THANKSGIVING FOR GRANDPA KENNY

THE AIR IS CRISP, winter is at our doorstep and Thanksgiving is just days away as I write this new post. This is a strange time of year for me because I've finally realized that "things" have changed so much since I was a child... counting the days until Christmas.

Like many people, I spent my childhood in a single parent home and only got to see my entire family...at Thanksgiving and Christmas. All the members of our family would load their cars and meet at....you guessed it..grandma's house. My all consuming thoughts during this time of year, between the age of 7-14, were Thanksgiving dinner, girls, Christmas gifts soon to come and seeing my grandparents.

I'll skip the expected answers mentioned above for now..(food, girls and gifts) and tell you quickly about my grandparents..(keep reading...I'll keep it short and perhaps spark a memory for you as well.)

KENNY & GENNY SHADE...ALWAYS had smiles, laughter, stories to tell and people loved to be around them. Grandparents always seem "old" I guess.. but they were only in their late 40's & early 50's as I remember my childhood. Kenny & Genny loved to sing and whistle all the time around their house and you would find Genny at the piano at least once a day. My grandparents also loved to dance and would often turn the kitchen into their own private ball room with a random waltz while grandma Genny was cooking.

It was true love...true safety...true storybook and of course it was perfect to watch two people enjoy each other so much.

IT WOULD BE EASY to write a book about my grandparents and how they loved each other well over their years together. There are many stories and many smile to share...but as with life comes death and we lost my wonderful dancing, singing, story telling grandfather Kenny Shade at the young age of 54 to Cancer. It was just a couple days after Thanksgiving in 1979 and I will never forget what he brought to my life in my youngest years. I love to sing..I love to dance...I love to tell stories... just like Kenny Shade. He took me fishing, he watched me play baseball, he would come and find me when I played hide-n-seek. He loved his wife, five children and his little dog "Trinka" with all of his heart. Grandpa Kenny...You are missed.. and this year I give thanks for YOU and the years you made me laugh as a child. I wish the world was full of Grandpa Kenny's.

AS YOU FINISH reading this story...be thankful for those grandparents and great grandparents who provided a home for a great Thanksgiving dinner and provided the foundations for our freedom as Americans. Kenny fought in World War II and as I look at his old photo....I see the strangest thing..... ME. I look JUST like HIM.... One thing is for sure ... I doubt I'll ever BE half the man he was...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING GRANDPA KENNY....I'll see you again one day.

SOMEDAY...TODAY

I AM ASHAMED that I can be such a disappointment in areas of life that mean the most... I am a professional in areas of life that serve only...ME. I am "that guy" who throws out the all too common "I'll call you this week".."let's have lunch soon"..."Really miss you...gotta get together"..."Yes, We'll be there"..and of course ..I don't tend to follow-up as I should. I HATE THAT about myself..

MY WIFE AND I are fortunate enough to have within our circle of close friends...a few angelic people who really have a tight grasp on serving others and this is how they live day by day. No lip service...no false promises...no watered down false intentions.......just real service to others with a loving heart. As I watch this ongoing "love in action" revealing a true caring heart... I always walk away with God prompting me to take a closer look at how I live ....for others.

HAVE YOU EVER used these words..."I'm too busy"..."We don't have the money"... "prayin' for ya"..."We need to get serious about..." "SOMEDAY I am will do that" ??

Life is what happens while you are sitting there saying... someday.

A LADY IN MY OFFICE used to stop me in the hall and say "I really want to go skydiving someday. It looks like so much fun and I've always wanted to do it." Knowing that I enjoyed skydiving on a regular basis, she always wanted to talk about skydiving and how it felt to fly a parachute with the wind in your face. I came to work one morning and found out that she died of a heart attack the night prior at the age of 53. I still think about here an a regular basis when I walk the hallways of my office.

EVEN IF I DON'T BECOME the champion of serving others daily, making things happen today instead of tomorrow and don't become the ideal humanitarian....I will strive to do the following:

Spend even more time talking to God...and listening.

Love better

Serve deeper

Improve when it comes to living the SOMEday...TOday.

Tell my wife how much she means to me even more than I do now.

Use the words "I LOVE YOU" more often with friends and family.

LISTEN...more than I YAP my pie-hole!! (That's a hard one for me).

Give to others until it really does affect my comfort zone and actually makes a difference.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS post..I hope to see you soon and I really hope that I can serve you as a friend or family member in a way that reflects Christ IN ME.....not ME about me. Seek God for your needs, try to make your someday happen as soon as possible and serve other until it truly makes a difference in their life.

