Memories of Junior High

I recently read something about one of the junior highs that I attended for the brief time we lived in Olathe, Kansas. It started me reminiscing. It was the seventies and it was a great time of fun, learning, and joy for me but also MOVING. We moved four times in the 70's. From the "city" of Rocky Mount, NC to the "country" in Rocky Mount, NC, Rocky Mount to Kansas, Kansas to Rocky Mount NC, Rocky Mount NC to Fayetteville, NC. No my dad was not in the military, but in the computer software, programming industry. Lots of buy outs of companies he worked for etc.

This is a pic of me during the seventies with my cute cousin Debbie. They were visiting for Christmas.

It was a time for celebrating our bi-centennial as a nation. I remember the most awesome fireworks and music from my home towns celebration on the river.

It was a time for attending some fun baseball games with my family and friends. It was during the "reigns" of George Brett, Freddie Patek, Darrel Porter. Those were awesome games.

It was a time of intense family "wars" playing Risk :-) Can you say the country of Irkutsk ??

I learned to bowl in junior high...thanks to my awesome family friends Chris and Taylor

I got to see a movie double feature with my brother and our friends:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind and a new Sci Fi "trilogy" Star Wars

Riding around in my aunts boyfriend's camaro. Jerry used to pop wheelies...scared the bejeebers out of me :-)

My brother getting his driver's license and getting his green VW Beetle.

Our first "video" games...our Atari set for home.

My all time favorite..was going skating at the skating rink. Our skating rink wasn't wooden floors. We had the "new fangled" fiberglass coated cement floors...you could FLY. But just don't get water on the floor...can you say W I P E O U T. And of course the newest rage: Disco Ball.

Then my love...music. I had so many favorite artists that I LOVED to listen to
these album covers are depictions of just a few.

So junior high moved into high school and ushered in the new era of the eighties. I survived them both and also had a blast in them.
So what are some of your favorite Junior High Memories?

Remembering My Grandmother

Early this morning my Grandmama Harrell went home to Heaven. She is the one in between her two girls (and me in in the back) It wasn't totally unexpected as she had, had several strokes over the last three years. She hasn't really known any of us for the last 2 years. So I have mourned losing her many times over the last two years but of course she was still with us so the sting of loss wasn't really that great.
She was a feisty, hard working lady and taught me a lot about so many things:perseverance, hard work, giving to others, being there for each other,and being proud of the gifts God has given you. As she used to tell me when I was having one of those "stage fright" moments: "Get on out there and strut your stuff, honey."She was our biggest fans and never wanted us to settle but to keep striving to be our best. She would travel to hear my group sing if we were within driving distance and was so proud and would whoop and clap.
I will miss her laughter and even her fussing at me. (smile) I enjoyed being able to cut up with her over the years. She loved to dance and sing. (I loved learning that when she was a teenager she would sneak out of her house to go to barn dances. That was big no, no in their family) One of her favorite things in later years for us to do was to get around her old upright piano and play so we could all sing. I loved it when she would play the old hymns and just sing. She also loved to play boogie woogie...I can hear her now pounding out those old songs that she loved.
One of my moms favorite memories is of one summer when I brought some old songs from the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies and my Grandma, my mom, her baby sister and myself sang our lungs out and danced like goofs around my Grandmama's den with our spoon microphones in hand. The picture above was that same week. Sad to say that my moms baby sister on the back left is also in Heaven with Jesus so she and her Mama are already together whooping it up I am sure. (Oh and FYI my poor Mom who is front right was caught off guard in this picture she truly doesn't like having her picture made she would probably kill me for putting this out there in cyberspace.)
There are many things about Evelyn Martha that still make me laugh out loud and many of them were when she was fussing at me to do this or that or when I wasn't doing it "just right" like staining a fence, helping to can beans or peaches, pulling weeds in her garden, mowing her yard, etc. It was the way she would fuss and the look on her face. I loved to pull her leg in those moments, only to hear her say with that hand on her hip: "Sherry, you just love to get me going, don't you??" (smile) When I think of her even now I see, quilts, canning supplies, gardening tools, her favorite cookies (she had quite a sweet tooth) dress up clothes, her fur coat, pecan pie, and things too numerous to mention. I used to love to tease her by saying " I must love her a lot to go pick strawberries for her since I didn't like strawberries." And of course you would see that grin come over her face and that hand reach up to pat my face.
I will miss my Grandmama so very much but I have so many great memories of her so she will always be in my heart and my memories.

