Enjoying Every Minute

We have been going through old pictures at our house. The job is too big for me to think about but my goal is to scan a few of them every now and then and eventually get the lions shared completed. I am convinced my effort will be appreciated one of these days by my kids. There is something to be said for having electronic copies of irreplaceable pictures strategically placed in cyberspace.

This picture definitely got my attention (l-r Jim Whatley, Lynn Underwood, Kathy Underwood and me). We are leaning against my 1964 push button Plymouth. I bought the car in August of 1970 for $775 cash – from my own savings earned from working at my dad’s store. You might notice my hair was a little longer than it is now. I posted this picture on Facebook and an old college friend saw it and she commented that I look like Jimmy Page.

For you folks who don’t know Jimmy Page, I’m sure you can Google him and find out all you want. You will learn, among other items of interest, he had long hair.

As you might imagine, there is a story behind the old picture.

The picture was taken in January of 1973 in Athens Ga. I was a freshman at the University of Georgia. Jim was in his first year of medical school having graduated from Georgia the year before. Lynn was a year away from graduating from Georgia Southwestern College and Kathy was a senior in high school.


Jim and I grew up next door to each other. He has always been like a brother to me. In case you haven’t figured it out, Lynn and Kathy are sisters. When I wrote in my book about Jim and me marrying the gorgeous Underwood sisters – well this is them before we married them. And you can see the gorgeous part.

Jim and Lynn would get married about 1 ½ years after the picture was taken. Kathy and I, being a little younger, would wait 5 ½ years after the picture before we got married. We broke up and got back together several times in those 5 ½ years.

Thirty six years later, we all still hang out together every chance we get, which is rather often. Jim and I eventually got our hair cut, put on a few pounds and decided against using Grecian Formula. Lynn and Kathy just got more gorgeous.

Between us we have six children and four grandchildren. All the children are grown and older than we were in the old picture.

There comes a time in everyone’s life when all you can see are the years passing by.

I think I have reached that time in my life.

And I'm enjoying every minute of it.