conversation with you, my dear sisters, about this part of who I am. I am supposed to talk
about this to help people believe that they live on and on forever.

Finally, most people do not know that while I was attending the University of Iowa, Iowa
went to the Rose Bowl twice. I was in the Scottish Highlanders womens band and was in
the Rose Bowl parade and part of the half-time entertainment both times.

When you have leisure time, what do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy talking to my husband Dick and my four children and with friends about every
subject imaginable. I grew up in a family that talked at the supper table. My Dad was a
lawyer and my mother was very involved, so I knew everything that was going on in town.
It was a very fascinating way to grow up. As well, I love to play bridge, use my computer,
read, play Sudoku, and go to movies. I also often find myself sitting and thinking,
reflecting on what Ive done that I could have done better.

If you could witness any event, past, present, or future, what would it be?

I would love to see one of my previous lives and would also love to watch the Pilgrims
from the Mayflower settling Plymouth.
What is something you learned this past year?

The value of my pacemaker since last September, it has given me a new life filled with
more happiness, zip, and zing!

Tell us about one special memory or experience in Chapter AR.

Six years ago I was diagnosed with breast and uterine cancer. The food, notes, love and
kindness from the chapter were so helpful, sweet, and appreciated. I will never forget the
day Jo Radcliffe and Nancy Daigh walked into my hospital room at Carle for a short visit
and stayed almost two hours. We had a wonderful visit and became dear friends.

What would you name the autobiography of your life?

Amazed, and Loving It or Weird and Wonderful by Joey Lord

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Below is a photo of our family at our 50 anniversary celebration in 2010.

We continue to go to our cabin on

Gull Lake, now for 97 years. All the kids and grandchildren
come sometime in July. Above is a photo of our three
granddaughters on our dock celebrating the Fourth of July.

And here are all six grandchildren last summer at a restaurant

with the rest of our family in background. Starting on the left
are: Lillian Lord Anderson 8, Colette Lord 6, Alexandra Lord
18, Katherine Lord Anderson 6, Michael Lord 13,
and Conrad Lord 15.
Eldest son Rich (right) lives in San Diego with
wife Michelle and children Colette, and
Conrad. Rich is VP-Arxan Asia Pacific. He
flies to Asia every month for two weeks.
Michelle is Sr. VP-Fairfield Residential.

Left is son Rob with Alexandra and Michael.

Alexandra attends Barretts College at Arizona State.
Rob and Michael live in San Diego. Rob works Space
and Naval Warfare Systems Command for Naval
Security.

To the left is son Tom, who lives in Champaign and has Lord
Contracting and Handyman Service. His fianc works with the
elderly and disabled at nursing homes, hospitals, and in
patients homes.

Daughter Margaret (right) with husband Mark, and Lillie and

KK are from Minneapolis. Mark is Finance VP for Sesame
Street Live. Margaret works in marketing and business
development for a non-profit Christian home/school for girls
in Kenya.