Family 💟

To have a happy and productive family, share spiritually as many positive moments as possible with your spouse. Then team up with them to help teach kids to behave in a satisfactory manner. If all goes well, you won’t have to bail anyone out of jail.

And oh-by-the-way… make your family extremely important to you…such that you don’t mind going out of your way to help them… include others too, who need help. You’ll be glad you did. 

Don’t judge me by my work
Judge me by my family

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Contents

To my wife – and best friend
Susans – Wife and Nurse
Offspring – Kids with kids
Peyt – Best feline friend
It’s Okay to Cry – Goodbyes
Gulf Sunrise – Island vacation
Clear Air Turbulence – C.A.T.

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To my wife…

You are my home… my spirit follows you! ❤️

My earth angel that composed two beautiful life songs – Ash & Kate

Susan is my best friend. God sent me a beautiful behavioral beacon after my first mental breakdown. Susan feeds and guides me from self imploding. Her role is not an easy one. She found out late that I was a basket case. That’s my fault. I’d been hiding a mental disorder forever. I was a self-taught actor promoting the impression of a sane human. I always knew there was something wrong with me. I learned that from my dad’s behavior. “The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.” But it does grow into its own unique shape. 

I fell in love with Susan as soon as I saw her… (link to Memories) and I wanted her to love me back. So I didn’t tell her about my 1977 mental crash. We were married in 1980 but she didn’t realize the full extent of my basket case mess until my second breakdown in 2003. That year was life changing for both of us. I began a frantic search for God to help me mentally heal. Susan began researching bipolar wackiness. I’m grateful she stuck with me through that difficult period.

Whining

Susan has a sign on our refrigerator that reads “$5 charge for whining” which tells you something of what it’s like to live with me. (Actually, she brought it home from her supervisor job when she retired.) But if the shoe fits…

I was introduced to Pop Tarts at age 13 and now I’m several decades past that. My current early morning ritual before I eat a good breakfast consists of a single unfrosted tart along with a stout mug of black coffee.

I negotiate this mass production pastry with Susan because she’s always trying to get me to eat healthier and quit the sugary treat. But I’m a stubborn man so I just cry a little and remind her that I prefer the unfrosted version (as if that should help). It’s like when I bought my first Indian a few years ago. I whined and cried (pestered is more accurate) for almost six months before she finally said, “I guess you’re not going to give up”… That was all it took. I made a beeline for the nearest Indian motorcycle dealer. 

I’m not saying that Susan is an enabler. She’s a loving spouse that has to deal with a nine-year-old bipolar wacky doodle stubborn husband. Fortunately, she has a great sense of humor. She generously credits me with being a “ten year old” and does her best with what she has to work with. I’m blessed to have her as my wife and best friend! 

We all need some healing. I wish she could see herself through my eyes. She would know without a shadow of a doubt just how beautiful she really is.

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Susan1 & Susan2

December 28, 2021 – Well, I’m in trouble… AGAIN…

You know how people generally say cute things like “trouble is my middle name”, well “trouble” is my first and last name… my middle name is “always”.

Anyway, I’m on voluntary restriction. I’m supposed to limit my website editing activities to four hours a day. Two in the morning and two in the evening.

It’s only because my Susans love me. Yes, there are two. And they are both natural born care givers… wife Susan and nurse Susan. And of course, I love them both. Nurse Susan is easier to get along with because she doesn’t have to live with me and put up with my stubbornness for very long. Nurse Susan has it easy compared to wife Susan.

Wife Susan is a retired animal shelter supervisor. She’s had a long career of critter care, on and off the job. Susan is a kindred spirit to all creatures. Except for mosquitoes, fleas, and other assorted bad actors.

My other Susan is a registered nurse. She has been successfully supervising me for quite a long time. Nurse Susan helps keep me mentally on course without fencing me in. I wear a chemical straight jacket and she helps adjust the tension on the straps whenever they get too tight or too loose. I look forward to my visits with her. She actually understands my disordered brain.

Susan2 retired in 2025. I miss her terribly, but wish her well on her new life adventure. ❤️

It takes a strong person to deal with mental illness. I hope you are lucky enough to have a Susan in your life.

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Offspring

These two humans are my beautiful favorite youngest daughter Kate on the left and my beautiful favorite oldest daughter Ash  on the right. Their beautiful mom deserves most of the credit for growing these two. I deserve a little. They make us very proud!

Playhouse I built for Ash and Kate in Spring 1991 matching the basic style of our home. It sports a Dutch door with a heart shaped peep window. Inside I incorporated a fold away table using my early years drawing board.

Perfect

Jesus, in speaking about children, told us that the kingdom of heaven is meant for “such as these”… Maybe because kids are too young to keep themselves out of Heaven. I take it to mean we don’t need to worry about their soul. God has them covered.

