Bobby & Linda

I Imagine Most Of My Readers Have Met Me Or Seen Me. The Reason I Mention This Is Because Anyone Who Has Spent Time With Me Know My Tattoo's.
When I Was 16 Years Old, I Decided To Have My Then Girlfriends Name Tattoo'd(Linda) On My Forearm. That's Alot Of Years Of Having Another Woman's Name On Your Arm. Mrs Mac Has Been A Real Trooper About It Over The Years. I Believe By Having Her Name On My Arm Only Bothered Her When Someone Would Forget Her Name. They Would Look At My Arm And Call Her Linda. I Believe It Sent Chills Down Her Spine. Once She Realized They Meant No Harm She Learned To Live With It. She Never Felt Threatened By Her.
Why I Waited So Many Years To Have It Covered Up Is A Mystery To Me. The Time Had Finally Arrived That A Friend Of Beckie's Was Doing Tat's For A Reasonable Price. I Decided To Finally Have Linda's Name Covered Up With My Son'e Name. He Explained To Me That It Would Be A Two Phased Project. One For The Lettering And Another To Shade In The Background With A Solid Color. It Was Getting Very Late So I Decided To Help Him Out By Telling Him He Can Put Bobby's Birthdate On A Different Day. So After He Cleaned His Supplies I Then Told Him I Could Not Do It Tuesday Night Because I Bowled. I Can't Do It On Wednesday Night Because I Play Euchre. I Can't Do It On Thursday Because I Plan To Attend The Last Mayoral Debates Before Election.
So For The Next Few Days As I Go Through All The Events Of My Week I Will Be Sporting The Names Of Bobby & Linda On My Forearm. Of Course For The Curious, Someone May Ask Why I Have Two Peoples Names On My Arm? To The Not So Curious People Will Not Even Care. I Look At It This Way. I Will Soon Be 56 Years Old. I Reached A Point In My Life Where I Just Do Whatever Pleases Me.
My Son's Name And Date Of Birth Will Be Completed On My Arm Soon. This Is What I Decided To Do.
In The Meantime For The Next Few Days I Will Bear The Names Of Bobby And Linda On My Arm.
After This Tattoo I Plan To Have A Naked Woman Put On My Back, Then Numbers Tattoo'd On My Forehead.
I Thought Maybe I Would The Get Into Body Piercings. Of Course I Would Have My Ear Pierced, Then Possibly My Nose. Call It My Mid Life Crisis Or Call It A Bunch Of Malarkey. I Guess It Leans More In Line With The Malarkey As Far As The Other Tattoo's And Piercings.
For Now I Will Just Stick With Bobby And Linda On My Arm. When It's All Said And Done I Finally Decided My Arm Will Read, Bobby 7-13-81.

