May 30, 1966 Jocie Brooke reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. This picture wasn’t taken in Hollyhill, but you knew that. It’s a picture Dad showed me of a cemetery in France to help me think about what Memorial Day really means. It’s not just picnics and the local swimming pool opening for the summer and school being out. Memorial Day is …
Sunrise in Hollyhill
April 13, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Not a lot to report today. Well, Dad says every day holds its own special blessings. Didn’t the sun come up today, he’ll ask me. If I say of course it did, he’ll tell me that some things shouldn’t be taken for granted. That the sunrise every morning is blessing. …
Veteran’s Day in Hollyhill
November 11, 1965 Jocie Brooke reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Veteran’s Day. That means a lot in our house because my dad is a veteran of World War II. In fact, our whole town is full of veterans of that war and some of World War I too. Then there’s the Korean War veterans too and now the Vietnam War. I …
A Beautiful Day for a Homegoing
A beautiful day for a funeral – you might be wondering if you read that wrong. But that’s how the preacher started the funeral service for Darrell’s aunt today. Annie Pearl needed a few more weeks to reach her 96th birthday. This picture was taken when she was 91 on one of her rare visits to our house. She was …
Freedom’s Price
Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen, Was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men. ~Richard Watson Gilder Memorial Day weekend – the weekend that launches summer. Schools are out or will be soon. Seniors are graduating and getting ready to grab life by the horns and see what’s next. Some young men and …
Veterans Day in Hollyhill
November 11, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. It’s Veterans Day. We had to go to school anyway, but Dad did a special issue of the Banner with stories from some of the veterans. Mr. Haskins who served in World War I was more than ready to share his stories about serving in France. Of course, I’d heard …
A Day to Remember Those Who Gave Their All
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” (Norman Schwarzkopf) Do you know why we have a long Memorial Day weekend? Some people think of it as a day to decorate the graves of their loved ones who have died. And that does happen …
A Day to Remember
“The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem.” (Aaron Kilbourn) Memorial Day began as Decoration Day after the Civil War when the wives, mothers, and sisters began decorating the graves of the fallen soldiers. Slowly as the years passed, Decoration Day, observed on May 30, began to be called Memorial Day, but it wasn’t until1967 that Federal law changed the name officially. The year …
March Madness
Some of you who know me or have been following my blog for a while know I love basketball. I started listening to the UK Wildcat games when I was just a kid and got my first little transistor radio. I don’t know why. Nobody in my family had ever attended UK or any college. We were a farm family. …