End Of Watch: Officer Garrett Hull, Fort Worth Police - September 14, 2018

The latest Texas Peace Officer to give his life in the line of duty is Officer Garrett Hull, Forth Worth PD.

Officer Garrett and his colleagues, members of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, had developed information leading to the identification of three subjects who, as a team, had robbed several bars and other businesses over the past few weeks.

On September 13, 2018 the CI Unit were engaged in surveillance of the three men when they committed a robbery in a local bar.  The CI Unit approached the bar as the men fled, and a foot pursuit began.  During the pursuit one of the subjects fired at pursing officers, the bullet striking Officer Garrett in the head.  In the exchange of gunfire that followed, the robber was killed.

Officer Garrett was rushed to a nearby hospital, where medical staff worked through the night and into the following day to save the wounded officer, while many of his colleagues gathered in the hallways and the waiting room to stand vigil.  Unfortunately Officer Garrett died from his injuries the following afternoon.

Officer Garrett left behind his wife, two daughters, his family, and his colleagues at the Forth Worth Police Department.  The officer had served seventeen years as a police officer.  I am proud to honor Officer Garrett here, but saddened at the event that gives rise to this memorial.

I pray for the Good Shepherd's comforting arms for this officers loved ones and friends, and for the safety of all peace officers across the nation and the world.

Meerkats, or The Wonders Of "Autocorrect"

It has been said (by someone) that we learn something new every day.  Well, here is one thing I learned today.

It turns out that if you write a text while still in bed, very groggy from just waking up, and not wearing glasses because they just fell off the nightstand and to the floor, and you misspell the word "meetings" so that the the typo is "meerings" (the "r" IS right beside "t," in my defense) autocorrect saves the day by correcting "meerings" for you.

Here is an actual text message exchange between my lovely bride and me just after noon today:

Bride (all wide awake at work): Want to take me to lunch? Sleeping still?

Me (very groggy from just waking up, and not wearing glasses because they just fell off the night stand): I am awake. I need to just wet my head and dress. Do you have meerkats at 1:00? If not, I will get dressed and be right there.

(Long pause, audible even in the text world, then finally)

Bride: Meerkats?

(Second long pause, audible even in the text world, followed by the realization that I had misspelled "meetings" but, once again, autocorrect SAVED THE DAY...or at least the message)

Me (now sheepishly picking up my glasses):Oh, I think that must be an autocorrect, I was typing "meetings." That is pretty funny.

Bride: I was thinking you still had to be asleep.

Me: And no glasses!

Bride: Ha ha ha (she laughed, sure, but possibly called the local sheriff's mental health task force as well)

So I learned today that if one types "meerings" instead of "meetings" the autocorrect will default to "meerkats."                       

As I pondered this new factoid, I also put on my running shoes and tied them tightly, just in case the Midland County Mental Health deputies REALLY ARE on the way to my house! I am thinking this would be a great time to go to Wally World.

Sometimes Life Can Be A Blog-Stopper

I like to think that sometimes life is too hectic to allow time for blogging.  That makes it NOT my fault that I have not made a new post since July 29.  I like to think that so much is going on, what with the new grandson and all, that I "just don't have the time" to write a post.  But then I hear someone say everyone has enough time to do the things they want to do (at least up to a point).  "Your priorities are not in line," someone else says, or you would blog without fail, if you want to be a blogger.

That is true for whatever it is a person WANTS to do, but ends up not doing.  Life happens.  I guess the question is "does one let life be a stopper of any kind, even a blog-stopper?"  I have to confess (well, since everyone can see it, I might as well) that I did let all the things going on in my life, at my job, and in the lives of my friends, become a blog-stopper.  The reality is that I let blogging fall down my list of priorities.  It turns out, in fact, that there are still twenty-four hours in a day, and seven days in a week.  Yes, different things may be happening, but all these things still happen within the same twenty-four hours I have always had between sunrise one morning and sunrise the next morning.  I am sure, looking back, that I could have found time to write at least one blog in the past week, but what a roller coaster ride the past few days have been!