The Hatfields & McCoys

I Am Sure Many Of You Are Aware Of The Long Time Battle Between These Two Families That Lasted Many Years.
Of Course The Story Differs According To Who You Talk To. In Many Cases He Said, She Said Kind Of Things Get Twisted, Exaggerated And Exploited. Also More Words Are Exchanged And Before You Know It You Forget What Actually Started It.
I Really Never Enjoyed Family Feuds. I Have Been Caught In A Few Over The Years And I Know It Can Get Ugly And Heart Breaking.
Many Years Ago A Small Family Feud Was Brewing Over A Matter Of A Few Months. It All Started Over A Rude Comment Someone Had Made. Actually An Opinion Was Given When One Was Not Asked For In The First Place.
It Reached The Point Where Family Members Chose Sides. In My Opinion That Is Sad. The Feud Was Cut Short By A Death In The Family. Everything Was Dropped And Life Went On As If It Never Happened.
Did You Think These Kinds Of Things Only Happen In Trailer Parks Or The Hills Of Kentucky? Yes They Happen In The Best Of Families. All It Takes Is One Busy Body, Gossiper, Or Instigator To Get Things Started.
Most Of You All Know I Recently Lost My Son Bobby. I Had Only 29 Years To Have Him In My Life. I Wish On The Day He Was Born We Were Told We Could Only Have Him For Just Those Amount Of Years. Unfortunately We Don't Get That Privilege.
I Was Estranged With Bobby For A Short While Some Years Ago. It Was A Minor Issue That Lasted For A Few Months. The Issue Was Resolved And We Never Had A Problem Like That Again.
I Mention This Because What If I Had Lost Him During That Short Period Of Time? I Don't Think I Could Forgive Myself. He Is My Son. I Want Only The Best Of Memories For My Son And The Times We Shared.
Ok, My Reason For Writing This Blog. Today I Draw The Line.
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This Line Represents My Participation In Any Conflict, Family Or Otherwise. I Refuse To Be A Part Of He Said, She Said.
There Are Some Conflicts That Are Going On At The Moment. I Am Aware Of Them But Maybe Not All Of The Particulars. What I Do Know Is People's Feelings Have Been Hurt. Things Have Been Said That Have Been Hurtful. Whatever The Issue Or Cause Of It, Should Be Revisited And Evaluated To See If It Is Really Worth All The Heartache.
Recently I Was Corresponding With Someone Who Told Me My Family Had Too Much History Of Drama. It's A Comment I Could Not Disagree With. As Sad As It Is, It Was True.
So, Instead Of Calling You All Out By Name I Decided To Do It The Gentle Way.
If You Decide To Update Me On Gossip I Will Suggest You Go Read My Blog. If You Don't Have Access To My Blog, I Will Simply Tell You I No Longer Participate In He Said She Said Kind Of Stuff. If You Decide To Get Upset With My Stance I Suggest You Get Over It. Don't Force Me To Take Sides. Don't Force Me To Listen To How You Were Wronged.
I May Not Be Here Tomorrow. This Blog May Be My Last. I Don't Know And You Don't Know Either. That's My Point. Is It Worth It? If Someone Tells You They No Longer Want To Be A Part Of Your Life, Come To Terms With It. You Cannot Make A Person Like You. You Need To Move On In Your Life. Enjoy What Years You Have Left On This Earth. You Just Never Know When You Get That Knock On The Door Or That Telephone Call. When Life Is Gone It's Gone Forever.
I Cannot Make It Any More Plainer Than This. I'm Done. I Don't Care If You Are A Friend, Parent, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Aunt, Uncle, Niece Or Nephew. This Blog Is Intended For You. Don't Take It Personal. If You Do, Your Mistake. I Cannot Make It Any More Clearer Than This. I Love You All. I Hope You Don't Lose A Loved One Before It Clears Your Thinking As Well As Your Heart.
I Suggest You Sit Down And Think About The Feud You Have With Someone. Can It Be Fixed? If It's Beyond Repair Then I Suggest You Move Forward In Your Life.
Why Don't You Follow My Lead And Draw Your Own Line.
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The Walton's

The Hallmark Channel Is Beginning To Show Re-Runs Of The Walton's. What A Wonderful Show. In Order To Watch Anything Today Worthwhile You Have To Watch Re-Runs Of Shows They Made 20-30 Years Ago Or Even Longer.
I'm Not Old Enough To Remember Life As The Walton's Knew It. Life Seemed Much Simpler Back Then. I'm Sure People Still Had Their Problems. It Always Appeared Families Were More United Back Then. Today Life Is So Busy And Family Got Lost In The Shuffle.
I'm Not Sure If I Had The Opportunity To Go Back In Time In The Days Of The 1930's-40's, I Would Want That. We Tend To Enjoy The Comforts Of Modern Day Life.
Back In The Day We Were Without Modern Day Activities That Took Our Focus Away From Family Unity. You Could Sit On The Porch With The Rest Of The Family And Talk About The Day. You Talk About Your Plans For Tomorrow. A Family Distraction Would Be Getting Caught In The Rain During A Family Picnic. Your Dog Getting Into A Fight With A Raccoon. Those Were The Days When You Never Had To Lock Your Door. Today We Don't Feel Safe In Our Homes.
Oh Yes, We Can Sit Back And Enjoy These Shows On Television And We Can Escape Our Present Days Worry. Even If It's For A Little While....
Goodnight John Boy.....

Good Night Mary Ellen....

