My youngest son, Jacob, for several years was the “frontman” for the house band at Tootsie’s, an iconic honky-tonk in Nashville. The frontman is not necessarily the lead singer. He may not even be the most musical in the band. (Though of course, Jacob was.) The frontman is the guy that has a gift for… Continue Reading
Change. I don’t like it. Vote against it. Not in favor of it. Not the pennies and nickels in your pocket kind of change but the get off the couch, leave you comfort zone, life is getting different kind of change. I am not a big fan of change. Most of us aren’t but the… Continue Reading
In a couple of days, I will have another birthday. (This is not a shameless plea for Happy Birthday wishes.) There comes a time when, no matter how much I tell myself “I don’t feel old,” that I must admit, I AM OLD. Old has happened. It has arrived. I am officially a card-carrying member… Continue Reading
My parents had this strong conviction that you shouldn’t leave your kids at home with some stranger. So, rather than bring in some irresponsible, teenage neighbor, from the time I was 7 or 8, I was the babysitter for my three little sisters. Now, my parents are both gone on to heaven so don’t try… Continue Reading
Nathan Bedford Forrest, Husqvarna, and Ahija Wow! That title should get your attention. “How in the world is he going to tie those three things together?” you might ask. Great question. I have no idea but let’s see what happens. 😊 Last week two things happened one morning. I was having a conversation with… Continue Reading
Let me tell you what I know after nearly 67 years on this planet. I do not know very much, and I certainly don’t know everything. In fact, most of what I THINK I know, I don’t know. Doris and I have been married 42 years. I think I know her more than any other… Continue Reading
New episode of the #branchespodcast “What Difference Does That Make” live today! LISTEN Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-difference-does-that-make-with-dr-mike-courtney/id1502775969#episodeGuid=bde40628-e3b3-4eb5-966c-cbed1551e8f4 Continue Reading
NOTE: I wrote this blog on Mother’s Day, May 10. I started with a made-up story that illustrated the point of the unreliability of family legends. As I was rewriting it, the “tenses and pronouns” got changed until it sounded like it was MY family, MY Uncle Billy, and MY story. That was unintentionally misleading… Continue Reading
A few weeks ago, my family got up early on a Saturday morning to run the Special Kids 5k. It is a huge and wonderful event in our city. Thousands of runners at the “butt crack” of dawn, gather to run and to raise money for this amazing organization. So, this year our whole family… Continue Reading
Well, Here We Go! I love Jennifer, my daughter-in-law but she cries a lot. Especially when it comes to watching her boys grow up. That’s okay. I usually cry with her. I remember a few years ago we had a tearful moment. Jon-Mical who was 7 was having his first official sleepover at a friend’s… Continue Reading