You never quit being a mom. This is something I learned over Father’s Day weekend. Go figure. Our children were all under our roof on Father’s Day this year. My husband didn’t know everyone was coming in to visit, so it was an enjoyable surprise for him. We even had an “adopted” child with her two little ones, a 14-month-old boy and 2-month old girl. more

Since I was a young child, I’ve always loved to read. My mom loves to tell the story of how I took a Reader’s Digest to Mrs. Tomlin’s first grade class at Cain Elementary to read just for fun. At the time, it didn’t seem at all weird to me. When my now twenty-one year old daughter was in elementary school, she was exactly the same way. She got an early approval to begin checking out books from the school library long before her peers were allowed to, and she had a special pass so that she could return and check out new books more frequently more

A childish “giddiness” engulfs my Uncle Mort annually about this time. Maude says his behavior is as predictable as the arrival of hummingbirds to the colorful feeders the couple hang each summer. “Come to think of it, Mort goes for the ‘red stuff,’ too,” she said. “But his weakness is for the season’s first delectable watermelons.” more

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 17, though I think fathers are often not as celebrated as mothers are on Mother’s Day. I personally find that a shame as I see the breakdown of the family, especially absentee fathers, as the single greatest problem of our society today. There are so many groups, organizations and individuals who want to fight against poverty, for better education or to improve employment opportunity. The common element we should be fighting for is the family. more

Back in 1992 when I met my husband, I was in eleventh grade and he was a freshman at TJC. We fell head over heels for each other and both just knew that this was our future spouse right away. We saw everything through rose-colored glasses. The world was our oyster. Love could conquer all our problems. We could see no flaws in our future plans because, after all, we were young and in love and together, we could make it through anything, right? Two years later, we got married and enjoyed a wonderful, happy, fun-filled, joyful first couple years of marriage. Our bank accounts were full. Our hearts were bursting at the seams. Our lives were pretty ideal. more

Memorial Day is past and so are local high school graduations. School is out for summer vacation and many parents wonder what their children will do until school starts again. Some parents may even be concerned about how much knowledge their children may lose between now and the fall semester. more

Last weekend my second child walked across a stage, flipped a tassel to the left side of his cap and walked out of that gymnasium an adult. I spent most of the last year crying every time I thought about that day, so I guess I had run out of tears by the time graduation day came. While I did get misty and spent a few moments more

For the bulk of their professional lives, he went his way, and she went hers. Their careers, both awash in words, began with the single-syllabled “I do’s” exchanged at their Kilgore wedding almost 55 years ago. Linda Pirtle, a career educator, taught English and spent her final years in administration. Caleb, an award-winning journalism graduate of the University of Texas, has likewise been consumed by the “word business.” more

Many people, myself included, had a three-day weekend due to the Memorial Day holiday. Special services were held in many churches, various community events took place and some folks simply spent … more

By the time you read this, most of our area schools will be done or down to the last few days. That stirs up a lot of emotions. I will admit, at my school the adults have had a countdown until summer … more