Two funerals in one day.
Saying goodbye to two people you’ve known more than half your life wouldn’t be easy no matter when it happened, but two on the same day was tough.
One passing was expected. The other was not.
One service was nearby. The other was not.
I did not want to have to choose one service over the other, but because of the distance between the two and the start times for each, it looked as if I’d have to.
But, at ...
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The invitation came from my buddy, George. He and I go back 30 years. That was one of the main reasons I agreed to speak at his Rotary Club’s luncheon.
Like most of us, my schedule is overextended. I spend far more time with my coworkers and running a business than I do with my family. So, for that reason, when I get an invitation to speak, I’m often unable to accept. But, when George contacted me, it worked out. For ...
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During global warming’s recent vacation to the arctic, record-low temps were set and kids and grownups got a few days off of school and work.
My wife and I have lived in an empty nest for a number of years now, but it was fun seeing pictures and video of our grandchildren on the east coast sliding on their sleds from the top to the bottom of the hill in their front yard, and then trek back up to repeat until ...
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I’ve been thinking about Andy Griffith a lot lately. And I have Danny Thomas to thank for it.
I spend a lot of time trolling YouTube – the Internet website that allows anyone from large corporations to the average guy like me to upload videos.
Recently, I came across an Andy Griffith episode I’d never seen. For those of us who grew up watching the goings on of The Andy Griffith Show, finding an episode that we didn’t know existed is comparable ...
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The stack of split wood lined much of the back wall of the house on Locust Street. That wood burned hot during many 1970s Arkansas winters.
My father would have the wood delivered cut lengthwise, but not split. That’s what I was for.
Each spring and summer, I would head to the backyard, grabbing the single-blade axe, sledgehammer and two steel wedges, and get to work. I was in my teens and could plow through a rick in short order and then ...
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I was supposed to head straight to the store and back. The garage sale sign I saw not long after leaving home altered my trip just a tad.
I steered my Prius left into the housing addition and followed the arrows. I easily spotted the house. One, because it sat at the top of a small hill and two, because there were a lot of vehicles in front of it.
It was actually a moving sale, but I use garage sale as ...
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The sound of passing cars was constant. The small, rented, pier and beam house sat just a few dozen feet from the highway.
Across the street, a manufacturing plant provided jobs for the locals. They made clothing.
He would sometimes sit on the front porch with his legs dangling over the edge, barefoot and shirtless during the warm months, and watch them come and go. He was free to be outside and enjoy life until shift change at the end of the ...
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We were watching one of my wife’s favorite cooking shows when she noticed a set of colored bowls the woman on the television was using.
“My mother used to have a set of bowls just like that!” she said. “I always loved those bowls. I wonder whatever happened to them? I wonder if she still has them? I’d love to have a set of those. They bring back so may memories!”
Before she had finished the last two sentences, I was already ...
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I was sitting in the living room on the avocado green couch watching daytime TV when I heard the back door open.
I was the only one home, but I didn’t even turn around to see who it was. In the mid-1970s in Arkansas, you didn’t worry about who was coming in your house. People just let themselves in. Especially if it was a relative.
I heard my uncle’s voice.
“Hey,” he said. “I need you to drive a car home for me ...
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The holidays are just around the corner and with their arrival, many universal family rituals return. When individuals who haven’t seen each other since last Thanksgiving (or sometimes even longer) reunite to partake of good food, football, and gossip about the relatives who didn’t show up, inevitably, out come the board games, decks of cards, and puzzles.
Now, you’re either all in or all out on games and puzzles at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some people live for the annual 8-hour game ...
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