Here's a funny one for you: "Whenever I think of the past, it brings back so many memories." (copied)

Donald Richard Abbott, (1948-2011)

Hello once again and welcome to today's episode, on this, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. I do appreciate those who have prayed and are praying for our son Jimmy. They did admit him to the hospital but it follows the pattern we've so often seen, they do a lot of tests but haven't really come to a specific causation for his seizure symptoms. We are praying they will, this time. Today also marks the 14th year since we said our final farewell to my younger brother Donald. He had been a career US Marine and I was privileged to conduct his memorial service where he also received full military honors. Donald was a fellow who always told it exactly the way he saw it. That pretty much was not how we talked about stuff in our family, but, you could always count on him to get everyone's attention in his way of putting things. When dad passed away in January of 1954 we moved from Port Arthur, Texas, to Hornbeck, Louisiana. While Port Arthur wasn't a huge city, it had slightly less than 60,000 residents while Hornbeck had slightly less than 600. We moved into the house with my mom's parents, Granny and Paw Paw Mac. It was quite an adjustment. Donald and I slept together in the same room with our older brother Jimmy Don. That room had no heat and no cooling. The floor had linoleum rugs which did not completely cover the floor, therefore, in the winter time if you happen to snag your toe on one of those jagged edges, well, we learned our own version of speaking in an unknown tongue. Most of the six of us kids pretty much tried to follow the program. Not Donald. He was one of those kids who kind of made it up as he went. He had this little black dog named Lobo who walked him to school every day and met him every evening. They were inseparable. On most days he came home grabbed his fishing pole and his can of worms and he and Lobo took off to Brushy Creek. About dark-thirty he would arrive with 2 or 3 little sun perch. Many times he would be scratched up from the briars and thickets he would walk through. He marched to his own drummer. He later got mom to sign for him to join the Marines. That changed his life. He loved it. I mean, he reallly, really loved it. He later became a drill instructor out in San Diego and committed himself to preparing recruits for the challenges they would face. He served multiple terms as a drill instructor. He served in Okinawa. He did temporary forays into Vietnam during the war. After 20 years he retired and went to work doing ROTC training for a High School Program. He worked in logistics for a transportation company, but, along the way he became ill and later he became even more ill. I did my best to represent mom in visiting Donald as much as I could his last year. Mom and Dad Jose would come on weekends. It was a difficult time for us all. Sister JoAnn and I were with him when he breathed his last. I used to remember a lot of stories of our growing up days, but, not so much today, but, I am proud of Donald's heart to serve our country and I can truthfully say he lived life mostly on his own terms. May God bless the memory of the second of our six to leave us, after Jimmy Don left in 1962. 

 

I hear what you are thinking. Y'all sound like a dysfunctional family. I think I can speak on behalf of our entire experience as a family, yes we were and yes we are! Dr. Ed Young, senior pastor for many years at Second Baptist, Houston, said something like this: "All families are dysfunctional, some are just more dysfunctional than others." We've never been contacted to receive any awards but my guess is our family surely was in the running for some type of recognition. What? That's nothing to laugh about. I get that, but, at the same time I heard all my life you might as well laugh as to cry. My mom would ask that proverbial question, "Do you want me to give you something to cry about?" I hated that. Later, I found myself saying something almost identical. My boys hated that, however, one day when I heard our eldest saying the same thing, I pretty much rested my case. So you don't like the reality stuff, how about some puns? ~ Why did the old man fall into the well. He couldn't see that well." ~ "Why did the tomato blush? He saw the salad dressing. ~ "You make my heart sob with joy." ~ "She's a walking waterfall of emotions." ~ "What did one DNA say to the other DNA? “Do these genes make me look fat?” ~ "What do you call a hippie’s wife? Mississippi." ~ I could go on and on and on, but, I think you've had enough. Ready to confess? Whatever the question might be, Jesus is the answer. The wife and I used to sing a song that had this refrain, "Jesus is right for whatever wrong in your life." We did. Some actually thought it was pretty good. They did. Okay, enough already. Get out there and have a great rest of the day and may God help us all is my prayer. Amen.