It is going to happen. I promise… You are going to get behind someone in traffic today who is moving at a snail’s pace. And you will be tempted. I know you will. You will be tempted to sit on your horn, or say something under your breath that would not make your mother proud. If that doesn’t happen, then it could be that you are going to be behind a person in line at Wal-Mart who is not familiar…
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 got a call from Misty Walters at the Behavioral Transition Center yesterday. The BTC, as it is called, is a separate campus for middle school and high school aged offenders, who have gotten in serious trouble at school. Some districts refer to such facilities as the alternative school. I still get a little nervous when the BTC number appears on my cell phone. I wonder: Did I not finish my time back in 1979? Are they going to make…
Turn those cell phones and electronic devices off. I heard that on every flight during my recent trip. Flying on a commercial carrier is one of the rare times when people actually cut themselves off from the electronic chains that so control our lives. I found it amusing to watch fellow passengers turning their phones back on just as soon as the wheels of the plane made contact with the ground.Can you call that an addiction? Or is the image…
We had no clue what the future held for us. Why should we worry about such things? We were busy listening to Miss Erick read to us from the Uncle Remus children’s books in the second grade, and we were forced to square dance with each other in the fourth grade in Mr. Waltenberger’s class. There were intense marble games and all kinds of acrobatics on the monkey bars during recess. We rode our bikes all over the neighborhood, played…
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…
…Whoever wants to become great among you must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all…(Mark 10:43-44) My brother in-law, Robert Ross, is no doubt a direct descendant of Daniel Boone. Robert grew up in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. I don’t know what they do for fun up there. I am not sure I want to know. I just know that Robert could be perfectly content to spend his days fishing, hunting, camping,…
She says she wants to be a doctor. I am impressed that a 7 year old is already assuming such a remarkable ambition. According to my limited math skills she will be out of medical school and ready to practice about the time that I will need a good doctor more than ever. I do hope she considers gerontology as a potential field of medical specialty. My 7 year old future doctor happens to be the student I am assigned…