Remembering George "Fly Ty" Nelson
Many of us wouldn’t even notice someone who worked most of his life as a bus driver. If that was Tyrone Nelson, a longtime friend and former client, they would have missed a great opportunity. The first time we met about 25 years ago, Tyrone wasn’t real happy that he had such a young lawyer for his work injury case, but he gave me a shot to earn his trust, and I never forgot that.
He also formed and chaired AA meetings in Southeast and was sober for more than 40 years, along the way helping so many others maintain their sobriety. Maybe those accomplishments gave him such a great outlook on life. He was always ready with encouragement, a joke, or a hopeful, funny take on life, even when things seemed rough.
He loved driving a bus. He was an old school driver, one who would talk to all of his passengers, help old folks up and down, and cover a fare when someone didn’t have it. His regulars loved him. He saw driving as doing something good for people — helping them get to work, to school, or to see their friends and relatives, making their day just a little better.
Seven or eight years ago, after he retired from Metro, he was in a serious head-on collision caused by another driver who died in the crash. I visited him in the hospital during his recovery, where he introduced me to his nurses by name, telling me how helpful they were and how happy he was to have met them and gotten to know them. And, of course, he went back to driving passenger buses — shuttle buses, trips to Atlantic City, you name it.
I didn’t know it at the time, but Tyrone was one of the first students to integrate the public schools in Arlington when he tried to enroll in the all-white Stratford Junior High and was
denied admission in 1957. Even though this was three years after Brown v. Board of Education was decided, Virginia had adopted a policy of “massive resistance” to integration, and there were another two years of litigation before African American students were able to attend the school.
And every time we talked, he would tell me how proud he was of (and how he spoiled) his granddaughters, then his great- granddaughters — lucky kids, like the rest of us who knew him.
Deep-Fried New Year’s ‘Cookies’ What do you get when you mix a cookie and a doughnut? A portzelky! This traditional Mennonite “New Year’s cookie” is perfect for sharing.
Inspired by MennoniteGirlsCanCook.ca
INGREDIENTS • 2 tbsp yeast •
DIRECTIONS 1. In a large bowl, combine yeast, water, and 1 tsp sugar. Wait 10 minutes. 2. Stir in remaining sugar, eggs, butter, milk, and salt. 3. Fold in the raisins and flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for an hour. 4. In a high-sided pot or deep fryer, heat canola oil to
340 F. Line a plate with paper towels. 5. Drop a rounded tablespoon of dough into the oil. Fry until golden brown, then set aside on the plate. Poke the cookie with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, it’s cooked through! 6. Repeat until the batter is gone.
1/2 cup water, warmed 1/2 cup and 1 tsp sugar, divided
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5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, softened 2 1/2 cups milk, warmed
1 1/2 tsp salt 4 cups raisins 7 cups flour
4 cups canola oil
2 • DONAHOEKEARNEY.COM
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