Afterthoughts

   Hearing aids are a blessing, especially as you get older.  Sometimes, if you say "huh?" often enough,  people will suggest that you might need them.       When my friend gave me a pair he no longer used, I was grateful. They worked perfectly for about a year until one night, I forgot to take them out of my ears before I got into the shower.       Not knowing how to dry them, I asked Google and several people what I should do.      My sister suggested that I put them in the microwave. I thought, " That doesn't make sense to me, but I'll give it a try."      The second I turned it on, a loud popping sound startled me. In a flash I turned the microwave off.  It was no surprise that I had ruined my hearing aids.      Later, I found out that I had misunderstood the advice my sister gave. Apparently, I was supposed to put them in a container I have that would dry them.   ...

                                           Robert Westbrook      Children are a blessing.  They fill the house with laughter, sadness, and anticipation.  My four children did that for me.      You may wonder why I included anticipation.  You never knew from one day to the next what might happen. Would I need to put a bandage on a cut or soothe hurt feelings. My greatest anticipation came when my youngest started school.       In 1971, that day came. Excited, he rushed out the door, climbed onto the bus and headed to school in Hallsville, Texas. Not wanting to sit alone in a quiet house, I walked to the restaurant in front of our house. While I was drinking coffee, a neighbor sat across from me with a frown. In a sad voice she said, "Your heart will break now that he's gone. You will miss him so much."     ...