More Christmas Memories

Okay Christmas is literally a few days away, I can't believe it. So of course I was thinking about Christmas memories again. Some of my memories are sad, some are hilarious, some could rival anything the Griswolds would EVER think up. But most of all there is a feeling that comes from thinking through these memories: warmth. Not necessarily the warmth of heat from a fire, but of shared hearts and love for each other.

Christmases were always filled with laughter and much celebrating, still is in our family even though its getting harder for all of us to get together anymore. The the picture on the left was a Christmas morning with my brother and I posing with our "loot" I mean gifts, when I was nine years old. Barbie dolls, sewing machine, etc. My brothers helicopter and guitar. Gotta love it. And the picture on the right was taken of my brother, my little cousin and I when we were at my Grandparents house on Christmas eve. This picture was taken in the living room, thus the "fancy" furniture that you really didn't sit on any other time of year, ha ha ha! Just kidding. But it wasn't used that much except Christmases and Birthdays. I think this was yet another year for a Griswold"ish" memory. My Grandparents house had a small den that had a bedroom adjacent to it. This particular Christmas my Grandaddy decided after looking at the wall and seeing all of us crammed in the den that it was time for it to come down and expand the den for all the family to fit in. So of COURSE there was no time to lose, the hammers came out and the wall started coming down. See..told you. Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Then my mom's parents divorced so we started having not just 2 Christmases but three. The Pic 2 the left is one of my 6th grade year with my brother, and cousin Candy. Also did you notice for me (and not my brother, ahem!) it was necessary for me to have a dress up dress for Christmas. Why? When my brother didn't have to dress up?? Actually it was all the women. Notice the other pic my mom is in the red dress, that's a LONG red dress and my aunt is next to her in a long skirt and sparkly shirt. Yes Christmas always equalled dressing up :-) as did Easter. woo hoo! love those traditions, many of them have died away.


I guess the saddest Christmas as a child wasn't really too very sad, just different. It was the year we lived in Kansas when I was in middle school. This was the first Christmas that I remember that we didn't spend with the Grandparents. At first we thought we were going to have to spend it with just the 4 of us and our neighbors who weren't able to go home for Christmas either. But my Aunt Louise and her family were able to come down from South Dakota to spend it with us. Below is a pic of me and my cousin Debbie. Notice I was FINALLY able to just wear comfy clothes, whew! We actually had a white Christmas that year too. Lots and lots of SNOW. My Aunt's family almost didn't make it.

Well, as you celebrate this year and look back on Christmas' past what are some of your favorite memories, traditions, crazyness??

Above all I pray this Christmas is FILLED to overflowing with joy and wonderful new beginnings and blessings.

Christmas Sounds That I Love

Fires crackling in the fireplace, laughter coming from the kitchen as the family works to get the meal on the table, family conversations and reminiscing, and little children whispering and giggling. But there are also the sounds of music at Christmas that I love as well.
Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, the Carpenters, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, sing along with Mitch Miller are just some of the singers at Christmas that bring so many great memories of family Christmases. If we weren't singing along with these guys' albums, (yes those vinyl things that we put on a turntable on the Hi Fi) they were playing in the background either in our home or my Grandparents. There was also the Mitch Miller and Andy Williams' Christmas specials that we watched all gathered around the TV and we definitely sang along with those.

What Christmas sounds, songs and singers remind you of your childhood?

My Favorite Games To Play As a Child

What games did you like to play as a child? Yes I lived in the days before we had Nintendo etc. So we had all those funny manual games. Like Pick up stix...it sounds and looks SO easy but HA! Was SO not!!!


Do you recognize Jax?? TOTALLY addicted to it as a kid..of course when we had recess during elementary school there were groups of us (mostly girls) playing these and trying to be the one who was able to pick up the most Jax during one bounce. I also loved playing these with my mom and dad...fun memory.
What about Operation?? Do you remember trying to get that little funny bone out of the slot?? too funny




Then there's this board game. Risk was an all time fave board game for our whole family to play when I was growing up. We would choose sides, usually boys vs. girls and go for it. The funniest part was trying to say the names of the countries: like Irkutsk for example. In college we picked up playing this game and had killer tournaments. We were out for blood. I didn't win much but when I did it was SO FUN rubbing it in.



Another childhood fave board game was Clue. Loved trying to figure out who done it. Loved the move too! Have you seen it? If you loved the board game you have to rent it and watch. Totally hilarious.



