I will always be grateful to the former teachers of mine at Stephen F. Austin High School and O. Henry Junior High School who were willing to meet me for a meal and friendly conversation inside a restaurant in Austin in 1986, 1988, and in the 1990s.
Melba Schumann, the very polite and very slender German-American lady and apparent native of New Braunfels, Texas, in 1988 very kindly met me for a meal and conversation inside a locally owned restaurant in the Tarrytown section of Austin.
One of the questions I wish I had asked Miss Schumann was whether she was glad she chose to become a Spanish teacher, rather than a German teacher, in a public school in Texas.
It seems likely that Miss Schumann was fluent in German, since she grew up in New Braunfels and no doubt studied German very diligently there.
However, Miss Schumann may have decided to teach Spanish instead because there was lot more demand for Spanish teachers in Texas than for German teachers.
I should make a friendly phone call to Mrs. Julia Mellenbruch, a wonderfully friendly retired Spanish teacher from Stephen F. Austin High School, and ask her whether Miss Schumann ever told Mrs. Mellenbruch what prompted Miss Schumann to teach Spanish, rather than German, in a public school in Texas.
Miss Schumann was very devoted to the Roman Catholic Church and attended a Catholic Church in west Austin diligently for many years, from what I understood.
Looking back, I also wonder why Miss Schumann decided against pursuing a teaching career at a Catholic-owned school in Texas.
Once again, I wish I had posed that question to Miss Schumann during our one-to-one meeting inside a locally owned restaurant in the Tarrytown section of Austin in 1988.
Another friendly former teacher of mine from the Austin Independent School District who very generously found the time to meet with me for a meal and conversation in the 1980s or 1990s was Bernie Owen, a native of Indiana and very proud alumnus of Purdue University.
Purdue was a private university in Indiana that Mr Owen in the 1970s during his classroom lectures at Austin High frequently praised to me and my classmates for Purdue's outstanding International Studies program, he emphasized repeatedly inside our classroom.
In the summer of 1986, Mr. Owen and his polite Texan banker son, Danny Owen, met me for an outdoor patio lunchtime meal at a restaurant along Lake Austin Boulevard in Austin, with Mr. Owen volunteering to me that Jeane Kirkpatrick, a female leading political adviser to President Reagan at that time, was the embodiment of the difference between wisdom and erudition, Mr. Owen stated.
That lady was very well educated and erudite, Mr. Owen commented, but she lacked actual wisdom, he emphasized to me during our friendly get-together at restaurant.
The same Mr. Owen in the 1990s met me for a one-to-one meal and conversation I had with him inside a Kentucky Fried Chicken chain restaurant along Barton Springs Boulevard in Austin.
"When are you (John McMillan) going to figure out that no one from your own past is going to help you?" Mr. Owen candidly asked me at one point during our meal together.
I appreciated Mr. Owen's willingness to address that subject. However, I don't remember having specifically stated to Mr. Owen that I expected any particular person from my past to help me with any cited challenge I was encountering at that time.
Melba Schumann, the very polite and very slender German-American lady and apparent native of New Braunfels, Texas, in 1988 very kindly met me for a meal and conversation inside a locally owned restaurant in the Tarrytown section of Austin.
One of the questions I wish I had asked Miss Schumann was whether she was glad she chose to become a Spanish teacher, rather than a German teacher, in a public school in Texas.
It seems likely that Miss Schumann was fluent in German, since she grew up in New Braunfels and no doubt studied German very diligently there.
However, Miss Schumann may have decided to teach Spanish instead because there was lot more demand for Spanish teachers in Texas than for German teachers.
I should make a friendly phone call to Mrs. Julia Mellenbruch, a wonderfully friendly retired Spanish teacher from Stephen F. Austin High School, and ask her whether Miss Schumann ever told Mrs. Mellenbruch what prompted Miss Schumann to teach Spanish, rather than German, in a public school in Texas.
Miss Schumann was very devoted to the Roman Catholic Church and attended a Catholic Church in west Austin diligently for many years, from what I understood.
Looking back, I also wonder why Miss Schumann decided against pursuing a teaching career at a Catholic-owned school in Texas.
Once again, I wish I had posed that question to Miss Schumann during our one-to-one meeting inside a locally owned restaurant in the Tarrytown section of Austin in 1988.
Another friendly former teacher of mine from the Austin Independent School District who very generously found the time to meet with me for a meal and conversation in the 1980s or 1990s was Bernie Owen, a native of Indiana and very proud alumnus of Purdue University.
Purdue was a private university in Indiana that Mr Owen in the 1970s during his classroom lectures at Austin High frequently praised to me and my classmates for Purdue's outstanding International Studies program, he emphasized repeatedly inside our classroom.
In the summer of 1986, Mr. Owen and his polite Texan banker son, Danny Owen, met me for an outdoor patio lunchtime meal at a restaurant along Lake Austin Boulevard in Austin, with Mr. Owen volunteering to me that Jeane Kirkpatrick, a female leading political adviser to President Reagan at that time, was the embodiment of the difference between wisdom and erudition, Mr. Owen stated.
That lady was very well educated and erudite, Mr. Owen commented, but she lacked actual wisdom, he emphasized to me during our friendly get-together at restaurant.
The same Mr. Owen in the 1990s met me for a one-to-one meal and conversation I had with him inside a Kentucky Fried Chicken chain restaurant along Barton Springs Boulevard in Austin.
"When are you (John McMillan) going to figure out that no one from your own past is going to help you?" Mr. Owen candidly asked me at one point during our meal together.
I appreciated Mr. Owen's willingness to address that subject. However, I don't remember having specifically stated to Mr. Owen that I expected any particular person from my past to help me with any cited challenge I was encountering at that time.
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