A Beautiful Life

I love learning about my ancestors, so I was thrilled the other day when my friend - and cousin - Tommy Bertram gave me this newspaper clipping from 1909.

Field of Memories

It was the phone call that every parent fears and it happened to me last Friday night. The boys were at friends' homes having sleepovers and I ended up in front of the computer in my office when suddenly my cell phone rang.

"Elijah has been in a four-wheeler accident. He ran into a moving vehicle."

Thankfully, I was just a couple of miles away. When I arrived at the scene, Elijah was laying on his back in a field across from his friends' home. He had just gotten on the four-wheeler and made the mistake of going out into the road to turn around. It was just below a blind hill and he did not see the car coming. After striking the car, the four-wheeler slammed into a bank on the other side of the road. Elijah was ejected and flew 10 to 15 feet into the air before landing in that field.

For me, it was a double nightmare. As I knelt beside Elijah, my mind instantly wandered back to May 7, 1981. It was on that morning, 28 years ago, that my dad and my older brother and I found my brother, Ronnie, dead from a car wreck. It was around 5:00 a.m. Dad had gone to work and found Ronnie's car on its top just five-tenths of a mile from our home. It was foggy. He felt inside the car but Ronnie wasn't there. He had no flashlight, so he scrambled back to our home and awoke us. I have never forgotten the sound of him pounding on the front door and hearing him shout out the horrific news that morning. We hurriedly drove back to the scene and by that time, the fog had lifted and daylight had arrived. We found Ronnie laying some 40 yards from where his car had landed.

The healing part of that tragedy was long and slow for my family. It did not help that I had to drive past that field a few times a day, always looking there - at the spot where we found him. We moved from that house about nine years later and that helped. I guess over the years I was finally able to find a place to put that memory, although I can't help but recall it from time to time.

For me, last Friday night was one of those times because you see the field where Elijah lay was the same field where we found my brother dead 28 years ago. Elijah lay less than 50 feet from the spot where my brother lay dead. I can't even begin to describe the flood of emotions that came upon me. It was the nightmare of all nightmares and I am still shaking from it. I just praise the Lord that Elijah is alive. Where we live, there is no road and no neighbors. I think Eliah did what he did because he is not use to having to deal with vehicles passing in front of our home.

At the hospital, for over three hours, Elijah lay on that straight board with the neck and head braces on and I was given another reminder as to just how precious life is. It was the same reminder I received 28 years ago...not to take life for granted and to live every moment, every hour, every day to the fullest, and to love, and to hopefully be loved in return.

The First Step

Growing up in broadcasting, one of my disc jockey idols was John 'Records' Landecker. Every night, when the sun went down, WLS-AM in Chicago came booming in and I would tune my radio dial there and sit in my car and listen to him. John 'Records' Landecker was great on the air. He was entertaining and he was energetic. He had a voice like no other and I would imagine that I was him. He was the first disc jockey I was really into outside my local realm. His nighttime show on WLS reached out to 37 states. Undoubtedly, John 'Records' Landecker inspired numerous kids to become disc jockeys.

I like where he said 'belief in what you do is the first step to becoming great at what you do.' He said the first step to be something is the desire to want to be it. He said you have to be willing to do anything.

In 33 years of broadcasting, I've pretty much done it all; worked weekends, been a janitor, an engineer-want-to-be, salesman and now, general manager, and I have hosted shows of every variety; rock, country, gospel, bluegrass. I learned real early that no matter what the music genre was, there would be nothing to show unless the program was right. The right music mix. No matter what the style was, the show had to have something of worth to it in order for it to be well received by the audience. John 'Records' Landecker said "If no one has a product, it does not matter what you have. If it is junk, no one wants it."

That is what I love about my new business. The product definitely has worth and the program is right. The most important part is that it is providing a much-desired better way of life for my children and I. 'Belief in what you do is the first step in becoming great at what you do.' Thanks for saying that John 'Records' Landecker. I still may have a long way to go, but I believe in what I do.

If you would like to hear all of John 'Records' Landecker's comments, click here

Moringa, The Miracle Tree

This is why I do what I do...

This is Nuts!

Back in the 80's, there was a certain local man who died. While he spent the last year of his life in a nursing home, his wife began frequenting a dance hall at the state line. Perhaps you can blame it on the alcohol, but in spite of her age this elderly lady began entering wet t-shirt contests. It is said she even won a couple of them. When her husband died, a certain funeral home took some metal folding chairs over to the widow's home so the many family and friends who would be stopping by to pay their respects would have a place to sit. The funeral director arrived and set as many chairs in the living room as he could. He had a few left over and the widow instructed him to store them in an adjacent bedroom. As he went to open the bedroom door, the man noticed a picture of Jesus on the door. He entered the bedroom looking for a place to put the extra chairs. The room was crowded so he decided to put the chairs in the corner behind the door. When he shut the door from the inside, he saw it. The very same door that had the photo of Jesus on one side, had a bumper sticker on the other side that read, "Tight butts drive me nuts!"