Then finally I guess it was middle school when Pac Man and Ms Pac Man came and then my dad took the plunge and bought Atari for our TV...too funny!! I think he played more than my brother or I ever did. Favorite games for this system were Pong, Bricks, Asteroids, and yes the early Pac Man. Can you imagine?? But I think the one we had wasn't color like this pic, it was black and white.


So....what was your favorite game as a child or teen? And why was it fun for you??

Childhood Halloween Memories

When I was growing up I remember Halloween as pretty innocent fun. I remember when I was in first grade the first time we had to let mom and dad go through our candy before we dove into eating it. That was the year some crazy guy was putting razor blades in the apples. And yes that was when you still got APPLES for a treat. We also went from house to house in our neighborhood without mom and dad and there weren't really any worries about someone trying to do something to hurt you.

Well I think my favorite Halloween memory was from when I was in elementary school. My parents were youth sponsors at our church and our church always hosted a haunted house. Yes, you read that right not a fun fest or trunk or treat but a HAUNTED HOUSE. Like I said things have changed a TON in the last 20+ years.

Now this wasn't just any old house that we had this in, this was a vacant home on one our church members' farms. And I was told by one of my very favorite people in our youth group that someone had actually been murdered there. So of course I believed him. Smile. (Hey I was 10 years old.) And this house was at least a 1/4 mile back from the main street, so you had to walk a pretty long path from the parking area to the house. Perfect time to get you totally freaked out before you ever stepped foot in the house. You were led to the house by "tour guides" who were dressed up in complete witches costumes which my mom made.

Now this house had someone dressed up as Dracula in a real coffin (my favorite person was Dracula and even got the coffin,sigh) a decapitated head on a chopping block, brains in a bowl, and of course spooky sounds and the crawl through tunnel to get out and much much more. The tunnel had the fake floor with people laying down under it and they would grab at your legs as you crawled out. My brother was one of the ones in the tunnel, after the 2nd night he got hurt by someone that freaked out.
It still amazes me that we did this as a youth fund raiser for our church! I mean really??!!

The night we kicked this off was "perfect". It was super chilly and windy outside. The tour guides had lanterns to lead people down the path, and even though I knew everyone that was playing parts in the house I was scared out of my mind...after going through all the rooms I didn't make it through the tunnel, I turned around and ran back out the front door.

As a matter of fact I worked myself up into such scaredy cat state that when we got home I went into our dark den to turn on some lights. And as I was walking across the room to turn on the first light I happened to look out the front window and saw some shadowy figure walk in front of the window. And of course I immediately assumed it was either a ghost or some bad person coming to "get us". So I RAN to get my dad and we walked into the den together, all the while I am pointing at this "shadowy figure" and WHISPERING rather loudly to my dad. Now my super hero dad who is showing absolutely NO fear grabs me by the hand and walks me to the window, and as I am bracing myself to SCREAM as I face this shadowy bad person, my dad clears his throat points to the movement in front of the window and asks me: "Is that what you saw"? I nod my head yes, then he pulls back the sheers. Okay at that moment I experienced several emotions all at once: total let down, embarrassment, and relief.

OH! so you want to know what it was?.....The scary shadowy figure was none other than a pine tree blowing in front of the lit lamp post at the end our drive way. Which you could see in perfect shadowed form from our den window. Now so help me it look just like someone walking in front of the window.....REALLY!

So what point do all these Halloween memories have? Here are few interesting facts, in the very town where I experienced all this innocent fun as a child now stands one of the largest satanic churches on the east coast; about an hour and half south east of this same town is the eastern headquarters for WICCA. You know the "white" witches association. And I could list a host of other things but I think I have made this point: The Halloween of my childhood is NOT the Halloween of today.

Ghost stories which my brother and I loved to read about as kids were just that, stories. Today Ghost hunters are all over the TV showing us that we "aren't' alone" in many places on this earth trying to convince us that we share spaces with the invisible. The irony of this though is that while our children are allowed to dress up and celebrate the most gruesome creatures at school for Halloween and even discuss witches and vampires, they aren't allowed to have a Nativity play that celebrates the birth of Christ, or discuss Jesus in class or the Bible. Does this mean that I think the celebration of Halloween caused this? No I just think we as believers in Christ have allowed our rights as believers to be taken away. We have allowed others to silence us because of "convincing" arguments.

This seems pretty twisted up to me. What about you? Do you think its right? What about Halloween how is it different to you today?

