Welcome to my "memoir" blog. It's a risky undertaking. Will Rogers once said,
“There ain't nothing that breaks up homes, country and nations like somebody publishing their memoirs.”
I'm not arrogant enough to think that something I might say about my life is going to break up homes, countries and nations. I don't even think what I have to say will break up churches, and that isn't terribly hard to accomplish these days.
I suppose it's a little presumptuous to think that you're important enough to want to leave behind a memoir. I'm not even sure if anyone will read these postings, but I’m going to risk it any way. I don’t promise a posting every day, but I do hope to post several times a week.
I started writing this stuff a few years ago because I realized I'm a bridge person between generations. I have information that I want preserved for my family. Years ago I uprooted my family from the geographical area in which the last several generations have been rooted. I thought this might be one way to share were we came from and how we got here. You don’t have to be family to take a look, but I think family will probably be the ones who are most interested .
I haven't studied genealogy, so my facts could be off. I invite others who know more than I do to contribute corrections.
The first memory of Smiley that came to my mind (Kenneth Barnhart): One summer weekday about forty years ago, Elliott and I were at the church building in the secretary's office. We found a picture of some people that we wanted to cut out. Smiley had a free moment and offered to cut it out for us. Smiley had the hands of a surgeon and expertly and quickly cut out the picture precisely following the outline of the people in the picture . I told him he did an amazing job following the lines. With a smile on his face, Smiley said, "What did you expect? I went to kindergarten." I thought it was hilarious. Later I told Elliott, "Your Dad is a funny guy. Why doesn't he show that in his sermons?" Elliott said, "He thinks the Gospel is serious and that humor is inappropriate in a sermon."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Smiley memory: On the Sunday morning I became a Christian, Smiley asked if I would like my father to baptize me. I said I would, and that is one of my treasured memories with my father. (These are forty year old memories with attendant inaccuracies).
Don't remember the episode, although I'm sure it happened. One minor correction. I never attended kindergarten. Kindergarten was not an option for a poor kid in the forties in Texas. I might have said, "first grade."
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