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 ...

      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 spotlight 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 f...

                                                                  JT and Alan Westbrook are set free in Heaven.                                                    They no longer have to worry about the bulli8es of this world.                             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 ask...

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 outbuildings 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...

     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 year 1967 happened to be the roughest year our family of six had ever experienced.  My husband worked hard as a bulldozer operator, but in the late fall and early winter things slowed down. Yet we always had enough money for groceries, so each week I traveled nine miles from Milano, TX. to Rockdale, TX. to a Brookshire's store.       A couple of months before Christmas they had a contest giving away green stamps. One afternoon while shopping, the store manager went to the office and brought me a sealed envelope with a ticket inside.  When I went there after the contest ended, she asked, "Have you turned your ticket in?"  Since I didn't have it with me, I answered, "No!" As she walked away, she looked back at me and said, "Be sure you do."       When I got home, I steamed the envelope open, and inside were the words 55,000 green stamps. With excitement as quick as I could, I rushed back to the store to claim t...

     Several times a week a man in a wheel chair sits by the side of the road a block from my house.  He doesn't have a sign asking for money, but I feel that is why he's there. Our city officials have asked the citizens not to give money to panhandlers.  Even so, one day I stopped my car in front of him,  lowered my window and made sure he saw the money in my hand. He rolled up to the car. Without thinking I cleared my throat  and asked, "Hi, do you know where you're going when you die?" (By all accounts, that is a strange thing to ask a person looking for a handout.)       He looked startled. "I know all about the Bible and Jesus."      My next question surprised even me.  "Can't you find work?"      He thought a minute and said, "I don't have legs.  I guess I could work in an office but if I do I'll lose my disability check."      After giving him the money, I left him with t...

Photo by Brett Jordan (Unsplash)      Like a cowboy in the wild, wild west, I pointed my gun at the dirty rat standing before me.  He staggered from side to side.  From his actions, I knew he had gotten into the rat poison we had placed in our out buildings.  In order to put him out of his misery, I shot at him.  Bang! Bang! Bang! I stood in amazement. Not one of the six bullets I shot hit him. As soon as I emptied my gun, he shivered and fell over dead.  Little Fellow I'm sorry little fellow. What else could I do? You were truly suffering. It was my fault it's true. They say you cause diseases And all kinds of other things. You had to go, Or so it seems.                         Patricia Westbrook                                        

Vesta Marie Appling-eighty five years old Vesta in her twenties      Ever since 1914 children from all over West Texas looked forward to the Panhandle South Plains Fair.  In the late forties, my sister, brother, and I could barely wait to go from Tahoka, Texas to Lubbock, Texas for our day of fun at the fair.        When the day finally arrived, Granddad and Grandma stopped by our house to take us.  Since we had not eaten, Grandma, being of a helpful nature, put an apron on and proceeded to fix our breakfast.  She looked grand in her Sunday best with a pillbox hat on her head.  The hat had a veil on top.  ( In the forties most women dressed up no matter where they went.)  Moments after she started to fry our eggs, the flame on the gas stove flared.  Her hat veil caught fire.  She slapped at her back trying to put the flames out.  The three of us jumped up from the table and  hollered, "Grandma's on...

 Diana Westbrook Pate       Never before in our lifetime have teachers had to worry about a virus affecting their ability to teach. COVID-19 has changed everything. In the past, safety at school was a given. Today the teacher's smiles have been replaced with a mask. Diana Westbrook Pate, as well as all teachers, are concerned about safety.  Even with her concerns, she is headed back to school in the fall. Our prayers are with the teachers and students during this unusual time.       Back to School It's finally time to go back to school. In some places that won't be the rule. Many teachers will put on a mask and go. Others will flatly say, "I don't think so." Now with children it will be another matter. One can tell what they want from their chatter. Some want to go back and be with their friends. Others could care less and wish school would end. With all this crazy, chaotic, frenzy, learning is lost. So, kick COVID-19 aside and show who's bos...

Pastor Charles Hunt      "Somebody better hold my mule; I'm fixing to shout!"  When Charles Hunt the pastor at Woodland Hills Baptist Church in Longview, Texas said those words during his sermon, I smiled.  I knew something important would come next.  Many times, he shares a joke or tells a story that goes along with what he's preaching.  Always his focus is on the Gospel of the Bible and leading people to Christ.  When he throws in a saying or two, people chuckle.  Their ears perk up, and they listen for what comes next.      Many people don't realize a lot of common sayings we use every day come from the Bible.  I have compiled a few in the following poem. United And Here to Stay. America the great has started to fall by the wayside. The fly in the ointment is people have lost their pride. The land of milk and honey no longer exists. There's a wolf in sheep's clothing and that's the twist. ...

                                                                           Roy Appling      In the late forties wildcatters came to the West Texas area where my grandfather had a dry weather farm snuggled a mile off US 380 between Tahoka and Post Texas.  The men drilled on several farms nearby but found no oil.       That's when granddad decided to do what he had wanted to do for years, drill for water. They struck one of the best deep-water wells around.  From that day on, he no longer had to watch the clouds in the sky and pray for rain. Each day he got on his red tractor knowing whenever needed he could quench the dry earth.  All he had to do was fill the ditches along the edge of the fields with water.  Once they became full, he walked alo...

Pastor Kase Kuykendall       In 1955 the minimum wage was seventy five cents an hour.  That is the year I turned 14 and began working at a dime store after school.  Being a student, they only paid me thirty cents an hour.  Since I paid for all my clothes and other expenses, except for the food I ate at home and a roof over my head, the thirty cents didn't go far.       That summer when East Side Baptist Church in Killeen, Texas paid for me to go to summer camp It was a blessing.  In one of my classes, my youth leader's wife shared a Bible verse that meant a lot to her. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, NKJV) Because the conflict and violence in my home didn't make sense to me, the verse became my special lifeline.      With the reality of COVID-19, we all need hope, peace, and comfort. Kase Kuykend...

     Why am I not afraid of COVID-19? That's a good question.  I had to think back to my childhood to come up with an answer. Having grown up with an alcoholic, drug addicted stepfather, it's possible my fear subsided through the years because of the violence in my home. The circumstances caused me to cling to a higher power.  Sharing this is not for sympathy. It's just the way it was.      Many nights my stepfather would pull out his gun and threaten to use it on my family. Several times we would flee our house for safety.        The last time I remember him lying on the couch, waving his gun, and cussing, I hurried upstairs to check on my brother.  I didn't want a repeat of the time he hid in the dirty clothes hamper and couldn't run away. The two of us went into my room. I proceeded to open the window and take down the screen.  After putting it under my bed, I pulled the window shade down as a precaution...