Abbi's Dad

I don’t know what the rest of you good folks will be doing Saturday afternoon at 4PM EST, but I plan to be in my den tuned in to ESPN watching my high definition plasma television.

Some of you reading this in the Oklahoma City area can do better. You can show up at the finest softball facility in the land at the ASA Hall of Fame complex at 3PM your time and watch in person.

And while you are there introduce yourself to one of the members of Team USA , #11 Brian Rainwater.

Team USA will be competing against Team Canada in what has been called the “Border Battle.” Millions will be tuned in to ESPN to see slow pitch softball played at its highest level.

I’m betting on Brian Rainwater and Team USA.

Brian has several things going for him. For starters, he is an authentic Georgia Bulldog and is a former player for the University of Georgia baseball team. That already makes him in an elite club. But since college he has also played an awful lot of softball in a lot of places and in the process has become one of the elite players in the United States.


Brian, by the way, has a drop dead gorgeous wife who I love almost as much as he does. And to top it all off, he and Natalie have a little girl named Abbi, who is the cutest thing this side of the Mississippi.

Actually Brian, Natalie and Abbi are more than just my friends. They are part of our church home group and we hang out almost every Sunday night.

Every time they ride by a ball field, 5 year old Abbi always makes the comment, “Daddy, that’s where you play ball.”

This Saturday she won’t have to go to a ball field to see him play. Abbi’s dad will be playing on national television representing the Red, White and Blue.

And I don’t know who will be more proud, Natalie or Abbi….

Or me.

She Finally Caught Up With Him

“She finally caught up with him,” was the caption one of her granddaughters put on this photo.

Lucy Bryan Philpott was buried this week at Andersonville National Cemetery after a courageous battle with Lymphoma. Her funeral service was held at the First Baptist Church in Reynolds, GA.

And that is exactly where it should have been held.

Lucy was the last of the children of Dr. S.H. and Louise Bryan. For many years, Dr. Bryan was the town doctor and was also a prominent farmer. He raised his four children in what was affectionately known in Reynolds as “Big House” that sits directly across the street from the Baptist church.

I couldn’t help but notice some folks who grew up in Reynolds and moved on to other places made the effort to come back home Wednesday morning to pay their respects to this magnificent lady and her family.

And maybe even to pay respects to a remarkable community that helped shape their lives.

You would have to be from a small town to understand how deep the roots of friendships grow for people who have friends whose parents were friends, whose grandparents were friends and even whose great grandparents were friends.

It becomes difficult to separate friends from family.

Lucy left Reynolds after high school to get an education. She fell in love with an Oklahoma boy who had just graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. They married, had a family and traveled all over the world with the United States Air Force.

By the way, her husband had a rather illustrious military career. He eventually became Director of Intelligence of the U.S. Strategic Air Command and later became Vice Commander in Chief of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and a 3 Star General.

Of course they would visit her family in Reynolds every chance they got.

Sometimes their kids would spend their summers in Reynolds at “big house.” In fact many of the other Bryan grandchildren who lived in other parts of the country would also spend their summers in Reynolds. As you might imagine, the “big house” was a very active house and kind of like the Grand Central Station of Reynolds.

And the Bryan grandchildren who lived in other places became friends with all the kids in Reynolds. And lifelong generational relationships were established.

General and Mrs. Philpott, known in Reynolds as Jammie and Lucy, retired in the 70’s and built a home on the outskirts of town. General Philpott died in 1999 and was honored at Andersonville National Cemetery in the incredible way a decorated retired General should be honored.

When Lucy found out she had cancer a few years ago, she decided to sell her house and move to Virginia to be closer to her children.

She said she didn’t want to be a burden.

The retired General and his wife loved to exercise after they retired. It was a normal occurrence to see them walking through town or on the outside of town or on the golf course. Jamie always had a stick in his hand. Lucy was always about 8 paces behind him.

She had also followed him all over the world as he served our country.

But she has caught up with him now.

And when she did, an incredible era in the history of Reynolds GA ended.

This Miracle is Growing

Kathy and I celebrated the 4th of July and our 32nd wedding anniversary with David and Holly and our brand new grand baby girl this weekend at their home in Roswell, GA.

Actually we haven't actually met our new grand baby yet but I did get to pat her several times. We are planning on her arrival in early November. And there was strong evidence little baby Goddard is getting ready for the big day.

I couldn't help but notice the expansion in her mommy's tummy.

It seems like just yesterday this new grand baby's dad was growing in his mom's tummy. Back then we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl until the day the baby arrived. I can vividly remember the night of Dec 6, 1979 walking out in the waiting room and announcing, "It's a boy!" to family and friends who had gathered there.

These days we know that kind of stuff way ahead of time. And yes they already have a beautiful name picked out.

But the neat thing is this beautiful little baby girl growing in her mommy's tummy doesn't know it yet but she already has a Papa picked out.

That would be me.

And that would also be me smiling as I type this.

Actually there are at least three other grandparents who are rightfully making the same claim. And I can promise you they are smiling just as much as me.

I don't think I have ever seen a couple who is more ready to become parents than David and Holly.