Only a few weeks ago my second grandchild come into this world, and this time with much less drama and danger than did my sweet Baby Baby (my granddaughter).  I have not been able to spend as much time with my new little boy as I wanted, but that is only because so many other people want to spend time with him, too, including (believe it or not!) his parents.  Baby Baby has had to adjust, but she loves her little brother, especially after having decided that he cannot "go back into Mommy's tummy."  So I have double the grand kids I had just a few days ago.  And what a handsome guy he is.

But life is a roller coaster ride, and sometimes it is not such a fun ride.  Just a few days after my grandson was born, I learned that a friend of mine was facing the death of his older brother.  My friend had been caring for his older brother and spending as much time with him as possible because it had become apparent that this man had only days to live, if not hours.  My friend left his brother for the night, but before he had could reach his home, my friend received a call informing him that his daughter had just been killed in a traffic accident.  Still reeling from this devastating news the next morning, this friend received a call that his brother had passed away.  My friend had to bear this double-cross of losing two of his closest loved ones in less than a twenty-four hour span.  But he was both strong and had the loving support of his family and friends to help through this terrible time.

During this same weekend I myself received word of the passing of one of my favorite uncles.  He was a member of the family by marriage, but was loved by our family as if he had been born into it.  The funeral was planned for the middle of the coming week, and I was determined to be there.  I left work the evening before the funeral, packed, and drove the three hundred or so miles to my mother's house.  The next morning she and I gathered with our family to say a final goodbye to this good man.  This was also my mother's birthday, so there was an intense mixture of sadness and joy all wrapped into a single evening and half the next day.  I had a late lunch with Mom and my brother and sister, then it was time to get back on the road, a flash trip back to West Texas.

Back at work the next day, I learned that a new employee I desperately needed would not be coming to work after all, and I would still be short staffed.  Not a tragedy on the magnitude anywhere approaching the loss of a loved one, of course, but it made for a nervous time.  I would have to cover a lot of time for the empty position, as well as continually juggle the schedule so that either I or one of the workers would be available twenty-four seven.  Basically, if I was not sleeping I was at work.  And of if not one of those two, then with the grandchildren.

Even with all of the busy -ness and the emotional upheaval, the days still contained twenty-four hours.  I found time to distract my mind, but not time to put together a string of thoughts to make a blog post.  Staring at a computer all day and a flat screen television at night until I could not hold my eyes open was certainly not conducive to any kind of "real" thinking or creativity.  But the past few days I found writing a blog to be quite challenging when I could just "chill" into the night.  I remember one of my writing "heroes," Louis L'Amour,  said " I could sit in the middle of Sunset Boulevard and write with my typewriter on my knees. Temperamental I am not."  Not so for me.  I have to be in "the zone" for my creative juices to flow.

Now I am back into a sort of regular routine again, but really, it should not matter whether I am in a routine or not, blogging, or writing anything, should come natural to me and should be a high priority activity.  There are so many interesting things, people, activities, events, historical or scientific points of interest, so many wonderful things happening in the world, that topics are inexhaustible.  But one has to keep his priorities in mind, and choose to do things each day that he wants to do.  There may never be a more perfect time each day to write, or whatever one enjoys doing, than to just do it right now.  Yes, life will always keep coming, and will always throw a curve.  The roller coaster will always be an up and down, twisting turning adventure of a ride...but hopefully life will not always be a blog-stopper for me.  In fact it occurs to me...life's roller coaster ride should not stop the blog...it should fuel the blog and fire the story into life...

So to paraphrase...I will keep calm...and blog on...
 