When I was a child I thought I was perfect. But eventually, I learned to think like an adult. I discovered that achieving perfection is impossible. 

Now I’m old and I am beginning to think like a child again. Sure I know I can’t DO anything “perfect”, but I’m realizing that God made ME perfect… even with a disordered brain, a bad set of teeth, and the ability to only hit one home run and it was at a Little League practice. It wasn’t even a practice game. It sailed over the Mableton Lions Club right center fence. I can still see it sailing just as it disappeared into the pine trees.

Perfection is in all of God’s creation. I feel it. I sense it. I know it.

I could die right now and it would be a perfect ending. I’ve had my perfect beginning. 

I thought for a long time that life isn’t perfect… but it is. Life’s a lesson in humility. I’ve learned my lesson. Now I’m “perfect” again. 

But I will continue to make mistakes until I die.

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Peyt

January 26, 2022 – Peyton is my feline companion. God sent him to me via my youngest. God does things like that. He knows what’s best… like that 50’s TV sitcom about a really smart father, except way more smarter… “Father Way Knows Best!!!”

Peyton had a rough start. Chased by dogs near the expressway at a few months old and later abused to the point of a broken jaw and shoulder. Peyt did not have an ideal introduction into life.

Along comes my daughter. She takes him in and pays an enormous vet bill to repair his shoulder. They had to add a pin to put his bones back together. He still has the pin, crooked leg and a crooked bite. His leg and jaw healed just a bit off kilter.

I fell in love with Peyt right off the bat. He’s my animal kindred spirit. I thank God for Peyton. He accepts me same as I accept him.

Peyt is all cat but he follows me around like a puppy. Mischievous? Boy is he ever! He likes to get his paws into everything! He so reminds me of me! I think God gave me Peyton to show me what I’m like as a cat!

Peyton was diagnosed with lymphoma on January 12. He had been showing signs that something was wrong. After 13 years, I’m going to miss him terribly. Terribly to the point that my nurse and family are worried about my health. I told them that they worry too much. But as with any close loved one, when Peyt dies, part of me is going to die too.

Peyt has a very beautiful and strong spirit. I’ve always admired his fighting spirit. Like when he got snake bit. We think it was a copperhead because we’ve killed a few in our yard over the years. Peyton was strong at only a few years old but he wasn’t feeling too well after tangling with a poisonous snake. So we rushed him to the emergency vet clinic where they treated him as best they could. The doctor said his chances would improve with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The nearest one for pets was in Chattanooga, Tennessee two hours away. Long story short, that oxygen chamber might have been the thing that saved his life. 

Peyton’s always been rambunctious and a biter. I suppose he learned that behavior as a kitten. I have received numerous bites because that’s how he learned early on to communicate.

Over the years Peyt has backed off the fierce biting a bit. His bites are more of the ‘I love you but I’m still the boss’ kind of bite now.

Love is conditional for a lot of people.

One of my friends recently told me that they didn’t understand how people could get so attached to animals.

I don’t understand how they can’t. 

March 19, 2022 – I buried Peyt today. I had him euthanized at the animal shelter where he started his life with us.

I miss my buddy terribly. It was difficult to watch him succumb to the cancer. The disease slowly drained his strength in spite of my wife’s galant animal nursing efforts. I was helpless except to be his buddy and companion.

I worried over Peyton like a dad worries over his son. I never took Peyt for granted but God took him from me anyway.

I know God knows best. That keeps me moving forward.

And I have the best family on the planet.

Peyt is still with me in my mind and spirit. I’m grateful for the time we had.

I miss you Peyt
a spirit true
though I have your spirit
what I miss is you
I buried part of me
that’s what buddies do
because forever I will be
your companion too

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It’s Okay to Cry

“Time will ease your pain 
Life’s about changin’ 
Nothin’ ever stays the same”

Losing a loved one leaves a vast hole in your heart. You just want to lay down with them. Your world stops and you cry. You may busy yourself with the mundane but your heart aches with every reminding thought. And you know that ache is never going to go away. Grief can last a lifetime. Of course you realize that “time” will make that vast hole a little smaller, but as long as you’re alive you know the ache will remain. You’d give anything to have them back. And you look forward to the promise of Heaven where you can once again be companions.

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Gulf Sunrise

Above is my very patient, youngest daughter Katie’s photograph of a sunrise beach scene. Both my daughters love the beach. They get that trait from their mom!

The beach gives us an unobstructed view of the sun rising above the gulf’s surface. It’s amazing to watch how fast the sun climbs in the beautifully colored sky. Close to 902 mph at this particular latitude.

The clouds make a clever natural Artist’s frame for the magnificent Florida sun.

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Clear Air Turbulence