My Musical Influences and Remembrances

Okay I am child of the 70's and 80's but my musical tastes are from all over the place and different genres. I have told my mom that I think she had the FM radio up against her tummy when she was carrying me. Ha! I have always loved music and singing. Love Blues, Jazz, Classical, some Opera (depends on who is singing) etc. At home when I was growing up the music on the turntable and radio for the most part was country. Although they listened to lite rock, classical and some jazz. My dad was big into the country music his favorites were Roy Clark, Marty Robbins (my favorite album of his was the Gunfighter Ballads but I just loved his voice) Glen Campbell, etc. My mom loved those too but she added Tammy Wynette, Linda Ronstadt, the Mamas and the Papas, Carly Simon, and some other lite Rock stuff into the mix . They also loved Lawrence Welk music. We watched the Lawrence Welk show and Hee Haw in the same weekend. Can we say opposite sides of the spectrum :-)

Another musical influence was my Aunt who babysat us many times. She was only 7 years older so she was more like a big sister than my aunt. So she introduced us to Fleetwood Mac, Three Dog Night, Jim Croce, and Seals and Croft, James Taylor as well as some others from the early 70's. And of course we listened to the FM radio all the time in the car and at home.

During this time my older brother and I were starting to like our own groups and were sharing albums and records. We listened to the Beach Boys, Elton John, Bread, the Four Seasons (I know, not exactly a pop or rock group) and many others. I wish I could remember the first 45 (record) that I bought. But sadly I can't. I just remember having my little green record player in my bedroom, using the knobs from my canopy(they held the frame of the canopy onto the bedposts; dumb move on my part: the whole canopy could have fallen :-( but hey I was little and didn't know) as my microphone and singing into the mirror thinking absolutely no one in the house could hear me, ha ha ha ! My mom says she loved to hear what I thought they were singing as I sang along. Am sure that was a riot.

As I got into my teen years I began drifting away from my brothers rock stuff even though I loved, Boston, Journey, Pablo Cruse, TOTO, ELO and others that he did I became fascinated with ballads, etc and started listening to the Carpenters (I mean who didn't want to be Karen Carpenter and play drums and sing?) Olivia Newton John, Anne Murray, ABBA, Barry Manilow, John Denver, etc. Yeah all the stuff that made my brother want to hurl. Last but not least in my teens we were introduced to Christian Radio and from that we discovered Amy Grant, Petra (but only on Saturday nights, ha ha) Michael W Smith, Chris Christian and many others. This began a lifelong love for Contemporary Christian Music. Although now my loves tend to run more toward praise and worship.

So all of this created the love for music not to mention singing. My mom has a great soprano voice and actually taught me and my brother how to harmonize usually with her as she was playing the piano to tunes such as How Great Thou Art and It is No Secret, and hymns, as well as some older 50's music that she played as a little girl: Pat Boone and Connie Francis stuff. I loved learning to do that with her. My dad has a great voice as well so he would teach me to harmonize along with his bass baritone notes in church as we sang the hymns. Of course during this time I was taking piano lessons so I was learning notes and chord structures so I could pick out the notes in the hymnal and sing those, but for the most part I just loved picking out my own harmony. To this day I will drive my family nuts because I will sing along with something but not the melody, I am picking out a harmony to go along. At concerts I would do the same thing. A friend in college would get SO irritated: he hated sitting next to me, (but he was the one who CHOSE to sit next to me, so his fault) because I would sing along, not always but lots of times I would (i don't like it when people do that at concerts now, so I am getting paid back for annoying him I guess.) He would ask me the same thing everytime: "Sherry,do you like what they are singing?" and I would say, "yes". Then he would reply "Then be quiet and let THEM sing." Nice, huh? So of course, I would just have to continue to sing along just to annoy him. ;-)

When I entered High school I had a great Choir Teacher: Mrs. Mona Knowles. She was fabulous and loved encouraging her students to use their talents and discover new ways to use and grow that talent. She knew that my best friend and I loved to harmonize so when we had some 4 part girl songs she would encourage Patty and I to find a different harmony and sing out. Now that doesn't mean that it all sounded good, but she would work with us to hear it as well as sing it out. I learned a lot about encouraging people to find their giftedness as well as hearing harmony from her. And she was also a big reason I began praying about being a music major in college and discerning what it was that God wanted me to use this gift for.