What Can Happen In Just A Week? or "Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs"

Have you ever deliberately sat down and cataloged all (at least all that you remember or that was significant to you in one way or another) that happened in just a week, all that you have gone through, things that have happened to your friends or loved ones, events across the nation or around the world that were significant to you?  Have you ever considered the great "roller coaster ride" that we can experience in just one week?  I have to say that the past week was just such a roller coaster for me, for many of my loved ones, and for people I do not even, some of whom have never crossed paths with me.

This past week I experienced one of the most blessed events a person can have, shared in the pain of a friend who lost his daughter in tragic car accident, and learned of the death of my own loved one.  Those were just some of the highlights.  There were some things that happened that did not directly involve me at all, but had an impact on me and on many others as well.  One of those events, one that did not involve me, but had an impact on me and many others, a tragedy, is one that I will write about soon but I did not want to write about it today, on what is the first blog I have posted in several days. With the highs and lows, ups and downs, I suspect that my week was just about like yours, and all of us have stories to tell about last week, just one week out of one month, out of one year of our lives.

Years ago the late Charlie Rich ("Behind Closed Doors," "Rolling With The Flow," et al) sang a song that contained the line "Life has it's little ups and downs, like ponies on a merry-go-round."  If we just look at one week of our own lives, we see that that simple line above applies very much to those seven short days, as well as to a lifetime.  First, whether we are talking about a week or a lifetime, there are ups and downs, whether or not we choose to look at them as "little."  There are sad things, happy things, in-between things, but they can all happen in just those seven short days.  But the second truth is this: our week - and our life - goes on, or turns, if you will, just like that merry-go-round, in spite of all the ups and downs.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the past week was the bringing into this world our second grandchild, by his mother, our own second child.  There were so many things that could have gone wrong with this pregnancy, a high-risk pregnancy for several reasons.  Of course we were concerned for months about this day, but it was coming no matter the risks.  Life has its little ups and downs, like ponies on a merry-go-round.  The birth of Derek Weston and the health of the mother both during and after the birth were both such great "ups" that the "downs" were overshadowed, though not unfelt at all.

Baby Derek came into the world to his waiting, loving parents and his "big" sister (and his large extended family) on July 26th.  Unlike many newborns (just being honest here, not being grandfatherish) Derek was a beautiful newborn right from the start.  Yes, all babies are cute after a couple of days, but many look like little space creatures at hour one!  But Baby Derek came out looking good right from the start, and looks even better now. 

Our first grandchild, Leah (Baby Baby to me) was a little unsure, at first, about what the new little being meant for her.  She knew she would be getting a baby brother, but I think she was not prepared for that baby brother to be a pink little crying thing all wrapped in a blanket.  I believe she was disappointed to find that her little brother could not jump up and play with her right off the bat!  But is appears that in the days that have passed since Baby Derek was born, Baby Baby has (at least tentatively) come to accept him as the newest member of the family.  And no doubt he will play with her some day.  I am sure on that day there will be a huge fight because "those are Weeyah's toys!"

Like all the rest of the family, I took my turn holding Baby Derek, and just like it was for Leah from her day one, my heart is so full of love for this little bundle that it ached.  Really, it almost burst, because it is the same heart that is so full of love for Baby Baby, and now it is twice as full.  It is so amazing that such a little soul, with such perfect little tiny hands and feet, will one day be child, then a teen, then a grown man, and all in such a short span of time.  It truly is a short time.  It seems like only a few days ago that we brought our own children home from the hospital.  Older and wiser people told me this would all pass so quickly, and I thought they were crazy.  Now I find those crazy people were right.  The time has truly flown.  Baby Baby is now over three years old, and not really a baby any more.  My own Child A and B, and our new son Child B+1, are now grown and productive members of society.  But that cliche...it seems like only yesterday!...is so true.

