This Day

 It is still Thursday.  2/16/2023, and i am up because i slept during the day.  i work at night, and tomorrow is the start of my work week.  i will try and get some sleep.  But right now, Dad is watching Netflix.  i decided to stay up for a bit and write in my blog.  i wanted to start writing, but i could not find my Boot Camp Cruise Book.

i want to write a book about my time in the Navy.  But i am still not sure how to begin.  i have been reading one book called The Right Thing, and something i liked about it was the author's brief chapter on how he grew up.  i suppose to start, i could have something like that.  But there is the meat of the story too.  i have many vivid memories, but i cannot remember names very well.  Even though i remember faces, remembering names is so difficult for me.  i get nervous, i think is the reason.  i want my book to be about the experiences i had while in the Navy.  Port calls, where i was stationed, a little about what i was doing.  Who i interreacted with would be important too.  Especially my RDCs, as i cannot remember there names.  i remember ETC, Petty Officer Torrez, and the other guy who sometimes marched us to the Chow Hall.   Well, i do not mean to tell my story here.  But i suppose, unofficially, i have begun writing.  My story begins in Wichita Falls, Texas where i was born.  My parents, who married in 1981, the same day as Mt. Saint Helens.  i was born in 1983.  i always have thought, the one regret i have about the time i was born, is that John Wayne had already died, i later found out.  So, there was no chance of meeting him.  My Dad worked in the oil fields, and my Mom was going to college to become a school teacher.  My Dad has shared stories with me, about working in the oil field.  He worked with his Dad, and his brother.  My Mom told me a story about going to school, where she would drive the Volkswagen Rabbit.  From Olney to her school.  i am not sure how long we lived in Olney.  But i remember when we lived in Springtown.  We lived in a brown brick house, it had a garage.  i remember my Dad's trucks.  He had a green one, and a white company pickup.  The green one was a Chevrolet, i think.  My brother David was born in 1985.  We would watch Andy Griffith at lunch.   We would attend church in Weatherford.  After a while, though, my Dad got laid off from the oil field.  i still remember the day that the company came, and took a lawn mower, and the truck.  i also remember when we first moved to Fort Worth.  We lived there, while my Dad retrained, and my Mom began teaching.  i cannot remember what street it was on, but i remember our neighbor Nicole.  We went to her birthday party.  i remember her Dad rode a motorcycle.  

i still remember the Christmas in Fort Worth, where we got these yellow plastic cars with peddles to ride in.  They were so much fun too.  i remember the Christmas service at the church, and how we had very little, but we managed to celebrate Christmas Eve.  it was still a very good celebration, with lots of neat gifts.  Every Christmas was that way, in fact.  My Mom wanted us to get something out of it, and we certainly did every year.  i think the Christmas celebrations were Mom, even though i am sure my Dad enjoyed it in the end.  Easter always ended up being full of surprises too.  Mostly candy, but candy you could not normally buy throughout the year.  Birthday celebrations were a big deal too.  Something i do not remember celebrating when growing up, was lent.  That year my brother got a cabbage patch kid.  It was so neat, it made me want one.  But i was a bit older, i knew.  After my Mom finished teaching that year, my brother and me were entered into a raffle, and he won coins for Chucky Cheese, and i won a Basketball.  At the time, i wished i had gotten the coins.  i could not yet appreciate the basketball.  i think that basketball helped me stay active in my formative years.  

During the summer of 1989, in August we moved again.  We left from Grams and Pops house, and drove for several days.  We saw the Little House On The Prairie, one of the cabins where Laura stayed.  We also saw Uncle Jim for the first and only time, in Fredonia, Kansas.  We travelled through mountains, and valleys.  We went to Yellowstone Park, but i only remember two things: the gate, and Smokey the Bear.  It was such a neat trip.  We crossed into Washington State, and the very first thing we did was see the Grand Cooley Dam.  It had a fun ride, too.  Then, on August 25, 1989 we pulled into our house, in Everett.  i still remember all the different smalls, and sounds of that place.  We had several large pine trees in the yard.  

This is just a sample of what i hope to include in my story.  It is so amazing to me how GOD took care of my family, during these events.  He was so gracious towards us, that in my mind, it was something He wanted for us.  

i am listening to June Hunt.  She is talking about manipulative people.  How, you cannot be manipulated without allowing it to be so.  She is explaining that she was shocked to discover this.  So, even someone as sharp as June Hunt can be manipulated.  It is fascinating, to learn the things June Hunt shares.  She says that manipulators manipulate to sometimes confuse others.  They do this by giving "messages" to make the victim think they are mentally unstable.

i have been drinking my coffee, this afternoon.  i work tonight, and i am hoping to get some more rest.  i just heard this on the radio: 'We don't need thick skin. We need thick souls. That only comes from abiding in Him".  It is so uplifting and encouraging.