ADIE

We celebrated her 2nd year tonight.There was cupcakes and laughter and presents and pizza. I look into her eyes and I'm taken back 30 years and her Mom is in my lap driving on the bumppty road. One generation folds into the next . If you are lucky as I am your kids become your best friends and their  kids well they are just pure joy. My daughter told me one time Dad if they do something wrong spank them -well its been 6 years and so far they haven't done anything wrong. Tonight was Adie's night. She liked the whipped cream sprayed in her mouth, the princess jewlery, and of course the doll. I could spend all night just watching her smile. JJ and Cooper are the perfect brothers as they help her open each gift and try out each present. Tonight I missed Dorothy, Grandmother Hare, and Mom and Wade Street. I wanted the kids to be young again.I wanted us all to be young again . One day was all I asked for -Happy Birthday Adie- Thanks for the memories.

JOE

The first time I met him was at Etowah Park. He was playing baseball with his son and I was finishing one of the endless rounds of batting practice that Rick , Mike , and I had taken the last ten years. We had started at  the park when it was an endless field of dirt and the balls were taped since niehter of u s could afford new ones. I gave the man and his son some balls since they only had one . I was taken by how nice he was .Little did I know that one day he would become my Father-n-law. In all the years I have known him I have never seen him mad or utter a curse word. We look for examples for ourselves but particularly for our children.Hard worker ,easy to please, even keel, consistancy over time, same job for over 40 years, lose your leg at work one night and never utter a why me .That is the stuff of heroes. The likes of which we will most likely  never see again.

DAD

I grew up on Wade St.many years ago. It was a simpler time and we were poor but didn't know it.I built a house when I was three and I saw the world tumble down at five .To explain a bit- my Dad died when I was five but before he passed away he built 6 houses and I sort of helped . My Dad is gone but those houses have sustained us for almost 60 years. I have remodeled  most of them and in  strange way when I worked on them I felt his presence. One time in an attic I found one of his hammers- I won the lottery that day.I know that I could never sell any of those houses.  Hardly a day passes that I don't think of him and I wondered what if more times than I can count. I hope he has a view of all he is still such a part of down here- I told him a while back that we hit the jack-pot with our kids .I wish he could be here but really I know that he is.