If You Have Read Many Of My Blogs You Must Wonder What Will He Write Next? Where Does He Get His Idea's? To Be Honest About It, I Sat Down This Evening To Write Down Every Title Of Every Blog I Have Written. That's Until I Realized How Many Blogs I Have Written. Maybe One Day I Will When I Am Really Really Bored. Until Then It Is My Hopes I Don't Repeat A Story. That's Why I Wanted To Keep Track Of The Blogs I Write. My Fear Of Repeating May Someday Be A Reality. I Have Found Myself Repeating Jokes, Stories, And Before You Know It, Blogs.
As We Get Older We Have More Stories To Tell. The Reason We Have More Stories Is Because More Time Has Passed. For Instance, I Have Two Story's On Hold Because I Can't Find The Appropriate Photo's To Accompany It. Rarely Do I Write A Blog Without Having A Photo. In My Opinion It's My Signature For The Story. Does That Make Sense?
So After All Of This Worthless Babble, I Do Have Something To Write About.
My Admission Is I Put On 15 Pounds Since October. That's Less Than 5 Months. It's Something I Have Been Dealing With For A Number Of Years. Since I Am Most Active In The Warmer Months I Am Actually Able To Lose The Weight I Put On The Previous Winter.
Being In My Mid 50's I Find It Harder To Lose It In A Timely Fashion. In A Matter Of Weeks I Will Be Getting My Truck On The Road And My Body Will Soon Be Doing Things It Hasn't Done For A Few Months. This Is Something I Have Been Waiting For. More So Now Than Any Other Year Previously.
Ever Since Bobby Passed Away I Have Lost My Motivation. I Watch The Music Video Of Him Each Night Before I Go To Sleep. I Figure If I Can Break This Cycle Of Being Cooped Up Inside Because Of Winters Wrath, Maybe Life Will Get Back On Track. Unfortunately Though Bringing That Truck Out For The New Season Will Be Hard. A Flood Of Memories Are With My Truck. Bobby Was My Right Hand Man Last Season. I Will Seem Lost Without Him. In The Long Run After The Tears Have Flowed I Think I Will Pour More Of Myself Into My Mission In Life. The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville Is Near To My Heart. It's A Cause I Believe In.
Soon I Will Me Mowing Grass Again On Wednesday's Like I Have In Previous Years. Hopefully I Won't Have Too Much Trouble Getting In And Out Of The Back Of My Truck. Loading And Unloading That Truck On A Daily Basis By Myself. That's A Workout Just Thinking About It.
Ok, The Reason For The Blog Today Is My Admission To The 15 Pound Gain. In All Honesty I Need To Lose More Than What I Put On This Winter. I Need To Lose An Additional 20-30 Pounds Over My Most Active Months This New Season.
I'm Just Saying If I Want To Continue Doing My Summer Thing I Must Make Some Changes.
Those Changes Will Continue Mowing Grass With The Legs The Good Lord Gave Me. Stopping Less At The Summer Time Ice Cream Spots. I Think I Will Wave To Them As I Drive By.
I'm Not Sure How Many Miles I Walked Today But It Was A Bunch. Actually It Was More Than What I Should Have. I Almost Had To Crawl Home. Not That Bad But To Be Totally Truthful My Legs Hurt Me Pretty Bad All Evening. They Say No Pain No Gain. Hopefully My Legs Will Allow Me To Walk Tomorrow. I Need To Get Them Back In Shape.
Oh, The Photo Was Just A Decoy On Getting You To Read My Blog.
Just Call It Mac Humor...

The Tidy Bowl Man

Remember The Tidy Bowl Man? I Know It's Been A Few Years Since I Last Saw Him On Television. He Was The Guy Who Lived In The Toilet Tank In Your Bathroom. His Job Was To Keep Your Toilet Bowl Clean. I Thought Of Him This Week.
Billie Had Purchased A Couple Of Those Toilet Bowl Deoderizers That Hang By A Wire At The Dollar Store. The First One She Hung Fell Off The Wire And Into The Water. She Opened Up The Other Package Only To Find It Was Already Broken Inside The Package.
My Job Was To Return Them And Get My Money Back Or Replace It With Ones That Were Not Broken.
I Explained To The Cashier What Happened. Since One Was Missing Off The Wire She Told Me I Had To Return The Next Day And Speak To The Manager.
It Had Been A Day Or Two Before I Remembered I Forgot To Return To The Dollar Store.
Actually I Didn't Just Remember. When I First Got Into The Car, This Very Familiar Smell Made Me Remember I Didn't Take The Deodorizer Back.
The Car Smelled So Clean. The Package Was Laying On The Floorboard Behind The Drivers Seat. I Decided To Just Keep It There.
Now Our Car Smells Toilet Bowl Fresh. For 99 Cents, Not A Bad Price To Have Your Car Smell Clean. I Recommend It.