Yes, this past week was surely a week of ups and downs, although by far the ups outweighed the downs.  I actually hope for a week filled with somewhat FEWER ups and downs than was the week past, but whether or not that is the case, the coming week will be filled with life's little "ups and downs, like ponies on a merry-go-round."  That merry-go-round would be such a bland ride if the ponies did not go up and down as they turned...ita quoque vita

The "Good Old Days" or Terror In A Small Town In Mississippi

Have you ever heard someone say, "How I miss the "good old days," or "I wish we could go back to the "good old days"?  Maybe you've said it yourself, and I know that there have been times I have wished for the simpler times of "the good old days."  But what could it mean to return to the "good old days"?  Would turning back the clock and somehow living in the "good old days" be "good" for everyone?  Or said another way, the "good old days" were not the same, were not necessarily "good," for everyone.

Case in point.  I attended a party with my lovely bride the other night, a gathering of good friends and some who would become good friends as the night went on.  It turned out that a gentleman I met at the party was a history major (as well as an attorney) and was the newly hired director of nearby museum.  He and I of course had much to talk about.  As we talked about Texas, the Southwest, the relationship of the neighboring states, and so on, evidently some item of conversation reminded the hostess of the party of something she remembered that happened to her uncle several decades before "the turn of the century."  This incident (actually several incidents) occurred in the late fifties or early sixties.

The hostess's uncle ran a drug store in Mississippi during the "good old days" when Black Americans were still not allowed to have their full measure of freedom and civil rights by a large portion of the White population, even though various constitutional amendments had passed which guaranteed everyone equality under the law.  The Civil War was over a hundred years in the past, and many a Black American had fought and died during World War II, while thousands of others survived the war along with "the Greatest Generation" in America.  Yes, all Black soldiers gave some, and some of them gave ALL in the cause of stopping the world takeover attempted by Hitler, Hirohito, and Mussolini.  But when the war was over, the Black soldiers returned to an America that quickly forgot their bravery and sacrifice.  It was clear that they were not a part of this Greatest Generation.

My friend's uncle, unlike many of the White residents of Mississippi at the time, decided to do what was right and what his conscience dictated.  He opened his store to local Black citizens.  They did not have to use the "back" entrance, could sit at the counter, and could depend on being served  courteously and treated fairly.  Well, this was still the "good old days."  Word soon got around that a certain drug store was open to Black Americans in a small town in Mississippi where most of the other business establishments still openly discriminated against Black people.  The Black people were happy; many of the White people were not.  And the local "chapter" of a certain organization was most unhappy.

Within a day or two of opening his store to Black residents, the White owner became the victim of a campaign of terror orchestrated by the still active and powerful Ku Klux Klan.  At first persons unknown hurled rocks or bottles through the front windows at night.  Soon these acts of vandalism began happening in broad daylight.  Shortly afterwards this honest and conscientious man began receiving death threats over the telephone and "Molotov cocktails" in his front yard.  After he received several calls threatening the lives of his family, my friend's uncle called his sister in Oklahoma, who made a quick trip to Mississippi to pick up her sister-in-law and the children.  The store owner continued to serve Black customers in spite of all the mayhem.  I am not sure how long it went on, but he and the store survived the threats and vandalism.  At some point his family was able to return. And also at some point, Black Americans were able to shop or secure services at businesses in that little Mississippi town without discrimination (open discrimination, at least).

This was a most interesting account to me.  I realized that while times were great, or at least good, for most Americans back in the "good old days," and many people might want to return to those good, simpler times, not everyone would want to return to the "good old days" as they were in the America of the 1950's or 1960's.  For some, the "good old days" were a quieter, simpler time.  For others the "good old days" were times of meager living and jobs that paid very little for a hard day's work.  But for others, the "good old days" were days of struggle, uncertainty, and yes, days of grave danger.

I realize that when most people say "How I wish for the good old days," they are speaking of good times, of friends or loved ones who have gone from this world, of the small towns or familiar neighborhoods that have given way to the lifestyle of the 21st Century.  Very few people want to return to the prejudice and discrimination that was a part of a by-gone era.  But when we wish for the "good old days" or reminisce on our pleasant memories, it is good to remember that the good old days were not the same for everyone.  I think it is also good to recall the heroes, especially the ordinary people like this store owner, probably not a hero in his own eyes, who helped in some small way to put "real" good into the "good old days."