Elijah (as Arnold) in "Can You Feel It?"

"Tickle Me, Dad!"

My friend, Jamie, wondered aloud, "Why does time go by so fast the older you get? She said that just this morning, the day before Elijah officially becomes a teenager.

I hate it. Why does he have to get older? Why does he have to go and do that to me? I am going to miss cuddling and getting down in the floor and wrestling with him. And just so he doesn't kill me, here is the official disclaimer: "WE DO NOT CUDDLE!"

:)

It was during one of 'those' precious moments years ago, when he was a toddler, that I stopped and said, "Elijah don't get any older. Stay little the rest of your life and always be my baby." He said, "I'm trying dad, but God won't let me."

Well, that was a huge lesson for me....straight from the mouth of that 'baby.' Hard words to hear, easy words to try and ignore. But, alas, try is the best I can do.

My mistake was letting him see how much his running and jumping in my lap, when I did not see him coming, hurt. Gosh how that hurt! But, he laughed almost uncontrollably, so I let him do it. Most of the time, I managed to 'protect myself' before his knee hit its target. There were times when I wasn't so lucky. It's one of the reasons why I switched from singing alto to singing tenor.

He used to lay down and say, "Tickle me dad." I could never figure out why he would ask me to do that, and then a minute later scream for me to stop. Nowadays, I proceed with caution because he's a football lineman. I know my limits.

Happy 13th Birthday, Elijah! I love you!

The Remedy

While it's one of the newer discoveries to modern science, Moringa has been making strides in various societies for thousands of years. Its remedies have been passed down through generations of folk medicine. Ancient Indian writings, dating as far back as 150 B.C., refer to the Moringa plant and its uses. Early Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians prized Moringa for its therapeutic properties, to protect skin, make perfume, and purify water for drinking.

Now this humble plant, often called “the Miracle Tree,” is coming to the forefront thanks to Zija International. The Moringa is effective in treating more than 300 conditions because of its astonishing range of natural vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Many people taking Moringa have reported rapid improvements in skin, digestion, eyesight, mental clarity, and overall well-being, plus a reduction in symptoms associated with fatigue, arthritic-like conditions, and aging.

I began drinking the Zija Smart Drink once per day in May and two weeks later began to notice a change in how I was affected by allergies. I am now allergy free thanks to Zija.

I highly recommend this product and hope you will at least try it.

Just visit my Zija page and then contact me for further information. I would love to see Zija do for you what it has done for me.

A View From Arlington

Eight months before President John F. Kennedy was assinated he made a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. It is said that he passed beyond the soldiers' graves and walked to the top of a hill. The story goes that as he paused there reflecting on the beauty of the area, he was quoted as saying, "I could stay here forever."

On November 25, 1963, the President was buried on that hill after being shot dead three days earlier.

Senator Ted Kennedy was buried on that famous hill today, joining the other members from his storied clan.

At the site of the eternal flame rest four Kennedy family members: the former president and his wife; their baby son, Patrick, who died after two days; and a stillborn child. Robert Kennedy's grave is a short distance away.

Edward Kennedy was buried approximately 95 feet south of Robert's grave, according to NBC News.

His family said Senator Kennedy spent more days than most at Arlington visiting the graves of his beloved brothers.

A New Ending

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

My friend, Charley, just posted that on Facebook.

There are some things I wish I could re-start and make a new ending, one in particular.

How does one start today to make a new ending? How do you go about getting everything in place to do that. I wish.

Ten Lies

I love reading old newspapers. Here is an excerpt from the March 24, 1915 edition of the Livingston Enterprise (Tennessee). I love number three.

Here are ten lies which are often heard, according to the amiable Arthur Hull of La_____.

My wife and I have never exchanged a cross word.

Yes, we're out, but we've just ordered a lot of it.

I never would care to be rich, just comfortably fixed.

I'd just like to have been in his place. I'd have showed them.

If I'd catch a kid of mine at anything like that I'd blister him.

If you don't think it's a good thing for you I don't want you to do it.

If I had that woman for a little while I'd teach her a few things.

If I had just a little money I know here I could go out and make a pile.

I don't care anything for the money. It was the principle of the thing.

I've never seen such weather before.(