November 7, 2022 - My mother had been a beautician for about ten years before I was born. Her talent was definitely that of making her customers, and members of her own family, more beautiful. She gave me my very first haircut, but I was too young to remember the event.
October 14, 2022 - For several years I worked as an interior painter and installed wallpaper in many homes in the area. Working inside people’s homes can be an interesting situation. I encountered numerous obstacles of different kinds ranging from hard-to please customers to pesky pets. Usually I had to work around cats, dogs, birds, pot-belly pigs, and on one occasion a pet snake. One job stands out as particularly interesting.
October 3, 2022 - In 1955 my father, Cecil, purchased a new Chevrolet, the one with the new V8 engine. It was also air-conditioned, and with power brakes and steering. I thought this to be a really “up town” automobile. I did not get to drive it very much as I left for college soon after.
September 23, 2022 - You may be like me in that when I think way back to my younger days I wonder how I stayed out of jail. Young men sometimes do things that are not exactly kosher. One such incident occurred in the spring of 1956 while I was attending Baylor University in Waco. Living in a private boarding house off campus with ten other young men did not help matters any.
September 13, 2022 - It has been said that a dog is man’s best friend. If that is true, then it should follow that a puppy would be a young boy’s best friend. I am convinced that the best scenario is when a young boy adopts a puppy and they broth grow up together. They are companions, pals, and playmates. I can testify that this can be the case.
August 26, 2022 - The call was received around midnight at Wyman Roberts Funeral Home. I was alone and upon answering heard an excited male voice stating that his wife was in labor and needed to be rushed to the hospital.
In the summer of 1956 Charlie Lawrence hired me to work for the funeral home. I had previous experience from working at the Oakley Metcalf Funeral Home in Nacogdoches for a year while in college. I suppose he felt that I knew what I was doing around this type establishment.
August 19, 2022 - Growing up in East Texas taught me about “second helpings” and “square meals”, some of which I will share with you via this article. I think that most all of you readers understand my title. However, I am not sure just what a “helping” is. So, I consulted Webster’s Dictionary. One can always depend on old Webster to know the real meaning.
August 13, 2022 - I have heard it said that “perception is reality”. How a person perceives something, whether rightly or wrongly, to him it is real. I encountered this theory at an early age.
July 29, 2022 - I recall that when I graduated from San Augustine High School in 1954, I received a couple of pairs of cufflinks as gifts. I wore those links for many years to various “up-scale” functions. I still have a couple of them in my jewelry box… yes, men can have jewelry boxes! Looking around me today, I seldom see any man wearing a white shirt with cufflinks. Neckties seem to be on their way out, also. Why is this?
July 25, 2022 - My mother was a beautician for over sixty-five years. She usually had around forty standing appointments each week. I have often wondered how she could stand on her feet for eight to ten hours a day, but she did.