Obituaries

Buddy Boy is getting fat! Chubby might be a better word. He can?t even get turned around to lick his you-know-what anymore. His collar is getting tight. I take this personally, like it?s a direct reflection on us, Ginnie and me.We?ve quit giving him table bites, and I?ve tried limiting his food intake, but to know avail. A local dog kennel told me they give their dogs one cup of dry dog food per day. And these ...

?Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.? ? Samuel Adams, United States of America Founding FatherHappy Inauguration Day, America!Like every presidential inauguration since our nation?s founding, today is a day to celebrate our republic?s freedom and the people ...

Ginnie and I were working hard on the final draft of a book I?m writing, ?Protected,? and, since I?m going to self-publish, I was preparing a copyright page.I studied the keyboard and the million fonts for the copyright symbol (a circle with a ?c? in the middle) but, for the life of me, could not find one. I was about to give up, and just use the word ?copyright? with no symbol, when I thought I?d give it the ...

DEAR ABBY: I have had a best friend for more than 20 years. We met when we were 18 and have been inseparable ever since. I was best man in his wedding, and when his first child was born, I traveled six hours to be at the hospital when "Sara" was born. I have never missed a birthday or Christmas.When my friend announced they were moving from Ohio to Arizona, I knew I couldn't be away from him and his family, so I ...

When I was in kindergarten, and Mrs. Arnold asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said a cashier. It wasn?t that, as a girl, I didn?t feel I could do more I just simply liked counting money and making change. When my parents went to shows to sell their swings, my special treat for being a big help was getting to count the cash box and making sure I had the same amount as Mom did.In seventh-grade, as our ...

Jess Richards never throws anything away. Wood scraps, old window frames, cardboard, what-have-you, all go into the ~ pile. He has a junk drawer that?s overflowing and won?t shut. Erin, his wife, rolls her eyes and calls him a pack rat.It gets cold in Minneapolis where they live with their two elementary-school girls, Fiona and Keenan. In the fall, outdoor critters like to find warm buildings.One night, as Jess ...

Here are three Christmas tales from the annals of the Swarm family. I?ve written about each one separately before. For the sake of brevity, I?ll combine the three into one.There was no money for Christmas. My mother, always the ?make-do? type, and the recycle queen before the word ?recycle? was born, was going to make underwear for us kids out of cotton feed sacks. But she needed thread.At the dry-goods store, ...

Who doesn?t love a feel-good news story to kick start a weekend ? especially this close to Christmas? Well, thanks to a fair-minded home improvement store manager, I have one for you.Our story begins with United States Air Force veteran, Clay Luthy, of Dyess, Texas. A veteran with three overseas deployments under his belt as a C-130 loadmaster, Luthy has been through quite a bit over his military career, which ...

Randy Stroud, of Mt. Pleasant, is a large man, well over six foot tall. He used to weigh about 270 pounds. He is also a well-known business owner in Mt. Pleasant and marathon runner. So, when he came down with a backache after doing yard work in September, he and his wife, Marcy, didn?t think too much of it.Formerly from Indiana, Randy took off with a buddy for a Notre Dame versus Duke football game. When he ...

I must say, a truck load of people showed up for our housewarming/open house. We told the caterer to prepare enough food for 100 people, and at least that many people came. Ginnie set out eight dozen (96) paper plates, and they were all used up. That?s the best we can do for a count.We had a guest book for people to sign, but you know how that goes. Some do, some don?t, which put a real strain on Ginnie writing ...