Afterthoughts

      JT Westbrook stationed at Fort Hood.      A fence separated the fort from Killeen.     The preacher stood on the corner hollering, "Do not vote for liquor to be sold in Killeen." If the soldiers wanted to buy beer, they had to drive to Temple, Texas.  Since many of them didn't have transportation, they spent a lot of their time in town.  One of their favorite spots to gather was in front of the two theaters on main street. Never once did I walk in front of them when I got off work between eight and nine at night and walked home.  Instead, I went down the alley behind the theaters.  I didn't want them to know I was alone.  If no one was home when I got there, I would open the door and holler "All right! Come on out! I know you're in there!" I didn't fear the soldiers scattered all over town.  However, going into a dark apartment by myself, is another matter.  Happy Not Afraid I saw a man as happy as he could be. He didn't have a reason that

Natalie Westbrook       At the Post, Texas rodeo, my girlfriend and I sat on the fence close to where the horses came out of the chute.  After a while, I excused myself and headed toward the bathroom. On the way back, four boys walking several feet behind me started singing the lyrics of a nineteen fifties popular song. Embarrassed, I hurried as fast as I could to where my friend was.  When I climbed back on the fence, she asked, "What's wrong?  Your face is beet red."  I turned and pointed toward the boys that had been following me.  "See those boys over there?  They were singing that new song 'Short Fat Fanny.' I knew I shouldn't have worn these Levi jeans tonight."  She laughed and said, "Don't be silly.  They were just teasing you."  I nodded, "Maybe so but I didn't like it." From that point on I became more concerned about how I looked in the clothes I wore.   The Song Some boys sung a song just to tease. Then they he

     In Pearsall, Texas a skunk crawled under our house and sprayed his scent.  We held our noses and went about our daily life. Since we had no place to go, we had to stay there and suffer.  After a while, I thought the odor had dissipated. When my two boys and I went to the grocery store, I found out how wrong I was.  After we finished shopping and went to check out, a woman in front of us said, "I smell a skunk."  That's when I realized the odor had not gone away.  From that point on, I always made sure before we went anywhere our clothes were freshly washed and our bodies had been scrubbed until they shined.  Never again did anyone comment about smelling a skunk in our presence.  Perhaps they were just being kind.     Trails What are those strange shadows in front of me? No matter how hard I look I just can't see. If they're what I smell, they need a bath. Maybe I just need to walk a different path. I'm afraid if I don't, I'll begin to smell too. A

JT Westbrook     Being covered in dirt from head to toe is one of the hazards of being a bulldozer operator. Not only that, at times, the pay only covered necessities. My husband worked hard for our family. and it was appreciated.       In order not to strain our budget, I did my best to fulfill our children's sweet tooth. I would dip rose petals in peanut butter mixed with honey instead of buying candy.  Sugar, water, and vanilla slowly cooked to a caramel state then added to whipped egg whites became their favorite treat.  They called it calf slobber. If I made a cake and we didn't have any milk, I used a can of pumpkin for the liquid. Once a cake recipe called for sour cream.  Instead of going to the store, I found a package of powdered sour cream in the cabinet and used that. When I poured it in the batter, I realized it had garlic in it.  For fun I added food coloring to the icing.  The cake turned out purple with a garlic taste.  The children loved it.      Looking back,

Patricia Lawson Westbrook      When the rodeo came to Killeen, Texas in May of 1953, my friend and I got permission to go.  For some reason when the rodeo ended, I didn't have a ride home.  So, in the dark, I started walking along highway 190.  I enjoyed the walk while thinking about the fun I had.  However, when a car full of men stopped a short way in front of me, I was scared.  Not knowing what to do, I frantically looked around.  That's when I saw a large house across the road.  I walked toward the front door.  When I did, the car drove away.  Thinking back to that time in my life I know I had a Higher Power watching over me.              I'm Not Alone When I walk down a lonely road, I'm not alone. You can't see my friend walking with me going home. He's walked with me throughout all these many years. Often, he comforts me and wipes away my tears. Jesus died upon a cross for your sins and mine. After three days, He arose according to God's great design.

Alan Westbrook      The voice on the other end of the line said, "Mrs. Westbrook your son has missed a number of days this semester.  I replied, "I'll take care of it."  When I went to talk to him, my other children told me he had been listening on the other phone.  After he hung up, he ran out of the house, jumped into his friend's car, and they sped away.        For several days he didn't come home.  During that time my husband and I went to church to get some advice from our pastor. (Who happened to be our neighbor.) When we left his office, it had begun to rain.  So, I waited on the church porch while he went to get the car.  As the rain turned to pea sized hail, I hollered, "It's hail!" I didn't know at the time the sanctuary happened to be full of people. I should have since the parking lot had a lot of cars parked in it. I've often wondered if they thought a crazy woman stood on the porch cussing.       With time the events settle

Patricia and Sharol      In the late forties, after the machine gun was banned, who would have thought one would show up in the small Texas town of Tahoka.  To my family's surprise, it did in my stepfather's possession.  That was the last thing my mother ever expected him to bring home.  He came into the house all excited and insisted we all go with him to shoot it.  So, we piled into his car, and he drove to a field several miles outside of town.  When we got out of the car, he propped the gun on a fence post and fired.  With our hands over our ears, we watched the dust fly into the air as the bullets sprayed across the dirt.       The next day he took it with him to the radio and television repair shop where he worked.  We never knew how he got it or where it went.  There is one thing I learned from that experience. Just because something is banned doesn't mean a person can't get hold of it.  Also, I was having a lot more fun playing cowboy and Indians at home than wa