Why Did The Rooster Cross The Road?

Ohhh, The Good Ol Days Of Franklin School. I Can Sit Back And Close My Eyes And Remember The Good And The Not So Good Days Of Summer Back In The Day.
Larry Miller(Now Deceased) And I Were Pretty Good Friends At Franklin. Our Bodies Were Structurally About The Same. The Teachers When Choosing Teams For Competitions Would Always Pair Larry And I On Opposite Teams. I Would Say We Were Tall For Our Age.
Larry Came To Our School When They Closed His School Down. My House Was Just A Stone Throw Away But His Seemed Quite A Distance Away From School.
One Day Larry Asked Me If I Wanted A Chicken For A Pet. I Said Sure, That Would Be Cool. After School That Day I Rode My Bicycle With A Basket On The Front To His House.
Larry Led Me To A Shed In The Back Yard. Inside This Shed Were Chickens Of Different Colors Squawking As We Moved Throughout This Tiny Structure. I Pointed At One Particular Chicken And Told Larry I Wanted That One. He Said No You Don't Want That One, Besides That's A Rooster. Chicken, Rooster, They Were All The Same To Me. He Seemed To Be The Best One Of The Bunch. I Thought It Would Be Cool To Be Woke Up Each Morning By A Rooster.
I Took Him Home. It Was About Supper Time And It Was Against The Rules To Be Late. I Grabbed The Rooster And Put Him Inside The Garage While I Ate.
As Our Large Family Sat Around The Dinner Table My Mother Excused Herself And Said She Had To Get Some More Ice From Freezer For The Tea Which Was Located In The Garage. I Stood Up And Excitedly Told Her I Would Go Get It For Her. She Said No, Eat Your Supper Before It Gets Cold. As I Sat Down, Seconds Seemed Liked Minutes, While Minutes Seemed Like Eternity. I Knew At Any Moment The Two Would Meet In Total Darkness And I Wasn't Sure What Would Happen Next. One Thing Is For Certain. The Scream I Heard Coming From The Garage Was Etched In My Mind Forever. My Father Jumped Out Of His Chair And Went In The Direction Of Her Screams. My Mother Who Was Not Sure What It Was She Shared Space With In The Dark Garage Knew She Didn't Want To Go Back In Without Her Broom.
By The Time I Reached The Back Yard My Father Had Already Opened The Overhead Door.
Out Flew The Rooster And The Chase Was On. I Had No Idea How Fast A Two Legged Creature Could Run Until I Witnessed This Rooster That Day. The Rooster Traveled Down The Side Alley And Darted Across The Street Toward The School Yard. It Caught The Attention Of The Neighborhood Kids. It Turned Out To Be A Marathon Of Who Could Catch The Rooster. This Bird Scaled The Four Foot Shrubbery Like It Was Nothing. There Must Have Been A Dozen Or More Kids Chasing This Bird All Over The Play Ground Area. Finally A Kid Dove For It And Was Able To Grasp Onto It's Leg.
After Retrieving It And Bringing It To My House My Father Instructed Me To Return It Where I Got It. Can't I Keep It One Night? I Knew That Stern Look And I Said Nothing Further.
I Grabbed The Rooster And Placed Him In The Basket For His Trip Home. I Explained To Larry I Could Not Keep It. We Laughed About It And He Told Me I Took The Meanest Rooster They Had. He Was Glad The Old Bird Didn't Hurt Anyone Because He Was Pretty Feisty.
Our Supper Got Cold, But What The Heck...

Boy, How Fast They Grow....

