Right Place at the Right Time

We saw Santa Claus yesterday.

He left the land of perpetual snow earlier in the week and was heading to Florida for a few days of rest and relaxation. He stopped in a local restaurant to grab him something to eat.

During Christmas time he wears his famous red velvety outfit. In the summertime he wears shorts and sandals.

Our little Taylor recognized him before we did. She saw him as soon as he and Mrs. Claus walked in the door. I was surprised he didn’t use the chimney. Taylor got him to come over to our table so she could talk to him and give him a hug. She feels fairly confident she got a head start on all the other little boys and girls who will have to wait to see him when he shows up at the local mall a few weeks before Christmas.

Talk about being at the right place at the right time.


I overheard part of the conversation Santa had with Taylor. He was asking her if she has been a good little girl. Of course she explained to him she has been mostly perfect.

Santa is planning on taking a few days off and then he will be heading back to the North Pole to join his elves in his workshop. He has a lot of work to do between now and Christmas.

But Santa sure did make one little girl happy yesterday.

Oh My!

And to think I have another one of these on the way... Oh my!

King George

I’ll just go ahead and make it official.

I’m a George Strait fan.

Sounds kinda funny coming from a guy who grew up on such Rock n Roll bands like Herman’s Hermits, the Malibu’s, the Sixpence, the Dave Clark Five and the Beatles.

I remember not too many years ago wondering how anyone could listen to country music. Maybe it’s my age, but I sure don’t wonder that anymore.

I did something last night that is very rare for me. I sat in front of a television and watched a two hour special on television. They were honoring George Strait as Country Music Artist of the Decade. The show consisted of every country star you can think of coming on stage and singing a George Strait song while George and his family looked on.

I would think these stars had no trouble at all coming up with a song to sing. George Strait has accumulated 57 number one hits in his career. His 38 hit albums (multi platinum, platinum and gold) are not too shabby either. Only Elvis and the Beatles had more.

And George ain’t done.

The more I learn about King George, the more I like him. His dad was a high school math teacher in Pearshall ,TX, which is about an hour south of San Antonio. The family would head to the family ranch on the weekends. George’s life has not always been perfect though. George’s mom took his sister and left when George was in the third grade. George and his brother stayed with their dad.

Right after high school, George dropped out of college and eloped with his high school sweetheart. After a stint in the Army, George came back to Southwest Texas State and got a degree in Agriculture. Like most folks that hit it big, he wasn’t thinking big when he started out.


In spite of his now celebrity status, George and Norma’s marriage is still working after 38 years. They had two children. Their son Bubba was on the stage with his dad and mom last night. Their older daughter Jenifer was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 13 in 1985.

Life throws you curves – even if you happen to be George Strait.

But my goodness he is an entertainer. His rich voice and the songs he sings have a way of making you smile.

“If you leave me I won’t miss you and I won’t ever take you back. Girl your memory won’t ever haunt me cause I don’t love you. Now if you’ll buy that - I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona and from my front porch you can see the sea.”

And….

“I thought you and me were something special; Thought you thought that way too. Now I know that this ol’ boy just ain’t the best you think you’ll ever do. It ain’t cool to be crazy about you. It ain’t suave or debonair to let you know I care, like I do.”

You just gotta love some George Strait.

King George rules.

A Lifetime is Not Too Long

If my life is a book – I’ve been through a lot of chapters. And I hope I have more than a few more to go before I’m done.

When a chapter closes there is always a sense of sadness because of the transition of the moment. Then, as we turn the next page, there is the excitement and anticipation of what the future holds.

The older I get the more I understand the significance of the chapters of our life.

Monday afternoon Kathy and I stopped by Brad and Tessa Hobbs’ house to see their little Caroline and to tell them how much we will miss them as they close another chapter in their life.

And turn the page to another exciting chapter.

As you will see in the video below, most of their stuff is now in boxes. Next weekend they will be moving to Little Rock Arkansas where Brad will begin his residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist. Dr. Brad graduated from Mercer Medical School a few weeks ago.

