Life in Cayuga

 I went to a high school football game last night.  I have only been to 2 or 3 since my boys played in the late 1990s, and those were to watch my granddaughter’s dance team perform.  Susan started a new teaching job this year at one of the big high schools in the area.  I was surprised that after nearly 30 years of teaching, she had never taught at a school with a football team.  This school is big into sports and she’s all in!  So last night we went to the opening game to watch her Pearl Pirates beat the Neshoba Central Rockets 26-20.   Things have changed a lot since I was a Friday night regular.  No more grass fields, now they’re all that “field turf” stuff.  No more basic, generic, Coca Cola scoreboards, now there are huge video boards at each endzone.  When I played, back in the early 1970s, everyone was average size.  Now the high school players look like college guys did back then!  All that said, I enjoyed myself. ...

 My father always said he didn’t really care for wedding ceremonies, but he loved a good reception!  Like so many other things he said, he was  absolutely right! It’s usually a really good party!   I’ve been to a lot of weddings in my life.  Friends, family, my own, my son’s, big, small, and everything in between.  I’ve been to weddings in large city churches, and small country churches, on the beach, in a beautiful historic cathedral and in a cow pasture. They’re all special and beautiful in their own way, but I want to tell you about two of my favorites.   Both of these took place in New Orleans, which happens to be just about my favorite place on earth.  More on that in another post. The first was my all time favorite and the standard to which I measure all others. My cousin Tony’s beautiful daughter Andrea married her handsome Air Force fighter jock fiancé Brent.  Andrea grew up here and Tony still lives here.  Andrea’s mother lives ...

 24 years ago today every parent’s worst nightmare happened to me.  My boys were in a  car accident on the way to school.  When I got there, Stephen and Lee were hurt but not critical. Dan, however, was lying in the road, two nurses who happened to be behind them were giving him CPR.  Their first words to me were, “We can’t get a pulse.”  No parent should have to hear that about their child.  EMTs got there and they tried their best, but they couldn’t save him.  After I called my wife to give her the news, the first people I called were my friend Bob and his wife Beckey.  They came immediately.  And they have been with me the whole way.   They were my rock.  They gave me unconditional love and support through the funeral and even to this day.  They always remember the date. They call, they text, and they invite me out to get my mind off my pain.  I honestly don’t know how I would have made it without them.  I tol...