Folllowing is a poem that my mother loved and a shared as often as she could with the family and everyone that would listen:

Don't Quit!

- Author Unknown

When things go wrong as they sometimes will, When the road your'e trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low, and the debts are high, and you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing down a bit ... rest if you must … but don't quit.  Success is failure turned inside out, the silver tint of the clouds of doubt, and you never can tell how close you are, it may be near but it seems afar, So stick to the fight when your'e hardest hit, its when things go wrong, that you must Not Quit.

Mama survived several surgeries before she finally passed.  The doctors had given up on her long before she passed.  She later said that the love of her kids forced her to stay as long as possible.  She Just Would Not Quit!

If you get only one thing from these writings I hope it’s this: Whatever you want from life you can have it. All you need to do is decide clearly on what you want and commit to obtaining it… and began working on accomplishing it!  All the tools you will need have already been provided to you” - Yours Truly 

So, please don’t say to me, “God Will Provide”, as I have often heard.  God has already provided!  He is waiting on YOU to get your A… in Gear!

Being the third from the youngest of nine kids my only memories are that I was very happy.  Sometimes now when I think back on those days I am reminded of how much I love my Mom and Dad, my Grandma, my Uncles and my siblings and the Taylor, Hurt, Cousin and Jackson families.  Man … I think God may have long since stopped making people like them …. Maybe!

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.” - Washington Irvine

When I came across this quote I felt better about the many, many tears I have shaded back home at Springfield Baptist Church. I often wandered what some though of my tears…. but when I saw this quote I was put at ease.  In my heart I knew that my tears were only a forced expression on the love I had for our church family and our community and the people I grew up with.  I have tried to share that love across the world!  Though that appears to be getting harder and harder to do!