They say people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

In this case, for us, I think it is all three.

A lifetime is not too long to live as friends. That is for sure.

Brad & Tessa Hobbs and Caroline from Bruce Goddard on Vimeo.

To Touch a Company

(Houston TX)
Having been self employed all my life, in 1997 I suddenly found myself working for someone else for the first time in my career. Although I continued to run my funeral homes (along with a few others) and was continuing to serve families I had known all my life, I found myself in an unfamiliar and somewhat uncomfortable situation.

You just don’t take a small town country boy and throw him into the waters of a large publically traded company without some struggles for the country boy along the way.

When I look back I had no idea the career opportunity this move would eventually afford me. And I certainly had no idea of the opportunity I would have to become friends with folks from different parts of the country who would change my life.

Not long after I had sold my businesses, I received a call from a man from New York City. I have to tell you in those days New York City seemed like a long way from Reynolds GA. I was in my office one day and found myself not only talking to a man a long way away but also one who talked a little differently than me.

Actually that would be a lot differently.

He was questioning me about a decision I had made about a casket I had ordered. I could not understand how a man from NYC would care about my casket order. To be honest, after running my businesses all my life to that point, I didn’t think I needed assistance from someone in NYC in what casket I needed to order. And after a lengthy conversation, I told him exactly what I thought.

I would find out later John Roefaro had a huge job in our company as head of revenue services for the Eastern United States. I would meet John a few weeks after our phone conversation in Houston at a training school. John was one of the facilitators of my training. I was smart enough to know I needed to introduce myself to him and make amends for our previous conversation.

But before I could do that, John introduced himself to me.

He told me had heard I was a humorist. And then John began to tell me one joke after another. As you might imagine, I had a few of my own as well. And before we knew it, we both were laughing. And I mean really laughing.

And in just a few short minutes, this stranger who had made me feel so uncomfortable a few weeks earlier had made me feel very comfortable.

In the past 12 years, John and I have not only been co-workers but more importantly we have become friends. And for a man who I didn’t think had much to offer me during our first encounter over the telephone, he has taught me much and has been a mentor to me.

I could talk about John’s experience, his presentation skills, his leadership skills, his humor, his integrity and many other traits and attributes I have come to appreciate about him over the years.

But the greatest lesson I have learned is about the distance from Reynolds GA to New York City. It is not nearly as long as I once thought.

By the way, John is celebrating his 40th year with our company this year and yesterday he was honored by the officers of our company for his outstanding career. I can tell you I was glad I was there and was able to witness the presentation.

“Most of us have had the opportunity to touch some folks,” someone said, “but John has an an opportunity to touch a company."

I can tell you I am glad to be a part of the company he keeps... and touches.

My Goodness He Lied to Her

When Randy and Jane Toms were expecting their second child, they were quite sure it would be another boy. Of course, they would have been fine with that. But Randy now admits deep in his heart he longed for a little girl.

On March 29, 1987 his dream came true. And from the moment she was born she had his heart.

He says as she was growing up he always told her she was an ugly child. His reasoning was simple. He didn’t want her to believe some snotty nosed boy when he told her she was pretty.

I think you can see from the pictures posted here, Randy lied to his daughter.

When we moved to Warner Robins a little over six years ago, Randy became our Sunday school teacher. A lieutenant with the Warner Robins Fire Department and an ordained minister, Randy was not your typical Sunday school teacher. As you can surmise from the “ugly” story, Randy has a great sense of humor.

Right up my alley.


Randy also has a drop dead gorgeous wife. I happened to notice that during my first visit to his class. I think it’s wrong for an ordained Sunday school teacher to have a wife that looks that good but this one does.

And drop dead gorgeous mothers tend to produce drop dead gorgeous daughters.

I can tell you this daughter never looked more gorgeous than she did today.

