My Ramblings

Last week, some of our family went to the Stanislaus County Fair here in our town of Turlock. We parked in a huge lot behind the fairground. It is now covered primarily with asphalt, but that’s not how it was back in 1969. Then, it was packed dirt, patches of grass and weeds.  I recalled this when my mind gave me back an unpleasant memory from that time. It was Easter, 1969 and our mom took us there for a big egg hunt. I was 12, too old to participate and not interested in hunting eggs anyway, but Mom did not give me the choice of staying home. My siblings, Jeff, age 10, Tina, age 8 and Kevin age 6, were excited about it so we all went.  What excited them was not so much the plastic eggs filled with candy, but the big prizes that could be won including toys, skates, board games, etc., which were donated by local businesses. These big prizes were described on slips of paper inside the plastic eggs and this was a huge event which attracted approximately 300 kids and their famili

I sometimes have these moments which I will call “realized memories” which, before they popped into my head, had been forgotten up to that moment. I have no explanation why these memories pop in on me. Sometimes, a song, seeing a certain old car, a place or a scene in a movie brings the memory to the forefront of my mind.   Following is one such memory. It is regarding an old friend, Mark Mears and an event that occurred many years ago around 1985 when I was 28 years old. The recollection resurfaced last week when I drove by the Greyhound Bus station in our town.  Mark and his wife Tena lived in the apartment building managed by Linda and I in San Jose. Mark was a youth pastor at a local church. One day, he stopped by to ask if I would do him a favor. What he asked me to do was right down my alley and I quickly agreed. He was putting together a scavenger hunt of sorts for his youth group which required them to follow clues, walk around downtown San Jose in small groups, and p

AsI have previously written here, I am deeply moved by the lyrics of many songs by Bob Bennett. He is able to paint beautiful word pictures and I am grateful that he is still at it after so many years. I was just listening to his song “1951” which is a tribute to his parents. The song can make my cry and and also make me happy. For those people unfamiliar with this song, I have included the lyrics below: Well Daddy was an honest, hard-working man With bad eyesight and calloused hands He married young and he made his stand In 1951 Well it was worn-out pants and pinto beans Minimum wage and mustard greens But he treated Mama just like a queen In 1951 In Nineteen-Hundred and Fifty-One Both of them lovers and both of them young There were clouds in the skies But stars in their eyes in 1951 She called him "Mister" and he called her "Hon'" In 1951 Sometimes I'd hear my Daddy sigh Mama would cry on his shoulder Whenever I

Today, July 12, 2013 marks the 33rd. anniversary of Linda and me being married. In 1980, there were people who knew us that whispered we would “never make it.” The primary reason they thought this was that I was too immature to be her husband. That I would fail to support her financially. They believed I was incapable of a long term commitment. On our twentieth anniversary, we happened to run into one of “those people.” She admitted that she was one who had thought this about us. She told us she was sorry for thinking it and said she was happy we had made it to 20 years.  To be fair, even I didn’t think, back then, that our marriage would last because I really was immature and unreliable. But it’s amazing what a guy can do when he has the love and support of a woman like Linda. We had many rough patches in the first years  of our union as well as some all through our marriage. However, we are still standing as a couple 33 years later. I give most of the credit to Linda because of

As many of you have deduced by now, my ramblings here are quite random. This one is no exception and goes back to 1970 or so when I was 12 years old and in school at Walter White Junior High. I have several memories about those two years, one of which involved a pretty 7 th . grade teacher who all the boys thought was “neat” and “foxy,” and some fake vomit. Her name was Ms. Stapp; she was tall, had dark hair and was very nice to everyone. One day, Mark Lowe came to school with a flat rubber mass that looked just like vomitus. I mean, it looked REAL.  Mark dared me to play a joke on Ms. Stapp with the vomit. So, in the middle of the morning period in her classroom, he asked her for some “help” with his schoolwork. When she walked over to his desk, her back turned to me, I stood up, bent over, made a loud upchucking sound and slapped that faux vomit on the floor which sounded like something wet hitting the linoleum. Ms. Stapp quickly turned toward me, saw that I had just puked and qu

Encouraging others is one of the simplest things we can do for others - and one of the most powerful. I suppose this is something I have known most of my life, but it has not been until recently that I have begun to give it a lot of thought.  Dictionary.com defines the word “encourage” as this:  1. to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence: His coach encouraged him throughout the marathon race  to keep on running. to stimulate by assistance, approval, etc.: One of the chief duties of a teacher is to encourage students. That website’s thesaurus offers the following alternatives: animate , applaud , boost , brighten, buck up, buoy, cheer , cheer up, comfort , console , embolden, energize , enhearten, enliven , excite , exhilarate , fortify , galvanize , give shot in arm, gladden, goad , hearten, incite , inspire , inspirit, instigate , praise , prick , prop up, psych up, push , rally , reassure , refresh , restore , revitalize , revivify, rouse , spur , steel , stir