Columns & Editorials

This week I want to introduce you to a truly remarkable young lady, Makenzie Hyde. This weekend she played the lead role in Mary Poppins to sold out shows in the Greenville Municipal Auditorium attended by thousands. Her stage presence was captivating, and she sang with the voice of an angel. To be sure, she was one of a huge cast of dozens of characters that included her sister Larissa who also put in a stand-out performance. There were dozens more people who worked behind the scenes, including her mom and her dad who worked tirelessly building sets for the production. The musical was bolstered by a top notch performance by the orchestra directed by Eilene Wiemar.

It’s very easy to get caught in the loop of only worrying about tomorrow or replaying the past. A good teacher once said, “Look at your feet. Are they where they are supposed to be? Are they headed in the direction you want to be going?” Of course, when this statement is made, the reaction can be, “What?” or “That is so lame.” The better reaction is, “Let me look and see where they are pointing me.” There is much to be learned from paying attention to the direction your feet, and ultimately your head, is pointing towards.

For many years, Americans provided for their retirement needs through three sources: employer-sponsored pension plans, Social Security income, and savings and investments accumulated through employer plans or individual accounts – the so-called “three-legged stool.” But today, that stool is shakier than it used to be. What can you do to strengthen it?

Last week I was busy in my workshop listening to music as I worked when Leon Russell’s version of “If I were a Carpenter” came on. It was a version that was popular when I was in high school, and it brought back some fond memories.

You can change the world without changing the world. Individuals that share their lives with the people around them leave a legacy that spans generations. This sentence perfectly sums up, at least to me, the intent of teachers in the realm of public education.

We all want to live long lives. We all expect to live long lives. But are we financially prepared for this longevity? Before we get to the issue of preparation, let’s look at a couple of interesting findings from a 2022 survey by Age Wave and Edward Jones:

While taping a video for Kids Talk About God television spots, I asked a kindergarten boy, “What did the signers of the Declaration of Independence declare freedom from?” He looked at me with some uncertainty and said, “Your parents.”

Dear Aunt B,

Hello, my name is Dina and I cohabitate with the world’s most interesting formerly feral cat named Olive. While I have exhausted my voice in columns past regarding Olive’s amazing feats of glory, she’s mastered some new skills that call for a revisit of her cool cat attributes. See, Olive has grown invisible opposable thumbs. Also, she is bilingual now. But, wait these are only two of the stories we will explore in today’s episode of Kaufman County’s finest purrcast, Olive the Grrrrrreat. How did we get here, you ask? First, let’s cue the Gilligan’s Island dream sequence music and go back all the way to April of 2017. I was working a design job in Granbury, TX. Someone who’d attended an event I’d styled asked me to come and redesign 2 rooms in her home using things she had in other parts of her house and in her storage buildings. In retrospect, I think she just wanted a good spring cleaning. Three days and one broken back later, the rooms looked magazine worthy. Imagine my face when the fee we had agreed upon was paid to me in gift cards. Let’s analyze that once more. I was paid in gift cards. I was livid yet nonconfrontational yet furious yet nauseated by the thought of the confrontation. So, I left with my broken back and money to burn at DSW and IHOP. Just as I was sinking into a woeful mood, my phone rang. It was my daughter-in-law. “Do you want a cat?” she said. “I’m getting one. My sister has a whole litter. They were found out in a field. They are too skinny, and they don’t have a mom.” Sick little kittens who lost their mittens, you say? That’s all I needed to hear. I am that crazy cat lady, after all.

“I sense God’s presence when I pray,” says Kaillyn, age 9. “God comes into my heart and gives me the power to lift my heart up and tell him all the things I need.”

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1a

Dear Aunt B,

During my mid to late 80s reign as community college queen of both North Central Texas and Northern Virginia (I am doing my twist at the elbow wave to the masses), I took some photography classes. Now, I know there are lots of photographers in this world, especially in these modern days. I mean you no disservice. Your work is gorgeous. I cannot duplicate your results. You have to admit, however, the photography game is drastically different in this digital world. For instance, I cannot manage these complicated edits with their preset lighting downloads and their photoshopping elements. My daughter-in-law’s favorite local photographer, for example, was able to photoshop my then 2-year-old grandson’s one pic of a smiling noggin in place of approximately 722 other photos where he was in hard core scream face mode. That is talent. You could not tell there were actual boogers dripping down into his mouth as he was holding his great-grandmother’s hand while standing in a pasture. But, photography in the 80s had a different set of difficulties that photogs today don’t have to navigate. The loading of the film cartridge is a whole column unto itself. Unless you forced that narrow, tabbed end into that little slit in the winder upper thingy just perfectly, the entire 200 yards of glossy brown film would recoil like a measuring tape full of memories. You dared not remove the film unless you were in complete and total darkness, either. I recall studying apertures and lens combinations and flash mechanisms and exposures. THERE WAS MATH INVOLVED, so much math. The only part I excelled at was the development piece, probably because I was an only child, hence solo work in a dark room was my jam. I tell you about these photography elements because, as often happens in life, a word bounced across my phone the other day, eliciting a guttural response of floods of memories. The word was macro. As if I were again 18 and sitting in a classroom, I blurted out, “Oh, there’s a lens setting for that!” Nope.