Category: Family

We have a walker! That’s what Michael’s text read on Wednesday evening. Jackson James has been walking around things and taken steps holding on to his mom or dad, but this was his first solo romp. Firsts are a big deal. I spoke to Mike on the phone the following evening, and he reported Jackson …

When I was very young, I spent several days with the Walker girls while my mom took care of her mother who was ill at the time. While I was actually their cousin, they treated me like their little brother. Diane is six years my senior, Elizabeth four, and Ruth Ellen almost two. Diane married …

Last week, as we were preparing to head north for the summer, Ruth ran across an old Mother’s Day gift from David.  He gave it to her when he was in elementary school.  It’s a coupon book she’s never used.  She brought it north, hoping to redeem a coupon or two.  They read as follows: …

Yes, I know we just celebrated Mother’s Day.  I truly hope every mother enjoyed their special day.  Heaven knows they deserve all their accolades.  It’s a difficult task.  Once a mother, always a mother.  The same holds true for fathers.  That’s why I already know what I’m buying David for Father’s Day.  A baseball bat. …

We’re two days into my favorite time of the year.  Ruth’s a year older than me until the end of May.  In spite of her advancing years, she’s holding up pretty well.  This is her diamond anniversary. No, I didn’t buy her diamonds, but at seventy-five, it’s her diamond year.  I am taking a public …

March 30, 1975, changed my life forever.  Our first child, David, was born.  Back in the seventies when a baby was born, it was potluck.  There were no procedures for determining if your child was a boy, or a girl, or if they would have all their parts. You got what you got. While it’s …

Our youngest grandchild, Jackson James, turns one today.  Ruth and I have traveled to California to see him four times this year.  Our latest trip was last weekend.  He wasn’t aware his birthday was a week away, so we celebrated a bit early. When you’re only one- year-old you have no real sense of time.  …

When I was ten or eleven, I played my first game of Mumbley-peg with my cousin Gene.  Being four years my senior, and a pocketknife toting teen, he showed me the ropes on several of life’s major issues.  Mumbley-peg was just one.  He was the closest thing I had to a big brother. We played …

“Brady’s fine.”  Those are words you want to hear; however, you suspect there might be a “but” coming.  There was.  Brady rolled his SUV a couple weeks ago and the first words out of David’s mouth when he called to tell us were “Brady’s fine.  He rolled his car but came out of it without …