Retread

Sometimes you travel down a path you swore you would never go down again.Life is a good teacher.My days are made up of small pieces now . Not much time to tarry.I was sick last week-the sickest I have ever been in my life. Made me realize that if you lose your health you lose a lot.Someone told me when they are nauseous they just want their Moma.There is still some child -like qualities in all of us.In the hard places of our lives there  HE is. Holding us close .Saying over and over "I am with you". When you know He is with you you have no fears. You are out of reach from this world and the things that may try and harm you. It is sad it takes so long but with age we come to understand how the inevitability of time adds beauty to the moment.

COOPER

I blinked and he turned 5 today.Due to numeruos difficulties with people saying and spelling my name I have developed somewhat of a name phobia-especially when it comes to my grandchildren.I always wanted a cool sounding name. Something that drew to mind a combination of actor/athelete/superhero.Tough yet sensative.Thoughtful,kind. A man's man but more importantly a man or woman that God would be proud of.I never wanted them to have my name sinced I'd already traveled that route.Funny what time does to one's perceptions.I can't imagine any 5 of them having any name but their own now. It really is the person that makes the name not the other way around. So today is Cooper's day.I remember my daughter telling me fairly soon after Julian was born that another would be ariving soon. I am reminded everytime I see those two together that God's timing is indeed perfect.Cooper is a dardevil.No doubt he will be a sky diving/mountain climbing/deep water diver.He has that smile that makes you think he is up to something.That same smile also warms your heart as he passes by going 90 miles an hour. He jumps in for a quick hug and then he's back on the runway readying for another take-off. So Happy Birthday Super Hero-I mean Cooper.Love you-Papa

River Walk

February is known for its cold weather that causes us to silently pray for spring time.Only yesterday God smiled on us and gave us 60 degrees with sunshine.My wife and I used this time to walk the river walk in Chattanooga.After our walk we dined outside on soup and salad.On our way there we passed a mom chasing her two young children. She looked at me and asked if I wanted a couple of kids.My wife and I looked at each other and smiled. Should I tell her how fast that time goes by- and yes you will miss it.Some things are better left unsaid.

LOT OF MILES/LOT OF MEMORIES

Talked with an old friend the other day. At one time we were traveling a similar path and so we were able to share time together for several years.Hard to believe it has been 2 years since we had last talked. People come in and out of our lives all the time.I use to think that certain people would always be a part of my life. Time and distance really don't matter with those we truly connect with.Is it that we are so busy now or that we tire of making the effort to stay in touch-maybe a little bit of both. To have a friend one must be a friend-it does take some effort.I really never have had a best friend since high school. You get married and kids come along and if you are lucky they become your best friends.While I am not a big party person ,I do like being around people. I enjoy sharing what the kids are up to and of course all about the grandkids.And of course we talk of the past and how quickly time has gone by.As my friend and I ran out of words to say we both agreed to stay in touch.As I hung up the phone I felt a tear roll down my cheek serving as a reminder-that part of me will always miss that time we shared so long ago.

The Critical Inch

There are no courses we can take.Nor enough prayers that we can throw up to the heavens to prepare us for parenthood. And just when we think we know what we are doing our angels become teenagers.One year we had seven teens living in our home at the same time-we were on our knees a lot.We have no children at home now but as strange as this may sound I miss being a parent.Over the years we had three home grown kids and dozens of others kids that we were parents to.We have times when we honestly don't know what to do. It seems hopeless.We think someone else could raise them or do a better job.I gave up on a few kids. It is so easy to tell yourself it is for the greater good and that life would be so much easier for everyone. My advice to my own children about the grands is to tell them you will love them through anything and I will never give up on you.We all lose our way sometimes.Getting older has simplified my life. I'd much rather be kind than to be right.My way or the highway sounds good but WWJD .      I call it the critical inch.When things go bad and we have to respond to something we are totally unprepared for. It happens a lot in the teenage years. Trust me there is a battle raging and we must soldier on.As Winston Churchill once said ,"never,never give up".

