Diary of a Sweaty-Toothed Madman

 "I've seen him plow a field of corn all day- that's reality. His overalls all blacked with dirt, but his face was still full of dignity."                     - Alabama Sky, by Larry Shell/Alabama I don't think I realized how lucky I was to have two grandfathers I knew as a child and a young adult.  Looking back, it's incredible just how influential they both were, in very different ways.  In fact, the reality is these two men I called "Grandad" and "Grandaddy" could not have been more different in attitude, demeanor, and the way they approached life.  Because I was in middle school and, then college,  when they died, I think a lot of what I remember about them is very much painted with the lens of childhood, both in good ways and bad.  I am also named for these two men- my first name is the last name of one, and my middle name is the first name of the other.  I don't know if I should, but I f...

  “If you’re lucky enough to still have grandparents, visit them, cherish them and celebrate them while you can.” -Regina Brett My maternal grandmother passed from this world in January.   She was the last of my living grandparents, and her passing came after a prolonged physical and mental deterioration which was difficult to watch, and I cannot imagine how hard it was for her to endure.   I have had a life full of amazing grandparents.   I was lucky enough to know my Great Grandmother until I was in high school.  She was a woman of amazing love.  I think she may have been my first glimpse at the unconditional love we all seek in our lives, or at least as close to it as we get in this life.  She loved her Great Grandchildren, and my brother and I probably could have gotten away with nearly anything in her care.   Time, however, slowly took my grandparents, as it is want to do.  Of the five grandparents I knew in my life, ...

“Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.”                                                        -H. Jackson Brown, Jr. I was 6 or 7 years old, and my family had gone out to eat at a local pizza restaurant.  The meal was remarkable only in that we just didn’t eat out very often in those days.  While I do not remember the meal, specifically, it was pizza, and Dad would have ordered, so it would have been thin and crispy pepperoni.  There was no other kind of pizza, so far as Dad was concerned.  The meal, however, is not the point.  What happened at, and after the register is the point.  Mom always kept the checkbook, but Dad always paid for meals out.  Mom would hand him the checkbook, and he’d go write one of the few checks he actually wr...

"Shaped like a woman and fun to hold, tight wound strings the color of gold. Strumming out a rhythm and taking the lead.."           - Traveling By Guitar" Tia McGraff and Tommy Parham I don't remember a time I didn't love the sound of a guitar. My favorite musical sound in the world is an acoustic guitar accompanying a great voice. My earliest memories of a guitar and voice are that of my mother. She would sit on her bed and play songs from an old spiral bound notebook she had filled with handwritten lyrics and chords. Old country and gospel songs, and an original or two. She kept the door closed when she played, but I would sit outside the bedroom in the entryway, listen, and quietly sing along. I remember thinking she had a voice as good as any on the records and 8-Track tapes we had. Those songs are deeply ingrained in my memory. They are part of me. He’ll Have To Go, Four Walls, The Blue Tail Fly, Cindy, and more. There ar...

  “Raising kids is part joy and part guerrilla warfare.”            – Ed Asner   Our son is almost 20.   Wow.  That sort of takes my breath away.   It also sort of answers the question I ask myself daily, "how did I get so old?"  By being the parent of a human who is almost 20, that's how.    At every step of being a parent, someone has said, "This is the hardest phase."  Think about that for a second.  At EVERY step, someone has said, " This one is the hardest  phase."  It would appear they are ALL the hardest phase.  Don't read more into this than I mean.  I have loved being our son's Dad.  But, in the vernacular of the boy, "if I'm being honest," there have been a LOT of hard moments along the way, and at every step of the journey.   There have been some really awful moments and seasons in our life as a family.  Surely, that's true for most families?...