     Patricia and Kathleen      While driving down US-87 to Lubbock Texas, I had a hard time concentrating on the road because I was listening to my mother.  She said, "At sixteen months you climbed over our fence in the back yard.  We looked everywhere but couldn't find you.  Finally, we walked across the street to a construction site to find out if anyone there had seen you.  When a man making cabinets saw us, he grinned and pointed to you playing in the sand with some blocks of wood.  He commented, 'I knew someone would come looking for her.'  We thanked him and took you home."         I turned to look at mother causing the car to swerve a little.  My voice rose in excitement at the discovery I had just made. "Mother! I remember that.  Since dad was a carpenter as a young man, I always thought he took me to work with him.  I've often wondered why I was there by myself, and my sister and brother didn't get to go."      I calmed down and drove t

     The last thing I expected to see when I entered the doctor's office was two policemen.  They stood just inside the room talking to a nurse.  I walked around them to the receptionist desk and checked in. After I sat down in the waiting room, I noticed a man sitting across from me wearing what looked like striped pajamas.  When I saw the shackles on his feet, I knew he had a problem.  With a bowed head, he seemed dejected.  That is when I remembered a conversation, I had with God earlier.  I told Him if he wanted me to say something to someone about Him I would.  Without thinking I said, "Sir, Jesus loves you," The man looked up at me with a big smile on his face.  He replied, "Thank you ma'am."  Words Words have a way of lifting a person up or tearing them down. The power they have can make them smile or cause them to frown. Always remember no matter who you talk to be careful what you say. Quite possible the words may come back to haunt you on any given

       In West Texas on a clear summer night, there's a marvelous display of twinkling lights. In the country they appear to be more spectacular.  At a very young age, on one of those wonderful cool nights, my best friend Dottie, my brother Sharol, and I got to sleep outside in my grandparent's backyard.  Instead of going right to sleep, we did our best to count as many stars as we could.       Before long we got bored.  So, in the dark we head ed to grandad's old, black, ford pick-up.  Dottie got in the front seat and pretended she was driving to church.  Sharol and I jumped into the bed of the truck and stood behind the cab. In unison and very loud, the three of us began to sing hymns. In the middle of Amazing Grace, we heard a strange voice louder than ours.  We stopped singing and looked toward the house.  Grandmother stood on the front porch frantically waving her hands in the air.  She yelled, "It's after one in the morning.  You kids get back to bed." 

Roy Westbrook        Walking across the chicken yard, in my bare feet, I could feel a dampness begin to ooze between my toes. My sister had the right idea and wore her shoes. We went to the back of the chicken house and climbed on top.  In a flash, I stumbled and slid off the roof. Just as I went over the edge, a nail snagged my jeans. There I was hanging upside down. While I screamed and thrashed about, my sister did her best to help. Her arms just weren't long enough to reach me. So, she got off the building and ran for Grandmother. When she found her in the garden, she tugged at her shirt and yelled. "Patricia needs you!  Patricia needs you!" As fast as she could, grandmother came to my rescue.      After things had calmed down and grandmother went back to her chores, my sister and I went into the house to get a drink.  Then, once again, we walked outside into the morning air searching for something else to explore. The Answer A man looked up toward Heaven and shouted.

Dottie, Kathleen, Patricia, and Sharol           The afternoon sun slowly moved across the Texas sky scorching the sand making it too hot to go barefooted.  So, with shovels in hand, my brother and I set out to dig a swimming pool in grandmother's back yard.  We worked diligently until the hole had the perfect dimensions.  After filling it full of water, we jumped in.  It didn't take long until we resembled two hogs wallowing in a mud hole.  The coolness of it all made us feel as though we had won the battle with the sun.  The Hole A country preacher stood in the sun looking into a deep hole. A boy passed by and asked, "What are you looking for; I'd like to know." The preacher smiled and said, "When I was young, I got mad one day. I took my Bible and threw it into this hole of rock and clay. Even though the Book was gone, I remembered the words I had read. Day by day I wallowed in sin, but I couldn't get them out of my head. Life didn't change for me

Jennifer Perkins     Having been raised in West Texas in a Christian family, conversations of the end times and the rapture happened often.  They always intrigued me. One day, while visiting my sister, we sat at her kitchen table drinking coffee. Suddenly we heard a noise that sounded like a trumpet.  It got louder and louder.  I looked at her and said, "When the rapture comes, isn't there supposed to be the sound of a trumpet to announce the return of Christ?"       After a moment of awkward silence, my sister got up.  She went to the living room where earlier she had been ironing. When she unplugged the iron, immediately the sound stopped. Laughing she said, "That did sound like a horn.  It was just my worn-out iron.  I've needed to get a new one for a long time.  Can you imagine what it would have been like if it had been the rapture?" The Trumpet Daily, an old woman sat by the side of the road. She had lost her youth, and on her face, it showed. At dusk,

     There are times in life when a little boost is a good thing.  In order to help my son with the subjects he struggled with in school, I took him to a local Learning Center over the summer before his tenth- grade. When he returned to school that fall, to his surprise, one of the teachers from the center was teaching his class. One day, she started making fun of a special needs girl.  It bothered him so much he spoke up, "We need to go to the hall."  He had to repeat the request several times before she went with him.  Once there, she fussed at him for interrupting the class. After she calmed down, he replied, "You're the teacher; you know better.  The kids make fun of her all the time, and here you are doing the same thing."  The conversation ended there, and they returned to the room.      Later my husband and I received a letter from the teacher.  From what she wrote, I realized she had learned a good life lesson from my son.   The Words You Speak Words are