The Way

Tuesday night I had the honor and the privilege of being a part of a celebration where no one in attendance actually  thought it was the right time to be celebrating. Early Saturday morning, Lay Lay stepped from this Earth into eternity and met her Savior face to face. Lay Lay was a beautiful, young woman who loved others because she was in love with Christ. It was evident in every area of her life. I was privileged to watch her grow from a 10-year-old girl into a beautiful, young woman. Lay Lay was a special gift. She was a fiery and feisty one when there was a ball involved; she was kind, compassionate and giving where there was a life involved. She was everyone's best friend; every parent's daughter; and everyone's sister. It was just they way it was with her. Jesus had captured her life and He shined through her to everyone. Lay Lay, I will miss you. I remember our last conversation on Friday, September 6. You were excited (in that signature monotone voice of you...

I love being a part of the Royals family during the bad and the good times. Granted it has been painful since 1985 but I am a Royals fan. Always will be. I am having fun this season with them still in the hunt and this video of stealing home last night by Escobar was too good not to share. Go Royals! Your browser does not support iframes.

Today my mother-in-law, Joyce (Trail) Holmes, turns 80. She has relayed to us that she was born about 3am after her mother and father arrived at the hospital on their motorbike. Because it was so early in the morning, they pushed the motorbike away from the neighbor homes before starting it so they would not awaken any unnecessarily that early in the morning. Joyce was born in New Zealand and the best I can recollect, she was born in Wanganui which is about a 3-4 hour drive north of Wellington. I know that she has 3 sisters; Nola, who lives in Atlanta; Rose, who lives in New Zealand; and Betty, who is lives in Guatemala. There was a brother, Jack, who died in an accident when he was pretty young. She married a boy named Bernard (Bernie) Holmes who ended up bringing her to the US via Canada. I have to admit that seeing home movies a few years ago of their move to North America via ship with a stop in Hawaii showed a much less developed Honolulu. It was pretty awesome to see. ...

Best Part of the Trip So . . . how does one celebrate their 50th birthday?! I knew that I was not interested in anything involving adult beverages especially with someone like me who can have addictive behavior tendencies, so I put my mind to work.  I have known of people who run 50 miles on their 50th and that really did not sound like alot of fun to me.Back in the Spring, I entered and completed my first triathlon and found it to be pretty fun so I thought do a combination of running,biking and swimming that would add up to at least 50 miles was my best option. I took off from the Downtown YMCA with a bunch of buddies (Rusty, Mike Whittle, Young Mike, Gordon, Young Charlie, Stubblefield, and David Grant). We ran a familiar 8 plus mile course and then David and I ran almost 5 more to complete the half marathon distance. I ate some breakfast and climbed on the bike and started making my way towards the Donelson Y to swim. On the way I stopped and saw Sondra at her work ...

On Thursday night I got the opportunity to go to the Vandy/Ole Miss game with Michael DiMarco and Ben Williams. I have known Michael for a long time but I did not know Ben before Thursday. We go to church together, but since the church is so big, there are many I do not know. Ben is from New Zealand, loves sports, and is the father of young children. With Sondra's parents being from New Zealand, we had an automatic bond. I enjoyed getting to know him and I always enjoy Michael and the football game was just a bonus. It was a hot and humid night and virtually no defense in the football game so lots of points and lots of excitement. On Friday, Sondra, Morgan and I headed to Bolivar to be with Sondra's mom and Sondra's sister and brother in law and family. It is an 8 hour drive each way but it did not prove to be too bad. We arrived about 11p on hit the bed not too long after. On Saturday we enjoyed doing some work around Joyce's house and my dad came down and spent mos...