JOHN

The first person I remember playing with was my cousin John.Up until age 11 we spent practically every waking moment together.Building huts in the woods.Throwing the football,playing basketball,and playing strike-out with our one baseball.We  use to go down to Owens Hardware and spend hours looking at all the gloves and jerseys. Kids now never have to wait on things but back then it gave us a chance to dream. We also spent a good deal of time looking at the Sears catalog.For years I had my eye on a Daisy BB gun.Mom knew best.She thought me or John might shoot one of our eyes out. J C Grant and his wife Buella ran what would now be called a convenience store. For 10 cents you could get a Coke and a pack of Lays potato chips.Bob the barber was next door. A place where a haircut was a dollar and the conversation  was a real education especially for me and John.John had a dog named Boots and mine was Chubby.They followed us everywhere. Grandmother Hare had a dog named Tiny.Lassie was a popular TV show as well as Rin Tin Tin.Hard to imagine that the television was invented only a few years before I was born and then we only had 3 channels. John and I knew everyone on Wade Street.Who their parents were and where their Dads worked-even their dog's names.Most Moms stayed at home. School started with the first grade.Don't ever remember anyone having ADHD or being "bipolar" Or needing counseling. If you didn't pass you failed.Guess no one worried too much about what it would do to your self esteem back in those days.John failed the 1st grade but neither of us minded since that meant we would both be in the same grade or so we thought.At Celanese Elementary the incoming 1st grade class was so large they had 2 classes. My teacher was a short stocky lady named Ms Wilkes. John had a sweet teacher named Mrs Baker.The first grade was hard for me as I had lost my Dad a few months before school started.Really the only way I passed was about half way through the year my Mom started taking Her home from school. Back in those days teachers made little money and it was a struggle if you were single.Ms Wilkes had always been single.John and I would start riding the bus in the 2nd grade and that would vault us into more and more independence.Even today ,though we don't see each other often,a closeness remains that can never be broken

Hope Survived and Love Endured

He still remembers the first time he saw her. She was so friendly.Who knows what makes us choose who we love-it is almost as if we don't have a choice.We played cards and we rode in my red 1954 GMC truck.We listened to the Eagles ,and I watched soap operas for the first time.Our lips were like magnets-I couldn't get enough of her.Kids came along and they became our focus.We get lost sometimes in the day to day.We think certain things are important but in the end the only thing that really matters is that we have loved and have been  loved in return. Their world fell apart and it would have been so easy to give up. Some way ,some how,hope survived and love endured.He thanked her for 34 years and said "as I wrote 35 years ago- one day with you is better than a lifetime with anyone else"-now just give me a lifetime with you-I am still learning!

Hallelujah Amen

The drive here seems to fly since we discovered audio books.In many ways it is nice to be free to respond to the things that jump out at us -particularly with a growing family.I was excited to get to my baby sitting gig. To hear their voices filled with excitement as they say -Papa is here. The biggest adjustment is sharing my bed at night since rumors of my excessive snoring had insisted that my wife and I have separate sleeping arrangements. The Grand Kids don't even notice it -yet. Lying next to me on this night is my first Grandson.I remember wondering if I would love them as I did my children .I laugh as I recall that question -not even a sharp elbow and knee will disrupt this little peace of heaven tonight.Of course Papa fixed the" best eggs they had ever eaten"and even the orange juice was the "best ever".As we drove to school I remembered the prayer I had started many years ago-Dear Lord live within us these days. Bless all that we shall do and say. Shine within us like the sun. So that we may be good to everyone.    Hallelujah Amen. As I watched them carry their back packs into school I found myself already wishing for 2:30 .

Little Things

It is often the little things that we often take for granted.I went about 2 years without a comfortable chair,or the feather pillow I had depended upon and of course good food;however,it was the people in my life that I missed the most.The laughter.The hugs.Seeing little legs run.Talking several times a week to my kids . Having a cup of coffee with my wife .Using a computer. Hearing my favorite word now - Papa.In a strange way I was given a unique insight-a chance to take an inventory of my life .To put away those things that really had little value and to finally focus on the only thing that truly lasts LOVE. As I get older time seems to speed up. I realize my blue jeans went out of style 20 years ago and yes they are a little baggy-never understood why a guy would want a tight fit. I think everything is too high except stuff at Lowes or Home Depot.What a crisis we would face if Walmart weren't here. In another 10 years I may learn how to use my iphone.For now I turn the fireplace on. Grab a cup of coffee.Relaxing into my favorite chair I smile and say a special thank you as another day unfolds.