MORE DOGS....LESS PEOPLE

I WAS 7 YEARS OLD when Benji, the little white Lhasa Apso with vampire fangs, came into my life. On my knees I sat as that 10 week old, high energy, vampire toothed dog...jumped right into my heart. As the years went by, Benji came to love my mother more than me. It could have been the hamburgers and ice cream my mother bought him at the drive through window of McDonald's on a regular basis...or the fact that I drove him crazy by wrapping him up in bed sheets and laughing.... as he sat there trying to fight his way out.

BENJI IS LONG GONE NOW ...and I have enjoyed the sloppy kisses from many four legged friends since the days of the vampire toothed Apso. There was a sheep dog named Tramp, An Irish Setter named Lady, a Sheppard named Sadie, a Great Dane named Austin....and for the past 7 years I have come to know the four legged love of my life...Ollie.

KING OF THE HOUSEHOLD...keeper of the bone, protector of the castle and owner of our hearts. My wife has enjoyed the facial licks of this majestic little white Parson Russell terrier for almost 15 years. Twenty pounds of high energy love and a never ending talent for begging when food is within 50 feet. If you ever drive past our home on Sharon road, there is a good chance you have been spotted by our white fur child as he sits on the sofa gazing out the window.

THE AVERAGE LIFE SPAN for the Parson Russell is about 12-14 years. I ask God just about everyday to give us another 15 or 20 yrs and let Ollie hold the world record for healthy long life.

I just learned of a friend who lost their dog at the hands of a fast driver in front of their house.

I have another friend who has lost two of his three dogs in the past year. I have no problem telling you that when Ollie is gone...our lives will be forever changed. My wife and I have no children...only Ollie. One day.. down the road, we will have more dogs after Ollie is gone and we will love them dearly.

MY WIFE OFTEN SAYS...more dogs..less people. The number of people that walk the earth is not the problem but people really could learn a few things from dogs. It sure would be great if every time we came face to face with friends and family...we got excited about it, wagged our butts a little more expressed unconditional love. I know Ollie makes me smile every time I come home and every time he comes in the room. I hope that you have that affect on the people in your life...and don't be afraid of a big sloppy kiss. Bark less...Wag more.........

BREAST CANCER.....

I WAS WAITING for the doctor to come into the room and begin the surgery....

It was confirmed that I had skin cancer and the doctors found it early. They covered my head and face with sheets leaving only the area of my forehead to be worked on exposed. When all was said and done, I left with 12 stitches and a big lump on my head. This all happened last year and now you really can't even see the area from which the skin cancer was removed...

THIS IS breast cancer awareness month and it hits close to home. Our very dear friend in Charlotte NC received the news that she, at 40 years old, had breast cancer. This wonderful young woman decided to take the route of having a double mastectomy and now she has received the all clear...cancer free.

MY STEPMOTHER was not as fortunate as our dear friend here in Charlotte NC. She lost her battle with breast cancer and her story has been experienced by far too many young women in the world. An estimated 2.4 million women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer on average in the USA.

PLEASE BE ACTIVE in the fight against breast cancer and encourage all the women in your life to be tested on a regular basis. If at all possible, please participate in a fund raising event for breast cancer and/or donate to the cause. There are too many new cases of this desease all around us and we need to do all we can to learn...and fight.

God Bless you,

Rodney

PHOTOGRAPHY...MY OLD FRIEND

You might say that my life has been one lived out of a suitcase. Between the ages of 5-18yrs I lived in 9 states and attended 14 schools. I was not a military brat but I had the brat part down pretty well. My mother sold real estate and wherever it was selling..we were going..FAST.

In high school (that was the 14th school).. I picked up a camera and started clicking away and thought I would be the next Ansel Adams. Images play a bigger part in our lives than many people realize and this is confirmed for me when I think about the most powerful moments in my life. My first bike sitting in front of the Christmas tree, my mother laughing, my grandmother playing the piano, my grandfather eating popcorn in his chair, my wife saying "I do"....we all have a long list of "images" stored away in the corners of our brain.

As I shuffle through stacks of old family photos and the images I have captured myself with my trusty Nikon, I am reminded of the friend photography has been over the years. A camera has allowed me step back to step back in time and sit still with the smile of a lost friend or family member. A captured image with the click of a camera has caused tears of laughter to fall down my cheeks..time and time again. Why are most of our favorite photos hidden deep in a box and forgotten about? I think I'll open a photo album or two when I get home and visit an old friend hidden deep in a cardboard box.