* Okay, raise your hand if you bawled like a baby during the last few episodes of “This Is Us.” * I see a lot of MAGA hats and t-shirts, but I have yet to see a Build Back Better hat or shirt. * It’s time to make Kool-Aid ice cubes and drop them into your Sprite or sparkling water! * Just saying…..Movies have PG-13 ratings that state the movie may include strong language, extended violence or sexual situations or drug use that is not suitable for an audience under 13 as parental guidance so parents can determine if it’s appropriate for their children to watch it or not.

My older brothers are six and four years older than me, and I am five years older than my next brother, and then a fourth brother is 11 years younger than me. We love him and decided to keep him, even though he was an “oops.” I did have another brother two years younger than me who died when he was four years old, the evening before my seventh birthday. So many friends and relatives came to our house the evening my little brother died. I had two birthday cakes that night and got a shiny red tricycle that Mom and Dad gave to me as there were so many kids there. So as we are, there are five of us—two brothers older, two younger, and me smack-dab in the middle. (Think of an Oreo Cookie; then think of that sweet frosting in the center. That’s me.)

* I like the “Left” Twix candy bar the best. * At one time in the running of this year’s Kentucky Derby, Tessa, Trent and my horses were in first, second and third place! Wish that would have been how they finished.

Growing up “country bumkin” style, Part 2 When we moved out to the farm, 3-1/2 miles east of Goessel—I was one-year old—our house had running water at the kitchen sink and a big clawfoot bathtub on the second floor, but no other plumbing. There was a cistern just a few feet away from the kitchen door, and a pump to draw up the water.

THIS AND THAT Recently read this…. “Kansas U.S.

Some people were gifted with an amazing capacity of a memory bank. My dad has an incredible memory. He can tell stories of his childhood, and he’s about to turn 96. A number of years ago, I helped him publish his memories in a book for our family, and I was amazed at the details he remembers. Perhaps he kept all those memory genes to himself because really, none of us kids in my family can remember childhood to the extent and as clearly as he does.

REMEMBERING MY HEROES * On Saturday, May 14th, the town of Greenville, Texas will honor my hero, Audie Leon Murphy, the Hunt County native who was the most decorated American soldier of World War II. Murphy was born near Kingston in 1924 and enlisted in the Army in Greenville on his 18th birthday.

Watching the evening news and the latest reports on the war in Ukraine is both heart-wrenching and gut-wrenching. Such overwhelming evil has taken over that country, where civilians are being targeted, whether they are young or old, men, women or children. It’s one of those things that is hard to watch, but also hard NOT to watch. We need to be aware of such atrocities happening in our world so we are not uninformed or lied to as are the Russian people. We do not live in a bubble, and we cannot put blinders on or be detached in any way from the horrors of this war.

THIS AND THAT * The best Mother’s Day gift you can give your mom is the one she already has…..you! * I may have to sign up for Twitter. * Something a mom would say….“Sometimes I like to mess with my family and hide their stuff where they can’t find it.

We sure do love our animals. They become members of our family, especially if they are indoor pets that are used to getting a lot of attention. At least that’s how Charley has us trained. She’s been on a kick lately that she wants to play fetch with her spikey ball everytime one of us is around. But for her, part of the fun is not wanting to give the ball back. I will tell her that we can’t play if she doesn’t drop the ball, and then finally she drops it, but likes to grab it right back before I can get it. Her latest thing is to use her nose or her tongue to roll spikey ball towards me. She will do anything to get attention. I love this little mini-lab, even though she has made me “cat-less” for the first time in my life, as we have decided to be a one-pet family. For now.