Randy not only gave his daughter away today but he also performed the wedding ceremony. I seriously did not think he would make it through it. In front of God and a throng of witnesses, he had to confess to his daughter he had lied to her all those years about her being ugly. You can watch that confession by clicking here.

And on the video below, you can watch Justin and Callie Beatty’s first dance as a married couple. They will make you smile. And you will also see a proud daddy dancing with his beautiful just married daughter.

My goodness he lied to her.

First Dance - Justin and Callie from Bruce Goddard on Vimeo.

Bo and Lou

The list of the adult folks who are still alive who helped form my life is getting smaller and smaller. Today I was in Columbus, GA on business and as I was leaving town my car had the urge to pull off the four lane highway and into the parking lot of an assisted living facility to visit one of those special folks.

My car just does that sometimes.

The stunningly beautiful Louise Waters began working for Ben Hinton, a Reynolds, GA businessman, when she was a teenager. Ben’s son, Woodfin (who was a couple of years older than Louise) was away at college at Georgia Tech being trained to be an Electrical Engineer when Louise became his dad’s bookkeeper.

Woodfin obviously thought his dad hired the right person. And Louise had to be certain she was working at the right place. Woodfin and Louise became man and wife as soon as he graduated from college. They built quite a life together in the little town of Reynolds. They had two children who are beneficiaries of the life they built. And now there are four grandchildren and four great grandchildren who also are reaping the benefits of the life they had together.


Interestingly, with a degree in Electrical Engineering from (dare this Georgia Bulldog say it) one of the most elite engineering schools in the country, Woodfin Hinton could have taken his new bride to an Atlanta or a Columbus or wherever he chose to do pretty much whatever he wanted.

Instead he chose to move back to Reynolds and take over the family business and sell fertilizer and insurance.

Simply stated, this couple chose a simple small town lifestyle over whatever the life of an Electrical Engineer might have offered.

Put me on the long list of the people who are very glad they did.

Woodfin and Louise, known to their friends as “Bo and Lou” were pillars of the community where I had the privilege to grow up. They were movers and shakers in our community and were leaders in their church. They loved the little town of Reynolds.

And they also loved each other.

When Bo died in 1999, a part of his “Lou” died with him. I would suspect one is not married to someone for almost 60 years without being affected that way.

A few years after his death, Louise moved to the assisted living facility in Columbus about an hour from Reynolds. Although it was the right thing to do, as you might imagine, it was not an easy move for her. But today when I visited her she was quick to tell me how content she is where she is living.

But I couldn’t help but notice how her eyes lit up when I walked in her room.

Although she has known me all my life and knew all my family, I don’t think her eyes lit up because it was me. I think they lit up because I am from Reynolds. My parents, my grandparents and my great grandparents were from Reynolds.

Maybe I reminded her of the wonderful life she had there.

If so, my visit today was the most productive 20 minutes I have spent in a long time.

He Actually Laughed Out Loud

Tonight would be a good time to catch you up on some folks I have written about recently. You can click the link on their name to jog your memory of recent articles.

Callie Toms: I was in church this past Sunday and looked across the church building and up into the balcony at the end of the service and saw a sight that made me smile and have a lump in my throat at the same time. Randy Toms and his daughter, Callie, were standing next to each other at the end of the service and were holding hands. This Saturday Randy will walk his beautiful daughter down the aisle to give her hand in marriage. I couldn’t tell from where I was sitting but something tells me he was holding on tight.

Luke and Drew: They will be married in just four short months. In the meantime they continue to get attention with their music and their proposal video. They were interviewed recently by a writer from a Minnesota newspaper. The YouTube video is at 61,700 hits and counting. A version of their video will be featured on TLC this Friday May 15 at 7PM. The nationally televised show is called Wild Weddings which will feature outrageous proposals this week. Be sure to check them out or DVR it so you can watch it later.

Hannah Kasulka: I wrote about her when she appeared on a recent television show and I am as proud of her as anybody I know. Hannah landed a summer intern job in New York City but decided to take another job at Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta instead. She will soon graduate from Georgia Tech. I called this gal that I have known since she was born yesterday to wish her a happy 21st birthday.