I did enter college as a music major(and actually Mrs. Knowles Alma mater: as a vocal performance: contralto; music education. What the fancy voice part means is that I was an alto who had a rather low vocal range but could also sing the lowest of the high range of a mezzo soprano. If you know anything about the keyboard on a piano I was 2 notes shy of having a 3 octave range in college...do i have that now, no way. Haven't exercised those vocal cords in that way in a long time. In college my favorite professor was Dr. Piper. He encouraged me tremendously. When you get into the performance arena in college it can be extremely competitive and intimidating. But he and my voice teacher encouraged me to try new things, new styles, and to quit being shy and SING! They tricked me into singing for master classes etc, just to get me to sing in public more. Yeah really nice to come for a "meeting" or extra voice lesson only to find out you are singing in 10 minutes in front of a group of people you didn't know. I disappointed them however by changing my major to religion just one course year shy of being able to have my music degree. Why? I knew at that point that I was called to ministry and had a religion professor tell me I had to do that. Truly a dumb move and a waste of money and time. I did learn a lot in those religion courses but also ended up repeating many things when I went to seminary. If I could go back and do it over I would finish my music degree and then go to seminary for my religion classes.

So what does all this rambling reminiscing mean? I guess I am asking what have the influences been on your life? Can you trace the lines of where certain loves for things began? Not that that is truly life altering but I think its a good thing to think about where you came from, how you got to this place in your life doing what you do, and what and whom God used in your life to get you where you are now. Its like the memorial markers that the patriarchs of the Old Testament used, those stones of remembrance.Something to look back to. Today you would equate it with the Vietnam vets wall, the WWII memorial, etc. Things that help us to remember what has happened and how we got here where we are. Take some time and think through it, its fun, and I think it helps us to discover all the places in our life where God was sculpting, trimming, directing, guiding and growing us. And all this in turn I think helps us to move forward in our lives doing what God has been leading us toward.

I Miss Williamsburg VA and Hometown Today

Other than of course my family,

I miss Williamsburg VA http://www.history.org/ and my hometown of Rocky Mount, NC specifically Battle Park and Sunset Park http://www.rockymounttravel.com/rec-parks.html today on this 4th of July. Why? Because of the education they gave me about the sacrifices made by the many men and women of our Country for me to live in freedom.

Williamsburg VA of course is "next door" to Jamestown VA so there are lots of historical "adventures" you can participate in to learn all about the Revolutionary War.When I lived in Chesapeake VA I would love going up for the day since it was only 45 mins. away. And I actually went there many times...I loved visiting the historic town and the hiking trails on the Colonial arkway. For example today Williamsburg will be packed with tourists and history buffs who enjoy the re-enactments. There will be fireworks (see pic to the above left of one example) and the symphony on the lawn tonight. Favorite re-enactments: Patrick Henry's famous speech: "Give me liberty or give me death" http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html this entire speech is SO incredibly inspiring. We only quote the very last line. And the parade with the guns and the pageantry. But it is incredible to see them march in all their regalia and the fife and drum corps. Here's a link to a great slide show of pics http://www.history.org/media/slideshows/drummerscall/ One of my night pics is to the left unfortunately I had forgotten I had my star lens filter on..so its kind of distracting. Anyway, these guys' are impressive to watch and hear. These guys' to the left were actually my groups escort to dinner one night when I was there. Really fun marching behind them.

Anyway, I also miss my hometown of Rocky Mount, NC. I grew up with tons of history all around me. I could include my moms and my dads hometowns as well because they are packed full of history. My moms is Edenton NC where the ladies gathered before the Boston Tea Party and had their own little tea party. There is a lovely little tea pot on a fence commemorating the event near the lead heroine's home site. Here is a pic to the right.

Or my dads place of birth Fayetteville, NC which is named for the General Marquis de Lafayette who was one of the revolutionary war heroes when the French came to our aide.

But Rocky Mount is where I will focus because its here that I first learned the lesson of freedom at the expense of the lives of men and women defending it for me. Of course in Rocky Mount I didn't learn about revolutionary war history so much here, but Civil War history. But I was still taught about conviction and standing up to tyranny and oppressive rule. But it was also in Rocky Mount that my family would gather with grandparents and friends and we would watch Fireworks downtown or have pig pickin's (yes there is no "g" in that pronunciation where I grew up) And if you haven't been to a pig pickin you haven't been in the south. It includes, pulled pork, coleslaw, cornbread, corn on the cob, baked beans and you gotta have fresh churned ice cream as well. Oh and of course you had to have a game of baseball!!! Ahhhh fun times.

