My Name

I think that I have been told that my older brother John was named after our Great Grandfathers, John Keesee and Eli Haskett. My middle name is the same as my Dad's. Our name gives others something to call us and it is something that when we hear it we understand that we are being called.

I get questions sometimes about my name. "Do you want to be called Bob or Robert." I am sometimes asked. I usually explain that I think if my Mom introduced me to someone my name was Robert. If my Dad was the one who was presenting me to someone, my name was Bob. I remember a very scary day when I was enrolling in Junior High School (that was what it was called back then) my Mom was asked the question of what I wanted to be called. We looked at each other and said Robert. So nearly everyone who went to school with me from that time on called me Robert. Coaches usually call you by your last name, so the boys I was on the football or basketball team with called me Keesee. When I was in college, most people called me Keesee. My Grandma Keesee called me Bobby. I still have some of my cousins that call be Bobby. Megan and Clint sometimes call me Bobby. Sharlene calls me Bob and Honey, of course, and sometimes other things that we will not go into now. I bet my Dad introduced her to me. I have been called a plethora of names including Koozie, Kooz, Keez and Bert. Kandi, who works with me in the afternoon, just calls me Boss. My girls call me Dad and Daddy. All of the names mean something special to me.

Now, I guess, I am acquiring a new name. It is Pappy. I am a grandpa, being called Pappy. That is pretty cool and so is the sweet little one who is the reason I have the new name.

My Little Girl

Most of you know that I love music. I love country, jazz, classical - just about anything. I love strings, brass, and voices. I have been known to say in the middle of some conversation, "...that reminds me of a song." Well, I have certain songs that are just special to me. Dolly Parton's, "I Will Always Love You", Crystal Gayle's "When I Dream", The Statler Brothers singing "You are My Sunshine" and John Denver singing "Back Home Again" are just a few of my many "favorite" songs. Each one brings a special thought to my mind when I hear them.

There are certain songs that remind me of certain people. Many of those special songs remind me of my girls. "In My Daughter's Eyes" and "My Little Girl" are a couple of those songs that remind me of my daughters. I think of Pam when I hear "Why Haven't I Heard from You" and "This Kiss." I think of Annie and Pam when I hear "Grandpa (Tell us about the good old days). I think of Jacqueline when I hear "I'm Already There." (As a side note Annie and Sharlene have one song that is very special to the two of them.) But when I hear "In My Daughter's Eyes" and "My Little Girl" it makes me think of all three of them. These songs make me feel so special to have had the privilege to be my girls' Dad.

This morning I heard the song, "My Little Girl" on the radio. There is a part in that song that talks about being beautiful from the outside in. I belive that I have three beautiful daughters. I also believe that they are beautiful inside and outside. Their Mother played a big part on that inner and outer beauty.

Sharlene and I have a new little granddaughter, Chloe. She is so cute, so smart, so funny and so entertaining. (Grandpas say these things.) I believe she will grow up to be a beautiful young lady. I believe that her parents will also help her to grow up to be just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

In the song, "My Little Girl" it says that the little girl, "...will always be my little girl." I do not care what my daughthers say, they will always be my little girls. This little Chloe, and the new grandchildren that are on the way, will always be the "little girl(s)(and soon to be little boy) who is the little girl of My Little Girl.

Hope it makes sense.

Bang Up Weekend

We had a very special 4th of July weekend. Sharlene's brother Bob and his wife Sharon, one of their daughters, Jennifer and her husband Sam and Mr. Cameron came to Kansas for a visit. We had a lot of just real nice family time at Brenda's, Becky's and our house over the weekend.

There was food, fun, food and family and food. We sat around for hours and listened and talked. We hit Shelley Ann's for the traditional breakfast.

Becky and Jason's son, Clint, had a birthday on the 3rd so we celebrated that special day with a cookout, cake and ice cream.

Fireworks with the Stapels is the tradition now. It was fun, loud, exciting and sometimes there was a suprise.

Bob, Sam, Cameron and I went to the Geographical Center of the United States near Lebanon, Kansas. It was an interesting ride. Got to meet the new preacher at the little chapel.

Sharlene called some of her local cousins and Monday night we go to be with a little more famliy. We ate some world famous Banana Pudding.

I enjoyed the stories told. I enjoyed the laughter. I enjoyed getting to spend some special time with family. I felt a little closer to them all when they pulled out of the drive on their way home. It was just a fun, relaxing weekend. I am glad I got to be a part of it.

A Precisely Manicured Lawn

Doesn't a newly cut lawn look nice? Especially when cut in a criss-cross pattern to make the cut even and geometric. Just look at my yard! It could only have been done better by a 5 month pregnant woman or her husband.

Pampered Daddy

Last weekend Annie came home for 27 hours and 22 minutes. She had a Pampered Chef party on Saturday morning and I think she wanted to see her Mom and Dad. We wanted to see her too. We were very glad she came home. Maddie was glad to see P J too.
We had a few laughs, went to eat at the Oriental and I got to drive the non-recalled Toyota.

Chasing Cars

We lived on Second Street until about the time I was in 5th Grade. Second Street is one of the busier North-South Streets in town. Many years ago, which that time was, our city fathers were not as strict about just letting your dog run wherever they wanted to run. I remember that there was one dog that seemed very bothered by all those cars driving down "his" Second street. He would crouch in the gutter on the side of the street by the curb and wait on each car as it came down the street. When he thought the time was "just right" he would run after the cars as they came by. This was serious stuff for him. He was really wanting to catch those cars. O.K., get this picture: There is a 2000 pound car coming down the street at 30 miles per hour. There is crouched, with eyes fixed and tail twitching, a 35 pound dog ready to catch that car. That bad old car gets closer. The little brown dog has to take off before the car gets even with him so that he can be running at a good speed when it zooms by. He has to be going pretty fast so that he can attempt to bite a tire or a bumper or anything sticking out... I never saw him catch one. Dangerous? Futile? Display of no common sense? Probably all of the above. The big question is this: What would he have done if he had caught the car?
In life there are many times we "chase" things. Sometimes they are realistic objectives. Our education, our jobs, our mates, retirement plans. Sometimes there are things that are out of our reach, yet we long for them. They never seem to be achieved or obtained. We may chase them or just dream about them, but they are never caught. I think Someone knows what is best for us, much better than we. Many of those "cars" are more than we can or should bargain for. They are like the dog and the car, what would we really do if we caught them?


Figure this one out.

Days Turn Into Years and the Memories to Black and White

Reba McEntire has a song with the line,...the days turn into years and the memories to black and white...
The other day I was sitting here thinking, Oh, my goodness, it has been almost a year!
There are times that I may be so into the day's activities that it is hard to remember what is true. I sometimes think Dad must be around here somewhere, I just have not seen him in a while. Time has flown by in so many ways. Reality tells me he is gone. I can live with that.
The days have now turned into a year. There are some memories that will turn to black and white. But there are many memories that will always be in vivid color. And I do not know how those vivid colorful memories, like the way I miss him, will ever be diminished.