Tom T. Hall, (b. 1936), died tonight. I loved listening to an 8-track of his songs that my older brother Billy (b. 1962) sent me for my 12th or 13th birthday. He was stationed in Okinawa at the time and I had never received a more magnificent gift. It came with an 8-track tape player that had a...
Going through my mother’s cedar chest, we found our old Girl Scout and Boy Scout uniforms. My mother loved being a Girl Scout leader, and of course, she was awesome! Here’s my brother’s San Gabriel Valley Boys Scouts of America cub scout shirt. This was back when we were all,...
Happy Veterans Day! This is my brother Billy during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps in the late 1970s. He joined in 1978, when I was 11. He was only five-and-a-half years older than me, which means he was only 16 when he actually signed papers. He left right after his 17th birthday. I’ve...
This poem was written by my father, William Edgar Elliott, in 1965. He wrote it for my brother Billy who had just started Kindergarten. My son Sullivan’s last day of Kindergarten is tomorrow!I’ve never posted any of my father’s poetry on the Internet, but this poem has already...
Thank you for stopping by to check out some of my favorite Christmas pictures. I took some 500 pictures this season, so culling it down to these few was not easy. The snow was coming down hard on Christmas Eve and we still hadn’t taken the kids to see Santa Claus. Thankfully, Santa kept his...
The Kermit Church of the Nazarene, located in a small town in West Texas, closed several years ago. My father pastored there between 1976-78. One night during a revival service, the visiting evangelist’s wife sang a special. She sang in a hilarious nasal falsetto and I could not contain my...
Guest Post by Billy Elliott One day, my Dad came home with our latest used car. It was an extremely funny looking car that looked like it was out of some Saturday morning cartoon; kind of like a sketch, a drawing, a made-up car. Perhaps, something Miss Piggy’s sister would have been seen...
Guest Post by Billy Elliott When I was about eight years old, Dad bought our latest used car. He must have really needed this latest one. Our family was growing, and we needed a bigger car for sure. Dad also needed a dependable car for work. So one day, he comes home on payday with our...
Guest Post by Billy Elliott When she married, Mom told us about the car that Dad had at the time, a 1949 Oldsmobile Convertible. She always rolled her eyes when speaking of “that thing” and admitted being embarrassed to even ride in it. Dad, on the other hand, LOVED that car. He would...
Guest Post by Wild Billy Elliott It was 1966, and my Dad had a gold 1958 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 Sedan. It was a Chromes-mobile to be sure, with wild tail lights that looked like chrome-plated rockets shooting out from the rear of the car.I was four in ‘66, and stood just below eye level with those...
One summer evening, our family was whizzing down the road with Dad at the wheel of our Rambler, when SUDDENLY…Thump-Thump! First the front wheels, then the rear wheels rolled over SOMETHING in the road. I’ll never forget those horrible words that Dad spoke next. With voice shaking he...
Guest post by Billy Elliott | Used Car Stories Did I ever tell you about how dad used to get us tires for the Oldsmobile? Behind the tire store, they put the old worn tires that were “take offs”, cast aside after people bought NEW ones. Well, Dad and I would go there at night after...
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Hello, Jill! It's so nice to receive a message from a majorette. No doubt, it was a grand experience for…
I was the majorette at my Catholic high school (William V. Fisher Catholic) in Central Ohio. Fall 1993-97! Loving these…
Thank you so much. This post was one of the hardest I ever wrote because the trip was difficult. I…