It Was Sunday March 2, 1980. Or Shall I Start Back In June 1979 When She Was Just A Twinkle In Her Daddy's Eye? Ok Fast Forward To December of 79. Billie And I Operated An Arcade In Downtown Danville. All Equipped With Pinball Machines, Video Games And Pool Tables. Our Business Was Open 7 Days A Week.
Billie(6 Months Pregnant) Was Standing Not Too Far From The Pool Table Area When She Got My Attention Her Pants Were Wet. Apparently She Had Lost All The Water In Her Womb. She Just Went Into Her 6th Month Of Pregnancy. Her Belly Went Flat As Though She Wasn't Pregnant At All. After Calling Her Doctor She Went In To See Him. He Claimed Some Women Could Not Hold A Large Amount Of Water And Assured Her She And The Baby Were Just Fine. Go Home And Drink Lots Of Water The Doctor Said To Billie. Sure Enough The Next Day Billie's Belly Inflated And She Appeared Pregnant Once Again.
Billie And I Didn't Have Health Insurance And Her Doctor Was Aware Of This. We Had Made Arrangements For Billie And The Baby To Be Dismissed The Day After She Gave Birth. One Of My Grandmothers Didn't Like The Idea But She Wasn't The One Who Paid The Bills Either.
Anyway, Since We Closed The Business Early On Sundays I Instructed Billie To Have The Baby After 6:00 On Sunday Evenings. The Labor Pains Started About 2:00 Sunday Afternoon At The Arcade. We Waited Until The Pains Got 4 Minutes Apart Before Deciding To Go To The Hospital.
Beckie Was Born At 7:30 Sunday Evening March 2,1980. It Was One Of The Joyous Days Of My Life. A Child Was Born To Us When I Thought We Would Never Have The Opportunity To Love A Child. We Called Her Our Miracle Baby.
As She Lay In Her Tiny Bassinet, All Snuggled In Her Blanket, People In The Hallway At The Hospital Would Marvel At The Little Baby With The Bright Red Hair. I Would Proudly Proclaim That's My Girl!
Of Course I Would Make My Wise Cracks When People Would Wonder Where She Got Her Red Hair. My Most Famous Line Would Be My Work Took Me On The Road And I Would Come Home Rusty. Actually For Those Curious Minds Billie's Grandmother Had Fire Red Hair As Well As A Lot Of The Pruitt Branches Of That Tree.
Ok, I Will Admit Her Red Hair Has Been Her Trademark For Most Of Her Life. Not Everybody Is Blessed To Have Red Hair And Be Beautiful At The Same Time. Yes I May Be A Little Prejudice But I'm Her Daddy And It Gives Me Certain Rights.
If You Have Ever Wondered About Whether Or Not The Claim Of Red Heads Having A Temper Is True. Let Me Think About That For A Moment. Ok, Moment Up. Yes, It's True!
I Don't Think It's The Red Hair That Acompany's Her Out Spoken Nature. She May Have Inherited That From Her Daddy.
Daddy Came Very Close To Losing His Little Girl Back In 1998. She Was Riding In A Car With A Boy Who Was Affiliated With A Gang. At A Stop Sign A Car Pulled Up Beside Them And Fired Shots Into Their Car. A Bullet Entered Into Beckie's Chest, Narrowing Missing Her Heart. She Was A Very Lucky Person To Be Able To Survive This Vicious Attack. I Had Recently Quit Smoking And I Can Remember Wanting A Cigarette So Bad. At That Moment Before The Ex-Rays I Was Not Sure If My Daughter Would Survive.
Since That Day She Went To College And Obtained Her GED and Took Courses To Become A Phlebotomist.
She Gave Birth To Her Son Which Is Her World. His Name Is Andres Jaquin Cardoza. Those Who Love And Know Him Call Him AJ.
Today We Celebrate Beckie's Birthday. She Turns 31. There Are Times When I Wish I Could Turn That Number Around And Wish She Was Only 13. She Most Likely Wishes That As Well. Unfortunately None Of Us Can Turn Back The Hands Of Time. Even If We Could We Would Not Change Things Completely.
This Is Your Day Beckie. I Loved You The Day You Were Born. That Love Has Only Grown. Only A Parent Knows This To Be True. I Wish You A Very Happy Birthday Little Girl Of Mine.