They fully realize they are about to receive a true gift from God.

There are some things man can explain but I can tell you no man has figured out how a sperm and an egg can join together to produce another life. If there was ever a God thing, this is it.

In case you are wondering, it's called a miracle. And this miracle is growing.

In fact this miracle is getting bigger and bigger every day.

Freedom is Very Costly

(Piedmont OK) The mayor of this quaint town on the outskirts of Oklahoma City said it well tonight when he told me, “this is a proud day for Piedmont.”

It was also a proud day for me.

We were both proud because the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall arrived here today. To witness the thousand or so Vietnam Veterans arriving on their motorcycles into this flag-decorated town with cheering crowds lining both sides of the road is an experience one won’t easily forget. They were escorting the truck carrying the three-quarter-replica of the Washington DC Vietnam Veterans Memorial that will be on display here throughout the July 4th weekend.


The mayor is proud because 50,000 or so people could visit the wall at the high school football field in his town this weekend and see Piedmont in its best light honoring the heroes of the Vietnam War. I am proud because I am employed by Dignity Memorial who owns the wall and makes it all possible.

The wall which is dedicated to the veterans of the Vietnam War and honors all U.S. servicemen and women has been displayed in over 200 cities. In the last almost 20 years millions of people have experienced the healing power of the memorial.

I spent some time talking to a Viet Nam veteran and his wife who were part of the group who escorted the wall into town tonight.


Gordon Kiselburgh spent three years from 1968 to 1970 in Viet Nam with the 1st Group 5th Special Forces of the US Army. He was a gunner …or maybe better described as a sniper. Thirteen of his comrades’ names are on that wall. He was one of only three people in his group who made it back alive.

Gordon told me he has been to the wall two times. As he begin to weep, he said his legs turned to jelly during both visits. He watched nine of his friends die in Vietnam – some of whom he couldn’t even stop to pick up. He escorted two of his fallen friends back to the United States.

He says he is here for one reason and that is to honor and give proper respect to the people who sacrificed their lives for our country.

Regretfully, proper respect has been a long time coming for our Vietnam Veterans.

Gordon told me when he was returning from Viet Nam in 1970 and when he walked in LAX airport a protester who happened to be a Hare Krishna spit on him as he walked by. Gordon didn’t appreciate the gesture and took one strong swing at him and broke the man’s jaw.

Welcome home.

As I was talking to Gordon another Vietnam veteran by the name of Larry Inman joined in the conversation. Larry explained to me he was at Kent State during the riots in the late sixties. A protesting punk college student urinated on his leg during the riot because he protested the war. Larry did not retaliate because he was under orders from his commanding officer not to budge.


The fact is there are over 58,000 names on the Vietnam Wall representing 58,000 mother’s children who were either killed or are still missing in Vietnam.

They are true American heroes.

And they sacrificed their lives so that you and I can celebrate our freedom this weekend.

I was reminded tonight that freedom is very costly.

Have a safe 4th of July weekend.

Not Bad for a White Boy

The first video is from 1983 and I believe it is the first time Michael Jackson did the moonwalk on stage and you will see he brought the house down.

The King of Pop was was obviously a troubled man at the end and was about as weird as weird can get.

But in spite of all his personal problems, he might have been the greatest entertainer of my lifetime.

Maybe this is how he should be remembered.

The second video is my youngest son Luke impersonating him.

Not bad for a white boy.

Two of the Sixty Seven Hundred

There are approximately 6,700 folks who die every day in the United States. Two of them today are getting plenty attention.

In fact they both got plenty of attention for many years.

And for good reason.


Farrah Fawcett had every warm blooded heterosexual male foaming at the mouth when she first appeared on Charlie’s Angels. I don’t think I ever missed an episode of that show. I hardly remember what the show was about but I remember Farrah Fawcett. Good lord she was gorgeous.

I was married when THE POSTER first came out so I never had it on my wall. Kathy probably wouldn’t have appreciated that. But I remember well my regular trips out to Mrs. Childree’s house on Hwy 128 south of Reynolds to get my pants hemmed. I would make sure to go in Stan’s room (one of her sons) to change my pants. Stan had several huge posters of some of the gorgeous ladies of that age hanging on his wall. And I got more than a few close views of THE poster. I made sure I always went to Stan’s room to change pants.

I think it was in 1971 when I first had live contact with Michael Jackson. We went to the Jackson Five concert at the Macon Coliseum in Macon, Ga. I don’t think I have ever been to a more entertaining concert. The Jackson Five were incredible with their famous songs and synchronized dancing. The lead singer and star of that show was 12 year old Michael.

He of course would get much more famous. I cannot even begin to know how many times I have seen the Thriller video. Nobody and I mean nobody could dance like Michael Jackson. The man invented the moonwalk for goodness sakes.


One thing is for sure. When a Michael Jackson song is played, everyone has the strong urge to get on their feet and dance.

And when a warm blooded male sees THE poster of Farrah Fawcett, he just can’t help but smile.

Charlie’s most famous angel and THE King of Pop were two of the sixty seven hundred today.

May they both rest in peace.

In fact may all sixty seven hundred rest in peace.

Can't Touch This!