Mike and I have embarked on the biggest tour that we have ever taken in our trailer. It is a very special trip centering around a visit with our eldest grandson, Andrew, at Purdue University. We’ll see him this coming Saturday in conjunction with the annual Family Weekend. We decided to plan our route so that it goes through Arkansas and Kentucky because much of the family history of my father’s ancestors played out in those states. We are hoping to locate the grave sites of my great grandfather, great grandmother, and my great great grandmother. It will be quite an adventure.
We set out from Houston on Sunday and made our first stop at Caddo Lake State Park near Jefferson, Texas. It’s a place that we keep visiting because it is breathtakingly beautiful with its pine forest and the ancient cypress trees that grow along the shores of the lake. It’s a boater’s and fisherman’s paradise but also a tranquil space where we always lose the stresses and anxieties of daily living.
We’ve outfitted our trailer so that there are no amenities lacking. My kitchen is stocked with everything that I need to make gourmet meals. We’ve added lighting and storage spaces so that we can take games and books and extra clothing in preparation for any kind of change in the weather. I love sitting at the table at night with the windows open and the sounds of the wind and nature lulling me into a state of total relaxation. Continue reading “Exploring the Past”
Like everyone I was a bit solemn on Friday, September 11. I will never forget that horrific day of fourteen years ago when it seemed as though we were in the midst of a nightmare that not even Stephen King might have imagined. I remember wondering if the world that I had always known would ever be the same. In some ways I have to admit that it is not exactly as it had been before. The trouble with terror is that it does strange things to the mind. Even though we have essentially gone about our routines for the last fourteen years deep inside our psyches is a kind of fear that did not exist prior to the terrible event that we all witnessed. We want to be our old optimistic selves but that day has taught us to beware.
When I was eight years old my favorite stories were fairytales and I really and truly believed that they were real. My beliefs were reinforced when I attended my first wedding. My eldest cousin, Leonard, was marrying a beautiful young woman named, Jeanne. The two of them seemed as close to being a prince and princess as any couple that I had ever seen. 
There are angels who live amongst us. I have been fortunate enough to not only get to know a few but also to number them among my friends. One of the loveliest of them all is Adriana Stovall. 
My mother was never a big fan of royalty. She always declared that she would have a difficult time curtsying to a king or a queen. For that matter she found the tradition of kissing the ring of a Catholic bishop as a sign of respect to be rather absurd. Mama was one of those people who sincerely believed that every human being was one hundred percent equal to every other person who lived on the earth. She did not think that the accident of one’s birth should ever define them. She felt that the trappings of wealth and title were only a veneer and that underneath all of the accouterments we were basically all the same. Strangely, however, she greatly admired Queen Elizabeth, not so much because she was a monarch but because she was a sterling example of a fine lady. 
All It Takes Is A Little Love 