Thanksgiving is about to roll around again soon. Families will get together to eat and watch football. There might be a round or two of golf around here, if the weather is pretty. Deer hunting is probably another option for some. I also know that Thanksgiving fires off a season that can be sad and stressful. I did not grow up sharing the holidays with extended family. There were a lot of reasons for that. It was just a fact…
My grandmother and her three children moved into the Teachery, as it was called, at Stuart Robinson School in 1932. Stuart Robinson was nestled back in the mountains in Letcher County, Kentucky. The Teachery included a classroom for home economics on the first floor and apartments for teachers on the second floor. My father and his two siblings grew up in that second floor apartment at the Teachery. Stuart Robinson was one of several Settlement Schools founded by Presbyterian Church…
It was Christmas Eve of 1927. Hunting was popular in Hart County, Georgia among the men, just as I am sure it is today. So a group went hunting that fateful December evening. While stalking their prey that night, one of the men pricked his finger on a briar. That is a common occurrence that most people would think very little about. However this particular prick led to the onset of a disease known as Blastomycosis. This fungal infection is…
I have been enjoying a wonderful reunion with childhood friends this week. It has been enlightening on several levels. My hosts, Ginny and Mike Walters, have been gracious and generous in every possible way. They are in the mortgage lending business professionally, but I have another business venture for them if they ever get bored. Ginny and Mike are raising four children. The two younger kids are 13 year old twins. During my two day stay in their home this…
How many times have I said it? How many times have I relished the opportunity to say it? I love to say: “I was not even born then.” Another favorite is: “I was born the year that you graduated from college, got married, or entered military service.” The smirk that accompanies such comments is nearly painted on my face. Those kind of comments have a way of coming back to haunt us. Last week I told a Granbury police officer…
I have a confession to make. I have never shared this with anyone. When I little pres-school age boy, I got my first bike. Of course it was gold in color, typical of the ‘60’s. I don’t think it was a Schwinn. I didn’t get my first Schwinn until a few years later, but I digress. It is confession time… I had training wheels on my first bike. I have never told anyone that. Please don’t share such an embarrassing…
Guest Blogger Today: Jan Knox Chris Frizzell’s words a few days ago regarding “dogie” lambs opened a chamber of childhood memories for me. While I never had any experience with sheep, I did have numerous opportunities to bottle-feed orphaned calves. I would mix the powdered milk with water in a two-quart calf bottle, then head out to the cow pen, calling the calf’s name as I went. Sometimes, if I didn’t get out there quick enough, the calf would call…
Life is good when it is neat and tidy. Would you not agree? Life is good when things are rocking along with the least amount of complications. I came to work bright and early one morning last week. Life was good that morning until I read the obituaries in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal online. My best friend from junior high lost his dad. The man’s obituary appeared in the online edition of the newspaper. I felt really bad for him…
The song: September, by the group Daughtry, is a piece that reflects on the tender memories of growing up. The chorus says: Of all the things I still rememberSummer’s never looked the sameThe years go by and time just seems to fly But the memories remain The summer of 2009 is officially over at 1:00 this afternoon. Mitchell will pick up his school schedule at that point. This year will be the final one for him in the middle school….
I work with a very talented and competent youth minister. He is in the process of pursuing a graduate level degree that will better equip him to serve families. Naturally he comes back to Granbury armed with all kinds of new information that he is gleaning from his coursework. I love it. I can be in school again vicariously. He is on the cutting edge of research being done about families, which is helpful to all of us on the…