May God bless the South - AND the North
May God bless Texas

And of course

God Bless America

She Shared Her Ice Cream With Poppee

This past Saturday my daughter (Child B) was given a baby shower in anticipation of the arrival of our Grandchild #2, debuting sometime in July.  The baby shower was attended by many, and was a great success, but alas, it lasted for some time longer than Baby Baby's attention span.  As the games and festivities came to an end, and the young couple began open gifts (yes, apparently MEN can now go to these affairs...but I digress) Baby Baby (our first grandchild) reached the end of her attention span.

At this point my lovely bride suggested that I find Baby Baby some "juice," which is the baby's code word for almost any liquid, except water, which she must be coerced to drink.  So I searched the location of the baby shower but failed to find any "juice" except for some water, which of course Baby Baby will not drink except when stranded in the Sahara for a couple of weeks.  Having found no "juice" in this locale, I took Baby Baby across the street to get a small root beer for her at a nearby fast food place. 

Since this was a fairly busy road, I carried Baby Baby across the street while instructing her to look both ways for cars.  But Baby Baby instantly recognized a red oval sign with two large white letters and yelled, "We're at the ICE CREAM STORE, Poppee!"  I said, 'Yes, Baby, we ARE at the ice cream store!"  Baby Baby said, " I want 'nilla!"  I assured her that we would indeed get some "nilla" ice cream.  Baby Baby said, "We can share 'nilla, Poppee!"  I said, "Sweetie, you can have your OWN ice cream, and Poppee can have ice cream."  Baby Baby said, "NO, Poppee!  You share LEAH'S ice cream!"  I asked if she wanted her own dish of ice cream and she again said, "NO! Leah share with Poppee!"

It was a touching moment, a near tear-jerking moment.  My little Baby Baby wanted to share HER ice cream with her Poppee.  So we went to the counter and ordered one small root beer and one medium dish of ice cream, um...with TWO spoons.  We had one of the best times together in her short life as we shared ice cream, bite for bite.  Then Baby Baby said, "Let's go to the park!"  At first I thought she meant that she wanted to go play at the park, but I soon learned differently. 

Baby Baby finished a bite of ice cream then "walked" her spoon across the table and to the half wall that separated the sections of the restaurant.  Then she walked her spoon up the wall and to the top.  Once at the top. Baby Baby let the spoon "slide" down the wall.  "I am SLIDING," shouted Baby Baby, "You slide TOO, Poppee!" 

Well, I grabbed my spoon and "walked" it to the wall, climbed the wall, and "slid" down.  Leah yelled, "Yea, Poppee! Now I go again!"  When Baby Baby slid down the wall one more time, she announced that it was once again time for ice cream.  We took a couple of bites, then Baby Baby yelled, "SLIDE, Poppee!!"  SO we walked our spoons to the park, climbed the slide, and then went for ice cream.  We repeated this action several times, then, lo and behold, the ice cream was gone.

I said, "Look Baby Baby, we are all out of ice cream!"  Leah said, "It was fun sharing ice cream with Poppee, and we played at the park."  I gave my little sweetie a BIG hug.  I told her, "I am so glad you shared your ice cream with me, Baby Baby, and I am glad we got to go to the park!"  At this point Leah announced that she wanted her "juice," the root beer.  I let her have a few drinks of root beer, but then the telephone rang.  We were wanted back at the Dojo, my daughter's and son-in-law's mix-martial arts school.  We walked back across the street and into the Dojo.

By this time the festivities were over and everyone soon went his or her separate ways.  As I drove home with my lovely bride, I was so full of joy and happiness.  My little Baby Baby WANTED to share her ice cream with me.  Her little angel face had such a beautiful smile all the way through our dining experience.  She was so proud to have shared her ice cream with me.  I think it was the high point of her day, and I know it was such a special time for me.