Papa’s Precious Princess: Due to the illness of her great grandmother who kept her a few days a week, little Taylor is now in day care. She has been there a couple of weeks now and things are going well. But I have to tell you – although I was in another state, this Papa didn’t sleep a wink the night before her first day. Papa’s don’t even like to think about the prospect of their grandbaby crying and being scared. But Taylor made it and so did I.

Jimmy Childre, Jr. I was speaking near Sandersville, GA a few weeks ago and unbeknownst to Jimmy a little bird told me he would be honored that night as Citizen of the Year for Washington County. I got finished with my speaking engagement and made it to their Chamber banquet just as people were leaving but just in time to speak to his family and congratulate my lifelong friend and give him a bear hug. My friend has accomplished a lot and he makes me very proud. He did not know he was going to win that award and he certainly didn’t expect me to show up. Great stuff.

David and Holly: They were here for Mother's day and Holly is now close to 15 weeks pregnant. She is starting to show a little and her face ia glowing a lot. She will be one gorgeous pregnant lady. David smiles all the time.

This papa is giddy.

Other Tidbits: On April 14, I decided to start exercising again. Since then I have started my day virtually every morning by walking – in the neighborhood at home or wherever I happen to be. A couple of weeks after I began I joined a gym. The trainer almost killed me a few days ago but I am determined to stay with some resemblance of an exercise program.

I may not live longer but I will look much better in the casket.

The resistance training has not helped my golf game though.

I played in a legislative golf tournament the other day with my brother in law, who is a lobbyist. I went to the first tee without having hit a practice shot or even taking a practice swing. In front of some folks I had never met in my life until then, I whiffed the ball on the first tee. This is someone who has played hundreds and hundreds if not thousands rounds of golf. I don’t play golf much anymore and I am liable to hit it in any direction, but whiffing the ball is something I don’t think I’ve ever done. It didn’t help that my playing partner and brother in law laughed.

He actually laughed out loud.

The sapsucker.

When Mama is Happy

I approach Mother’s Day with mixed feelings these days.

There is a sense of sadness because I think of my own mother. I have more memories than I can begin to mention here. I’ll just say this - I had one incredible mother and I have been blessed so much that words would never do justice as to what I feel.

The pastor always says something on Mother’s Day Sunday to cause my eyes to fill up with tears. And he did today.


I also think of my mother in law. She has been my mother in law for almost 32 years now and I have been part of her family for 38 years – which is most of my life. She is now suffering through the ravages of Alzheimer’s. Actually she is not suffering – it’s her children who are suffering. Unless you have been through this, you would never understand. Even so, we have much to be thankful. She is perfectly content and never complains. Thankfully some days are better than others. And this Mother’s Day weekend brought good days.

Then there is the fun I have watching my own sons show up on this special weekend to honor their mother. It seems like just yesterday they were little boys running from one thing to the next and reaching up for their mama when they skinned their knee.

Now she has to reach up to them.


I think the greatest tribute they have paid their mom is the girls they have chosen to spend their lives with. My goodness they did well. Saturday night we had the entire crew together. There was a daddy and a mama, three sons, two daughters in law, one soon to be daughter in law, a beautiful grandbaby girl and another baby growing in a womb.

As you might imagine there was a lot of laughter. Right dab in the middle of it all, there was one happy Mama.

And when Mama is happy, everybody is happy.

I hope there were a lot of happy Mamas today.

No Dancing on the Golf Course

I have written about the Chicken George Golf Tournament before here. But the video below is too good NOT to share with all my friends in blog land.

The Annual Chicken George Golf Tournament was started by my brother, Chicken George Goddard. His excuse for starting the tournament in the late seventies was to bring our University of Georgia fraternity brothers together once a year. George and I were in the same fraternity so I also was friends with all the Lambda Chi’s who gathered in Reynolds one weekend a year.

