Afterthoughts

        As we rode down a country road, to my grand-parents farm, my brother, sister, and stepsister chanted, "I double dare you to jump."  Sitting on the tail gate of the pick-up, just to show bravery, I stuck my leg out as far as I could.  They didn't need to know I didn't intend to jump.  At that very moment, the tires on the old truck plunged into a deep hole.  When the vehicle bounced, I flew into the air, did a somersault, and to my surprise landed on my feet.  Immediately, I began to run.  My siblings rushed to the back of the cab and hollered, "Patricia fell out!  Patricia fell out!"       Granddad Roy lost his hearing at the age of nine.  Even though he had his hearing aids on, he couldn't hear them.  When he looked in his rearview mirror and saw me running after the truck, he stopped and opened the passenger side door.  I got in expecting to get a good chewing out.  He turned to me and said, "Are you okay?"  I nodded my head yes.  We

      A cow tongue is not what we expected in our order of a half beef from Tevebaugh's Meat Market.  Even so, my husband stewed the thing in order not to be wasteful.  He insisted our four children taste it. When he looked at me as though he expected me to have a taste, I shook my head and said, "No way."  My daughter's middle school history teacher told his students he would eat any food they brought to school.  I considered him to be a very brave man.  The next day, she took him a large portion of the tongue to eat.  The memory of that poor cow's tongue still lives on because a few weeks later her English teacher had her class write a limerick. Here is what my daughter wrote. A Stewed Cow Tongue Mr. James ate a stewed cow tongue, And it slid over and around his lungs. Don't ask how he feels. Cause now he's on pills. It flung and flung and it's still hung.                   Diana Westbrook Pate

                                                                                                            As darkness settled in, the night was perfect for an adventure for four East Texas boys.  However not the one my son, Roy, expected. It all started when he and another sixth grader went to spend the night with two brothers. As three of them erected a tent in the back yard, one of the brothers threw a green plum at a passing car.  Minutes later, a squad car drove by.  When the police used a spot light to search the area, Roy and two of the boys hid behind a boat and trailer. The one who threw the plum ran into the darkness out of sight.     At Roy's next baseball game, the mother of his friend  who threw the plum asked if I heard what happened.  I shook my head no.  She smiled and preceded to tell me. Later I asked Roy about the incident.  He told me the same story then said,  "I knew the boy was wrong. When the mother said he could do what he wanted to just don't get

                                                JT and Alan Westbrook set free in Heaven.                              There are times, we can no longer stand by and watch  a person being bullied.  As a fourth grader, that is the way my youngest son felt when riding the bus home from school.  In the process of taking up for a small boy being bullied, he broke his hand.  Two days later, on the same bus, an older and bigger boy started harassing my son.  Several times he asked him to stop to no avail.  When he didn't quit, my son lifted his arm and hit him on top of his head with the cast he had recently acquired.  Even though he cracked the plaster, his hand suffered no further damage.  From that day on, there was peace on the bus.  Perhaps the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, "Speak softly and carry a big stick,"  is not only meant for a country but for an individual as well.    Set Free Long ago a man lived with a soft demeanor. His voice projected low, for he wasn

Dan      In 1964, our family opened our home to a bird dog puppy named Dan.  Little did we realize he would soon be joined by another creature.  That summer my husband went hunting with his cousin.  When he came home he handed me a surprise.  Wrapped in an old shirt two scared eyes stared back at me.  That is how I met Sam the raccoon.  As Sam grew and no longer needed special attention, we gave him the run of the place.  He slept in our out buildings during the day.  Even so, he always took time to play with Dan and my children.              Dan and Sam became best friends and came up with special ways to play. What they played most caused Dan's ears to get huge calluses on them.  Dan would lay on his back while Sam took a running leap at him.  He landed on top of Dan grabbing his ears with his teeth.  After which, Dan took his paws and threw Sam as far as he could.  Over and over they played their game.      When the first cold spell came along, Sam left for a few days.  He came

     During World War 2, when I went to town with my grandparents, Grandmother would point to a lone tree in the middle of a cotton field and sing, "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree  with Anyone Else but Me."      After my grandfather died, in 1975, periodically  my husband and I would drive to West Texas to check on my grandmother.  On one of our visits, I looked at her and said, "Let's go see the tree you used to sing about."        She frowned and replied, "What tree?"      After getting permission from the owner of the farm, the three of us drove down the turnrow to our destination.  Once there, we stood in the shade of an old apple tree. Half of it was dead while the other half had a bounty of apples pulling it's branches to the ground.                                                                                                                                                                The Symbol