June - 2016

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Divide, conquer, vacuum

Divide, conquer, vacuum

Every relationship shares certain responsibilities, but there are also divisions of labor. I’m always fascinated by how couples divvy up jobs. Charles was hands down our technical guru. I wouldn’t even attempt to make tv’s, computers, or new inventions like iPods (hard to believe now, but pretty new before he died) work. I could just point and go "unnhhhh" and he’d make my technological wish come true. He also handled the yard, the cars, and mechanical house stuff. Charles wa

K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple speeder)

K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple speeder)

Years ago, just as I crested a hill on Highway 96 in Williamson County, I realized I was meeting one of Franklin’s finest. When I saw his brake lights in the rear view, it seemed wise to just pull over and wait. Blue lights showed up quickly and parked behind me. The officer eventually walked up to my car and very politely started the drill, first asking if I knew I was speeding. “Oh, yes sir,” I reassured him with my brightest smile. “But I had just passed a truck pulling a

Living fearlessly

Living fearlessly

One thing about Charles was his fearlessness. I'm sorta’ careful. He sorta’ wasn't. I liked that. If you’ve read my CATastrophe blog (here at www.heygodyescharles.com or on my FB author page), you know how his fearlessness translated into more concern for an injured cat in the middle of a busy two lane road than worrying about the danger of positioning your car sideways in that road until you can pull off a rescue. It could also go deeper. Once we did not recognize our somewh

The Letter

The Letter

Dear Daddy, After your death, lots of family and friends offered to help me sort through the 30 years of stuff that you and Mama accumulated in your final and favorite house. It was in fact a huge task, but the truth was I was the only one who could decide what to toss and what to keep. And to do that, I had to look at every single thing including every single piece of paper in every drawer, every closet, and every box in every corner of the house, the attic, and the barn. Bu

A map for grief

A map for grief

Map – “a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements….” Permission – “from the verb permittere “allow” In the past week we have witnessed public acts of rage and terrorism resulting in loss of life and countless injuries. Our hearts go out to these families and of course to many others who suffered their losses more privately. The back stories in loss - public or private - yesterday, today, or tomorrow – are told by those left behind - the families and frie

Let the children come

Let the children come

Our little church hosted Vacation Bible School last week. I hope you have warm memories of VBS from your childhood. We had that perfect weather (thanks God :) and wonderful children. Fully 40% of our Sunday church attendees contributed in some physical way to the success of the week and I’m betting if you count the prayers, it’s a hundred. Another home run was the program itself. During each day of our five day run, a daily lesson was taught. When I tell you the themes, I can

Heroes among us

Heroes among us

There was terrible news in a neighboring county last week when a Blue Angels pilot crashed while practicing for an upcoming air show at the local base. By all accounts, he died a hero, using his precious last few seconds to pilot his jet away from a residential area instead of using that time to eject safely. He was a young man and left behind a young wife and children and, undoubtedly, many other family members and hosts of friends. I know they will forever mourn his death a

Bowling for birthdays, old bones and bygones

Bowling for birthdays, old bones and bygones

It was important recently to show a couple of teenagers a thing or two about bowling. At least that was my shtick as the three of us got a birthday celebration underway. The atmosphere was fun even though each of us saw the gutter six times during our initial three frames! Over the full three games, I think I bowled my age once, a tad over once, and half my age another time. If I could have changed the score card to a golf one, I would have been in business. Of course that wo

Turning toward

Turning toward

June makes us think of young love and weddings. But I’ve recently been fortunate enough to spend some extra up close time with happily married couples in my not-so-young age group, and I can tell you old love can do just fine. As much as I miss having a partner, it thrills me to see others happy with theirs. There’s something incredible about a man who LOVES his wife and vice versa. Being privy to the interactions, both the mundane and the out of the ordinary, is truly a gift

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The good lie

The good lie

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Waiting out the tantrum

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The Letter

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