Marquee of Life Thoughts

About the Book

The old fashion movie marquee proclaimed to the world, the title of the movie and the leading actors in the story. Inside, we are treated to shoot'em up westerns, tender love stories, the horrors of war, the tragedies of life, nature films and all other stories of life. From my own humble beginning, I came into the world on a central Texas farm in the cotton patch country of Ellis County, near Palmer, Texas. Born to hard working, honorable parents, with three sisters and one brother. We soon learned the value of hard work, responsibilities, and rewards and joys of families. Out of this background I entered the highways of life's journeys. The songs of life are stamped indelibly upon my heart and mind. I attempt to share life as I know it and have examined the mysteries of life. I was not a street smart kid in the cities. I saw that side of life many years later. I have been fortunate to travel on many roads and seas; always looking at the countryside's and peoples of the world. I wanted to share with you some insights upon the paths I have traveled. In the poem I Remember How Ice Cream Tasted, we take a look at early farm days, work was hard and long. Reward were few but most welcomed. Occasionally we would have homemade ice cream or sometimes get a rare nickel to buy ice cream. In the 1930's, a nickel would buy a cone heaped high with ice cream. This poem is the only one that I have ever entered in competition, and it won for me a Golden Poets Award from the World of Poetry Society. During that same time period, our home like most rural homes before 1938, was without electricity. When our cotton was harvested and sold in the fall, daddy brought a battery operated radio home. We were delighted. I watched two brothers-in-law go off to war, also many cousins. Thankfully they all came back from World War II. my two older sisters married great guys, and waited anxiously for them to return home. The cotton rows were long both to hoe the weeds, and longer to pick the white cotton, our fingers became pricked and festered under the hot sun; our shoulders weary from dragging the heavy sacks, or white trailers as they were called. To relieve the boredom and pain, it became easy for me to move into imaginative fantasy worlds. This imagination helped me to create many stories in my dreams. Living and working in a natural environment, I watched the geese go south in the fall, and return in the spring. I yearned to fly with them. In the poems Winged Brother and They Are Coming Soon, I share the long haunting cry of the ages. In Water Memories, we examine the life giving strength of water; from a bucket drawn from a well to the mighty Niagara. We share the joy and tragedies of water. In Living Color, gray, green, blue and red, many scenes are played out in vivid reality. Along life's journeys, we meet some amazing people. I devote a section to these special people, who helped shape my life. Faith speaks to me, my soul cries out for the Creators touch. I trust the changing seasons, the death of the old, the blooming again of the new. How I look forward to eternity's beauties and beyond. The reunion of life's fabled songs and characters. Mother, daddy, friends, I see your names on the marquee of life. You are the players I knew here on earth. and we will complete our journey in another bea

About the Author

I was born June 27, 1931 in the cotton country of Ellis county near Palmer, Texas to hard working, honorable parents, three sisters and one brother who died at age fourteen months of scarlet fever. A strong work ethic has been the foundation of my life. I married Jan Johnson of Ft. Worth, Texas in 1951. We have four strong children, nine grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. An avid hunter, floor covering store owner, two-time state champion forty-two player (an original Texas game played with dominoes). We are of the Christian faith and worship at the First United Methodist Church in Waxahachie, Texas.