Each year the tournament grew and others not related to the fraternity joined the fun.

People from many different states came to Reynolds to play the little 9-hole golf course. The two day tournament would have three shotgun starts each day at its height and there would be two sixsomes on each tee when each round was played.

That equates to 108 golfers on the nine hole course each round.

I don’t think there has ever been in the history of golf that many golfers on a 9 hole golf course. It was incredible and we were fortunate nobody got killed by a stray golf ball.

Interestingly, some of the golfers were serious and accomplished golfers. Others just came to play for the fun.

I’ve played in many golf tournaments in my life and there has never been one any more fun than the Chicken George Golf tournament.

For you folks with Reynolds Ga connections, you will see Buster Byrd and Tommy Neely in the video below at their best. And if you keep watching you will be able to study the golf swing of the one and only Dealer Downs Scott.

The video below was filmed in 1985. I was the camera man and the commentator. The golfers in the dancing scene are made up of friends from college and a couple of famous local guys mentioned above. The dancing took place right in the middle of the tournament while golfers in the fairway behind them were waiting to hit.

This was golf in its purest form.

And there was only one rule.

No dancing on the golf course.

Oh Baby!

There are so many good sayings that help us express what we are trying to say. For instance, when a person is loose as a goose, he is about as relaxed as it gets.

A man who is drunk as a skunk has a difficult time walking straight. I have never seen a drunk skunk but I’m sure it’s not a pretty sight. If you are high as a kite, you are not staggering but I suppose you are just over enjoying the moment.

If someone tells you that you are tight as Dick’s hat band, you must be one of the stingiest folks around. I never knew who Dick was but he must have worn a hat that was at least a few sizes too small.

If someone says you are fat as a hog, you are not only overweight but the insinuation is you have a little odor along with the extra pounds.

A person who is sly like a fox is much smarter than he appears to be. He will slip up on you with his smartness.

If you are meek as a lamb you will most likely be quiet as a mouse.

If a man is wild as a buck, he doesn’t play by the rules most others play by. He stays out late, hangs around wild women and enjoys much strong drink. And he doesn’t stay in one place very long.

If a person is sick as a dog, he is more than just not feeling well. He is seriously hugging the porcelain and will find himself going back to the same porcelain over and over. He needs a doctor.


And if a young lady is pregnant as a jaybird, she is really pregnant. That means a new human life is really growing in her tummy and in just a few short months the beautiful little baby will make its grand entrance.

And if a fifty something year old man is happy as a lark, that means he is whistling most everywhere he goes. No matter what he has to deal with, there is a song in his heart and a spring in his step.

And when the fifty something year old man happens to be me, and the pregnant jaybird happens to be my gorgeous daughter in law, the song in his heart is just about to turn into a symphony.

I just did the moonwalk in my kitchen just thinking about it.

David and Holly Goddard are having a baby.

And this Papa is beside himself.

Oh baby!

Miss California

I don’t know how but I somehow missed the news about the controversy of the recent Miss USA pageant. Our pastor mentioned Carrie Prejean, Miss California, this morning during his sermon on Esther.

For those who might have missed it, Miss California was asked a simple question and she gave a simple answer.

Carrie Prejean says she knew she had lost the pageant as soon as she gave her answer.

She was asked, by the way, about her views of nationwide legalization of gay marriage. She answered by saying she believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

I know I am a simple minded man but since it takes a man and a woman to produce life, her answer is at the very least a legitimate opinion.

Perez Hilton, the openly gay judge who asked the question, was appalled at her answer. He not only deducted points but had some not so nice things to say about her in a later interview.

In a split second and before a national television audience, Carrie Prejean had to decide whether to stand up for what she believed or compromise what she believed in order to win a contest.

Everyone agrees if she had given the politically correct answer she would have won the crown of Miss USA.

She chose to stay true to what she believed.

We all could learn a lesson from Miss California.


Watch this video.