THINKING
Time is no respecter of person. Our lives whizz by at a breakneck speed. When waiting at the airport or on someone time passes exceedingly slow. When living life, time disappears. One of those things that always puzzle me is why I don’t value time more than I do.
I look in the mirror and see myself as young and capable. Time says otherwise and I am aware of the fact that I’m in the stage of life where everything counts.
One of my heroes was Landrum Penson Leavell II. He died September 26, 2008, exactly two months shy of age 82. I don’t know why all of us called him Doc but we did. I think that most of the time I addressed him it was Doc. I began working for him in December 1979. When I met him in 1976 for the first time I was impressed and I was impressed with him all of the time I knew him. He had a moral surety about life that was bigger than life. He was a man’s man. He knew how to be tough and was always fair. He didn’t tolerate failure. He encouraged winning. So many other things I could write.
On my time away I’ve had an opportunity to cogitate about life particularly my life. I knew that I owed Doc a great deal for raising me and I also knew that he was the impetus behind most of my successes. He kept me focused on the job I was called to do.
Doc also taught me to listen and follow. I don’t listen as good as I should but I am doing a much better job of following.
I discovered how much I miss Doc. I didn’t realize how many of my life decisions I had talked over with him. I guess this is in some small way part of my grieving process. When at work it is hard to think about much except work. When you are relaxing you can think about things. Doc was a big part of my life. I enjoyed him and probably more than any other person on earth except my wife and children tried to do the best I could for him. He was my hero. Doc you were the best and there are many of us that miss you.
BIRMINGHAM
We are in Hueytown actually visiting with Carol’s family. Her mother’s church, Union Baptist Church in Lipscomb, is celebrating its 175th anniversary. We are going there tomorrow for church and the celebration.
We’ve eaten at the Bright Star for lunch two days. I haven’t been there for many years, probably thirty. The food is still good and Jimmy and Nicholas (Nicky) are still running the restaurant. August 6-8 they are having one of my favorite folks there as their celebrity chef, Tory McPhail, Executive Chef of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans.
I’ve enjoyed the past five weeks as good as a person possibly could. We are leaving for Santa Fe this next week. I love the ambiance of that area of the world. The rugged beauty of the mountains and the joy of the wide open spaces.