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The impish card sender from down Texas way

His name was Bruce Smith, and by telling you that, I am breaking my personal rule of writing only first names. Bruce and I never met. He lived in Garland, Texas, and yet he became important in my life for 13 years. He died last fall, and with it, a very special voice and heart passed from my world. I found Bruce by accident. I was nosing around on the internet looking for an old friend by the same name. I had no idea that Bruce Smith was one of the most common names anywhere. Looking by age produced a few possibilities so I decided it was worth a quick inquiry. The Bruce I dropped ...

Don’t miss out on downtown delights

Warren’s central downtown is glorious. It emits beauty and restfulness. It is welcoming. Who wouldn’t want to stop and linger? It has a “come join me” appeal. It is a far cry from our 1960 introduction to Warren when we had to drive through a winding street amid newly produced concrete septic tanks. A few years back, towns across America started to remake their outdated and depressed inner core. In the early 1990s, Warren obtained grant money and created its Main Street Program. I briefly served on David Winans’ Building Facade Subcommittee. ...

Dress ‘enforcement’ is often discriminatory

I am writing in response to the article on the “enforcement” of the dress code in Warren County schools. Upon reading this article, I was transported back to high school as if no time had passed. And it forced me to be more honest with myself than ever about the fear, anger, and confusion I felt regarding the dress code, during my years in school, and that I still feel even now. During my time at Beaty and WAHS, my female friends and I mocked the dress code. We laughed at the ludicrous idea that our shoulders could be so distracting in class that a rule needed to be made to keep ...

Leaving the ego-drama behind

Editor’s note: This is the final article of a two-part series that explores Christian themes seen through Fantasy Football. According to ESPN, roughly 40 million Americans play fantasy football which is approximately 8% of the United States population. Here is the premise behind fantasy football: each fantasy football owner acts as a general manager who drafts real NFL players to create their own “fantasy team.” In other words, each person tries to create the ultimate football team that can compete against every other person’s team in their fantasy league. Fantasy football ...

View from Hickory Heights: Finding joy in autumn

Now that I am alone, I do not can any more. I used to do a lot of canning. Canning was not something that I was accustomed to doing. I do remember helping a friend’s mother who canned tomatoes. She was an Italian lady who canned a lot of tomatoes for sauce and other tomato dishes. I remember slipping the skins. That part was fun. By slipping the skins I refer to the way we prepared the tomatoes. First, they were blanched, then put into cold water. I remember watching the skins to see when they broke. Then they were ready. The next step was packing the tomatoes into jars. ...

Even stalwart Americans admired Queen Elizabeth

She is gone. It is as though the last thread holding the world together, dating back to my childhood, has disappeared. Queen Elizabeth was mourned, celebrated, and lovingly buried as I wrote this – glued all morning to PBS’ full coverage. I stumbled into the den at 5:20 a.m. and turned off the final views at 12:09 p.m. I know, I’m a little weird, but there is a good reason. I have been captivated by Her Royal Highness since I was nine or ten years old. Marion Crawford was the governess of the two daughters of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (who became the Queen Mother). ...