No Place Like Home

I do read the comments people write on this blog. I get an automatic email whenever someone posts a comment. The challenge is when I get a question I can’t answer it because I don’t have their email address. Some send me questions directly to my email so I can answer those. Anyway, I thought I would take a few minutes and answer a few questions I’ve been asked.

First and foremost, that is definitely not Kathy sitting on the potty on the blog yesterday. She gives me a lot of latitude to be me but not that much latitude. So I took that picture of a total stranger. Not really. Actually you can find any picture you want by going to Google Images and typing in whatever you are looking for. In this case I typed in “woman on a toilet”, hoping I would find a picture of the lady who sat on her boyfriend’s potty for two years. The lady in red was as close as I could get.

And I got permission from my niece Katherine before I announced her pregnancy for the world to read. I realize some things are better coming from the horse’s mouth so to speak. And telling your friends and family that you are expecting is one of those things. So I waited until she and Russ had announced it and then I got permission. I’m smarter than you think, ain’t I?

The touching story of the life and death of E.K. Johnson is already in my repertoire of stories to be used on my speaking tour. I’ve already used variations of it twice as a matter of fact. My goal is to make E.K. as famous as Eulan Brown. If anyone deserves a little notoriety, it is E.K. and Eulan.

I got a wonderful email from the Rattle Snake Queen. Although I haven’t seen Stevie and Jane but maybe a couple of times in the last 32 years, I will give them a call and meet them for dinner the next time I’m in Athens. And hopefully meet their kids as well. I am speaking in Ponte Vedra during the summer so I plan to look up Stevie’s older brother, Cliff, and his family when I’m there. If my speaking and blogging does nothing but connect me with old friends it is well worth it.

I received a very nice letter from the Coppedges I ran into at St. Simons a few weeks ago. They had read my book and told me they laughed at the stories and appreciated the message. To get that feedback from a seminary theology professor and a wife who leads conferences all over the world is pretty nice for a country undertaker.

I also received a very nice letter from the incredible Bonnie Bailey. She thanked me for writing the blog but also said some very nice things. Her letter brought tears to my eyes. I’ve been friends with the Bailey’s a long time and I have been reminded how much I have thought of them all these years.

Several have asked about my mother in law Irene. She is doing fine and loves her little apartment at the assisted living facility called Antebellum Grove here in Warner Robins. She has two daughters who live here (my wife being one of them) who are in and out all the time. And she has two other children who make frequent visits. And she has several brothers who come when they can. I think her brother Troy visits her almost every night. He makes her laugh and as you know, that is the best medicine.

Several have asked how I find these random people I write about. For one I’m really not that bashful and I love meeting people. And if you travel as much as I do you do have opportunity to meet new people. And if you write a blog as often as I do you are always looking for material. So I’m always looking and listening.


But as fun as that is, nothing is better than coming home on a Thursday night and getting to lie in the floor and play with my little grandbaby girl as I did tonight. I haven’t seen her in a while and I had a lot of butterfly kisses to give. She continues to amaze me with the new things she is doing.

I do travel a lot and have the opportunity to do all kinds of stuff and meet all kinds of people.

But there really is no place like home.