Baby Baby, as all babies do, will soon grow out of her childhood, will soon be a school girl, then a teen, then all grown and out in her own world.  That is why these kinds of moments are so special.  People always told me that my babies would be grown "before I knew it."  Well, that was certainly the case, and now, I tell Child B and my new son that their babies will be grown in such a short time, such a very short time.  I am not trying to scare them, only tell them of my own experience.  Special moments, like sharing ice cream with a small little girl, will be such fleeting moments, and soon gone...but the sweet, precious memories will remain.

I love my little Baby Baby, and her sweet parents.  And I love my little Baby Derrick already.  I can't wait for him to get here!!

Justify and Michael Smith: 2018 Triple Crown Winners

Some of my favorite sports events are the three horse races that make up the Triple Crown: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes.  I like these events even more when one horse wins the first two races, which means that there will be a chance for a Triple Crown!  So, Justify was that horse, and the Preakness was that race.  By the time Justify had taken the posts I was hyped for the possibility that Justify would win the Triple Crown.  The three or so weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes could not pass fast enough!

As the time for the Preakness drew nearer and nearer, the talking heads began their nay-saying, right on schedule.  First, there was Justify.  He had proven himself in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, as a horse that could run a fast race in the rain, and as a sprinting horse.  BUT...the Preakness was a long race, in fact the longest in the Triple Crown, at a mile and a half.  Sure, Justify could run fast, and could keep his footing in terrible conditions...but, could he pace himself for a long race, not burn out before the finish, yet not fall behind so far that he could not catch up at the end?  And the general consensus was that Justify would run himself out at the 1 3/4 mile mark.  Well, okay...

Then there was the jockey.  Michael Smith, who had ridden Justify in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, was 52 years old.  As one reporter put it, Smith was in his "twilight years" as a jockey.  Michael Smith, however, was not just any jockey.  He had ridden other Crown Jewel winners and was, in fact, a member of the jockeys' hall of fame.  Nonetheless, the talking heads declared Michael Smith was too old to ride, at least, too old to ride well enough to win the Belmont Stakes.  There were so many much younger men in the race, younger men who had more stamina to endure this, the longest race in the Triple Crown.  Apparently Smith's resume and experience were not enough to counter the man's age; at least that's what the talking heads would have us believe.  

Yes, the talking heads were persuaded that the Justify/Smith duo had basically a fifty-fifty chance at the Belmont Stakes.  But when the gates opened, Justify was the first horse out, got a length ahead, and never looked back.  The first quarter mile was fast by Belmont standards, but Justify had a lead and Smith let him settle into a Secretariat-like stride for the next half of a mile.  The field behind Justify was very dynamic, as riders jockeyed in and out, battling for second place...because, first place was never in question.  In the last half mile only one horse closed to just a few feet behind Justify, but that is when Michael Smith let Justify have his head, and Justify really kicked in the after-burner!  The race was over at that point - Justify crossed the line with a clear lead and plenty of power to spare.  What a race!

Justify, ridden by a jockey in his "twilight years," was the newest Triple Crown winner, the first since 2015, when American Pharaoh won all three races.  Incidentally Justify and American Pharaoh were both trained by the same person, Bob Baffert.  With today's Triple Crown win, Baffert becomes the only trainer to have TWO Triple Crown winners in his curricula vitae.  

Congratulations to Bob Baffert, Michael Smith, and most of all, to Justify, for bringing in the Triple Crown!  Although it was only three years between American Pharaoh's Triple Crown and Justify's win of the Triple Crown today, there was a drought of THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS from the previous Triple Crown win by Affirmed. Will there be a Triple Crown winner in 2019?  That stats say that's not likely.  But today, what a great race!  And I am already geared up for next year's Triple Crown of horse racing!

May God bless all of you

And God bless America