A Letter To Linda Henderson

Two years ago this month, the Sweetwater High School graduating class of 1960 celebrated its' 50 th class reunion.  What a time we had renewing old times!  One of the key people who helped make this possible was Linda Henderson.  Linda is my friend.  She is the former Linda Cunningham.  One day she contacted many of us and told us she had been in touch with our Senior Civics teacher..........Wadie Deddeh.  I thought, "no way, what a blast from the past!"  I proceeded to write her the following letter.


Linda, You are the "bomb." It was so good to see you last week. I do hope that your stay was pleasant. I usually arrive a little late to the Tuesday mtgs. due to a responsibility that I have at the City Council. But not last week. We had fun. We will keep it going. Thanks for your motivation. Regarding Wadie Deddeh, how interesting that you wrote to him and he responded. As odd as it may seem, I think about him often. Our Senior year, he kicked Paul Spitz and I out of his classroom for being so disruptive. At that time I did not care, I had no plans of going to college anyway. But at least I graduated from SUHI. Here goes a little slice of my life: The decade of the sixties was a real nightmare for me. It actually did not end until 1975. I was a pathetic individual......a real hardcore drunk. I was arrested many times, and believe it or not, I was in 13 automobile accidents. I did work, but it was mainly to sustain my bad habit. Liquor was number 1 in my life, and number 1 did not get replaced for a long time. Well, the time came when it was either: Quit drinking or start preparing my funeral arrangements. I tried, but I could not stop. Then something happened, I was in Downtown San Diego by the old Horton Plaza. A preacher was preaching up "a storm." I listened. Hours later I stopped him on the street and asked him to pray for me. I never drank again. I will make a long story short. I went back to school. I got a teaching credential, (so I thought) but the Professor of the Education Dept. refused to sign it after he saw my arrest record. I contacted Sacramento. Guess who my Assemblyman was? You guessed it, Mr. Deddeh himself. Man........did he ever go to bat for me! I received my California State Teaching Credential in two weeks. There is much more to this story. To end my words, I will tell you that I am indebted to Mr. Deddeh. I am indebted to God, (He is # 1) and I am very grateful to you, Linda, for reminding me of Wadie Deddeh. I am so glad that he is still alive. I plan to write him and thank him. Thank you so, so much. God bless you.


Bobby             ps.. check out my blog:       bobbysparadigm.blogspot.com