GILLESPIE

Across the Fence 

By Arvord Abernethy 

Possibly no other creature is so famous for returning to their original home as is the salmon. It is said that even after a few years out in the vast waters of the Pacific, a salmon will return to the very river where it was hatched in order to lay its eggs. They have an unbelievable homing instinct. 

This homing instinct came to my mind as I talked to Reuben and Linda Gillespie the other day. Linda was born to our own Bill and Fay Chappell when they lived in the Lanham community several years back. Bill was later called into the armed services, so Linda has lived away from here until just recently. She said that she was about three and a half years old when they moved away, but she remembered the names of some of the people and even how some of the houses looked. 

Sometime after Bill’s term of service, the Chappell’s moved to Alamosa, Colorado where Linda did her high school and college work. 

Reuben is a native of California, but his parents moved to Alamosa when he was just a young fellow. It was here that he also did his high school and college work. It was not until after he did four years in the Navy that he and Linda began dating and then married. She had started her teaching profession by this time, and he joined in teaching after completing his college work. 

I was telling of our vacation at Antonito, which is near Alamosa, and of seeing the narrow gauge train that carries tourist between Antonito and Chama, New Mexico. Reuben told of when he was a boy the train ran regular service so he would get on at Antonito and ride out to where a relative ranched and the train would stop and let him off. After a few days visiting and fishing he would flag the train down and ride back to Antonito. The train goes over two high passes and he said that the scenery was even more beautiful than from the highway. 

The Gillespie’s taught at various places before going to Pecos in 1973. After a ten year period of work in the schools there, we are fortunate to have them in our schools here. Reuben will be the high school principal and Linda will be the art teacher for the elementary grades. 

The new home to the Gillespies is in the Indian Oaks addition, next door to the Carter Edmistons. There is almost a forest of trees in the back yard which makes a wonderful place for their young daughter, Emily, to play. Emily will be in the second grade and their other daughter, Lisa, will be in the seventh grade. 

I can’t overlook the other member of the family, Sandy, the Cocker Spaniel. Sandy thinks this is the ideal place to live and play as every morning he is at the glass door with a ball in his mouth, challenging the girls to come out and play. 

I had noticed a large oak coffee table in the room, and mentioned what a beautiful finish it had. Linda said that it was originally a dining table and served as a conference table in the first school she taught. 

This led them to showing me other antiques they had. An end table was made from an old churn, the like of which I had never seen. It was a hardwood vat about three feet long, a foot wide and a foot deep standing on legs. At one end was the crank place for running the dasher. On one side was dimly printed, “Union Churn No. 3”. 

Other antiques in the house bore out the fact that the word “antique” has a special attraction to Linda. 

The Gillespies are Baptist and have already found a place for service in the First Baptist Church.