To sum it all up I have fond memories of this holiday and always miss "home" and family when I am away from them on days like today. I am also praying for men and women some that I know personally who are fighting on the front lines every day to ensure that I still have the freedoms that I hold dear. May God continue to bless America but may we strive to stand up to those that want to remove those freedoms that were fought so bravely for.

Favorite Memories of my Dad

When I say memories it doesn't mean that my dad is in Heaven he is still alive and kicking loving retirement although there are days when I think he gets terribly bored. He has always liked having something to do.

(the pic to the left is of my dad and his best friend from High school and my brothers namesake Robert Skinner. My dad is the tall handsome one on the left, sorry Robert ;-) ) When my older brother and I were little bitty he was in the air force. As a matter of fact dad was in Guam when I was born. When I was 2 my dad left the Air Force and went to work in the wonderful world of computers. He began to learn programming languages  writing programs and doig system analysis for life insurance companies then later on in the academic world: Southwestern Seminary and Columbia College and stayed with it until he was 62.

My oldest memory of my daddy as he was called then was being dressed up and at the city lake in Rocky Mt, NC feeding the ducks. Two of my fave preschool memories were from when I was in Kindergarten. The first one was him dropping me off for school and walking me up the sidewalk, squatting to hug me goodbye.(The pic to the right is what that Kindergarten drop off place looks like today. Its the little fenced in area to the left of the brick bldg where dad would drop me off.) The next was when I was playing under his office desk while he was conducting a meeting. His office was HUGE. There was a chalkboard on his wall and Brachs candy in the desk drawer. (he was trying really hard to quit smoking and the candy helped him) I was allowed to eat 3 pieces. :-) I kinda miss him smoking his pipe, his tobacco smelled great! Anyway, I was in his office that day because I had, had a dentist appointment which was across the street from his office and was waiting for him to take me back to school. So why is this a favorite memory if I wasn't spending time talking and playing with him? Because I was in his very BUSY place of work and he was okay with it, he wasn't stressed out or telling me to be quiet. And believe me I was not staying out of sight. although it was really cool playing under his gynormous desk. It made a great cave. I was having fun coloring on the green and white computer print out paper he gave me, and also drawing all over the chalk board. And all the while there were about 6-8 people in his office in a meeting. 😊

As I got older time spent with him became few because of the long hours he had to work to stay on top of the ever changing computer world of the day. But he's the man that even though time was precious taught me to ride my bike, held me and calmed me during thunderstorms, made sure I had read my Sunday School lesson on Saturday night, sat next to me in church and helped me learn to harmonize with those bass and tenor notes,loved to see what I had learned to play on the piano in my lessons,and played jacks with me. During my pre-teen and teen years time spent with him was usually to do something. But he's still the one that taught me all about a car, driving a standard even in icy weather, (we took it out to an empty field and he taught me how to recover from spinning out on ice) changing the oil, checking all the parts to make sure all were in working order and of course changing a tire and more than anything, that I could take care of myself in an emergency. I knew everything about our old family car: 79 Toyota corolla that you could know before he was through.

But I probably wouldn't have the relationship I have with him today if it weren't for the "gift" I was given in my late 20's. That gift was being able to move back home with my parents while I attended seminary. My dad was actually working at the seminary at that time. He was the director of Information Technology at SWBTS. (to the right is a pic from my graduation day. My dad is the one behind me and my mom is the one on my right. My Aunt Louise is directly behind my mom, My brother is on the far right in an uncharacteristically serious pose)

Anyway once again I was going to his office, but this time it was different, I was a grown up and just coming to visit between classes. God gave us an opportunity to strengthen our relationship and to become friends. Those times of visiting in his office were pretty special. And he was just as busy then as he was when I was in Kindergarten but he stopped everything to listen and visit with me. I worked on campus in the library and many days he would come and get me and we would go grab a burger and catch up about my classes and life.

Below is a pic of my dad from  one of his mom's many visits to me when I lived in Texas and they had moved to SC. This visit he refinished my Great Grandmother's bedroom suit for me. He did a great job on it.

So now I treasure the fact that there aren't too many things that I can't talk with my dad about. We have grown our friendship/relationship by working at it and taking the time to grow it. So just know all you grown up men and women reading this, its never too late to get to know your parents. I have learned so much about my dad and have loved hearing his dreams and what he loves to do.

So happy Birthday daddy. I am thankful for you and our friendship (I wish I had more pics to share of my daddy and me as I was growing up but of course they are in SC with them)

I will end  with this one of Dad and Mom and I going down my memory lane at my alma mater: Campbell University.  😀

Remembering my Grandaddy's Sacrifice

I actually posted this last November. But thought it was fitting to post it again on this Memorial Day. My Grandaddy and many, many others sacrificed many things so that we in America and other parts of the world can live in freedom. Many gave their lives. Check out Shaun's blog to see all the stats: http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog/
So today stop and say a prayer of thanks to God for the sacrifice that men and women have made for us to be able to live as we do.
Okay this is a bit late. I meant to do this for the week of November 11th (Veterans day)

My Grandaddy Bunch served in WWII with the 457th Bomb Group that flew B-17's better known as Black Puff Polly. (tothe left is a picture of him in his flight suit. He is the man in the back on the left) Grandaddy was a bombardier. Many times he also served as a gunner in the glass "window" up top as well. When you could get him to talk about it he would tell stories of freezing as they reached the higher altitudes flying their missions. As most that served he didn't tell many stories connected to this time. It was too painful and horrific for him. He was shot down over France on June 14th 1944 on a mission to Paris. Now in case you didn't know or remember, France at this point in the war was German occupied. So wherever you landed you were bound to run into the enemy.

I only know about these details because his squadron leader compiled a book back in 1991. (All of us Grand kids were given a copy). But I should say I heard stories of this time but only brief snippets. Anyway, God certainly protected him as he floated to the ground in his parachute. A french family intercepted he and his pilot Lt Rogers. They also treated Granddaddy's ankle that was badly sprained when he landed. After many days they finally reached contacts in the French underground who gave them civilian clothes and papers. After almost 8 months of walking, passing through German checkpoints undetected and/or ignored, hiding out in barns and haylofts,they were finally rescued by men from General Patton's 5th army.

Ultimately they reached Eisenhower's headquarters where they were able to get cleaned up and get back to the states to be debriefed and reunited with loved ones. Imagine my grandmother who thought her husband was either dead or in a prison camp for over 8 months. She finally got a telegram saying he was rescued and was coming home for a brief leave. In Grandaddy's things there is a copy of the telegrams that Grandmama received. He always liked to tell us gullible grandkids that he showered in Eisenhower's shower. ha! And we throught he was just pulling our leg. But no kidding. He really did that.

Another side story that Grandaddy told a brief account of was when they were trying to reach a safe house. One evening as it was growing dark, they decided they needed to find a place to sleep for the night. They walked up to a house that was about 100 yards from the road. When they reached the house they noticed the activity in the house and then one man came out dressed as a King as Grandaddy said and was dumping out dishwater. His pilot became anxious and said no Frenchmen dress like that. Thankfully he hesitated. They decided to try another house and so they walked another 100 yards to another home. This home looked safe and when they knocked on the door they were invited inside. When they were safely inside,the family told them how scared they were for them. They had noticed Grandaddy and Lt Rogers hiding in the bushes behind the house. They told them that this house was Gestapo headquarters!!!! WOW! Explained the fancy clothing. That family hid them in their barn until daybreak and they started walking again trying to find American soldiers or a French Underground connection.
There are many more stories of he and Lt. Rogers being discovered but the German soldiers were either in too much of a hurry or just not wanting to mess with only 2 suspicious men. Our family chalks it up to God's protection.

So I would like to say thank you to Grandaddy who is now in Heaven, to my Daddy, as well as several other family members, and to my friends that are currently serving all over the world: Raja, Mike,Owen, Franklin,Todd, Charlie, and a host of others and their families for protecting and fighting for our freedoms that we so take for granted.

As you gather around the dinner table this Thanksgiving thanking God for His provisions remember to say a thank you for family or friends or those you don't know that are serving or have served in the Armed Forces. Also pray for the protection of those that currently serve as they continue to fight for our freedoms and other nations freedoms as well.

Please be praying for comfort for ...

I got a message from one of my friends, Sandy Autry Blake, this morning about 4 am. She told me her mom, Faye Autry, died unexpectedly last night and they were on their way to NC to help her dad plan the funeral. I was in shock! Can't imagine what they are going through. And Faye is my parents age and was in good health. We just never know do we? As she said on her Facebook page, she just wishes she could have said goodbye.

thank you for praying for the Autry family.