An old farm in Midway......

August 22, 2012 ~ Brandon and I were over at our property looking at our barn and noticed Dean Rhine coming over to feed his cattle and horses. Dean rents this property directly behind our property and he came over to the fence to visit. After talking for a bit I asked him a few questions about Lewis Lane's old farm and the house. We walked over as I wanted to take a look just to see a piece of old history in Midway. I don't remember this house as a kid but mom and dad said that they have taken me over there a few times. Mr. Lane (a brother to Tenny Lane - he owned Lane's Greenhouse back in the country here in Midway) gave me a little chair that I still have at mom and dad's house.

This old house has been sitting for many years. It's sad that an older home just simply rots away when people stay away from it. Racoons have moved in and made this house their home.

It was starting to get dark when we went in the house and there is no electric to turn on. It's so sad to see a house that someone lived in be ruined by critters and yet personal items such as pictures have been left behind.

These were a couple of the out buildings that were on the property.

We then walked up to a graveyard on the property. It appears that it just might be family that was buried on this ground as there wasn't more than 5 or 6 stones total... or that you could still see. This one was hard to read.....

But the best we could read it said "Benjamin Watson B (born) May 18, 1799 D (death) May 20, 1847". That was pretty neat since I don't think I've seen a headstone that old or on property like this.

What was really interesting was a tomb just behind the headstone. We couldn't read anything on the tomb but it did have a huge piece of it missing on the far side. I had heard my Grandma & Grandpa Crews talk about the Lane's. It was nice to learn a little bit of history about this property for the hour or so we were there with Dean and I would love to go back during the daytime hours and take a note pad as I know one day that farm will be sold and the old house and outbuildings will be torn down and history from this place will forever be gone. I wish I had gotten interested in the history of Midway a lot sooner as I have seen so many structures/houses/barns being torn down and have no pictures to remember the way Midway was when I was a kid. I have tried to find a picture of the old barn that Lance Henderson had that my Grandpa Crews rented. This property where that old barn was is now the location of Midway Electric, Inc. the business we own. I hope to have another "walking history lesson" soon as I want to learn more! Until then all we have are pictures.

A surprise phone call.....

Wednesday August 22, 2012 ~ When I got home tonight Brandon and I were talking while he ate dinner. At 6:55 pm I get a phone call.... "Michele, this is Eugene Pottinger. Do you remember me?" I was so glad to hear from him as he said he would write me when he got home and it had been a while since I had last seen or talked to him. I told him of course I remember him and it was good to hear his voice! He said he had been home about 8 days and he was currently working with a Fire Department in California helping to put out wild fires and was currently working 144 miles from home. I had several people tell me that they saw him near the Boonville exit and then Moberly exit recently so I asked him about it. He said he has been in California not at those exits. (I really didn't have a reason not to believe him but I had to ask) I asked him if he had talked to his wife (based on our previous discussion at breakfast) and he said that he had talked to her and she let him back in the house. He said they have talked a lot and are working on their relationship. He said for now he is trying to work and help provide for them. He said lately he's been working long days but when he gets home (not sure if he goes home after so many days of work) they talk a lot. You could tell he was happy... heck I was happy to hear that he was safe and sound. He asked me a few questions about my blog and wondered where I got the poem from the first entry (A Homeless Veteran Named Eugene) and I told him I just looked up on Google and found it as it seemed fitting. He told me that he had sent me a package of 45 pages that he wrote via Fed Ex today so I should have them soon. He said he wrote from the time he enlisted in the military to his time spent in Midway and the people he met while he was here. He said that there are some things he doesn't want me to share and has noted those in his letter. I will respect his wishes however I will be excited to share some more details about Eugene as so many of us want to know more from the time I spent with him the day he traveled home. It was a great surprise and one that you could tell he was smiling on the other end of the line. I told him to call me anytime and now we just wait on the mail.....

It's a Jeep thing!

Tuesday August 21, 2012 ~ I got a letter in the mail today that my personalized plates were ready to be picked up! I was thinking they forgot about me (can you imagine someone forgetting about me??) since it had been forever! So I jumped in the little Jeep-ster and headed down to the Department of Revenue. Why on earth does everything have to be super dramatic down there? So I give the lady my paperwork and she looks at me and says I need your letter stating your plates are here. I said "Sugar, this is all I got in the mail today and I came on down" so then she asks everyone next to her (while sitting in her chair) if they had ever seen a paper like this and since it wasn't a letter would my plates even be there? (I am thinking....Well sugar britches.... can you look for me please since I am here and this is the only thing I got from your headquarters???) Seriously where did common sense go?? I patiently wait and imagine the look of surprise when she found them! Woo Hoo!

I think they look pretty good! A "SPRY" girl I am! Now anywhere I go I can't hide! Ha! Between my white car "MSPRY" and now the Jeep I have made my mark! While I was in the shop cleaning up my little dirty ride (gravel road, country music, fun with friends weekend) a little hummingbird flew in. Usually when they fly in the shop they don't come out alive and I was going to get this one out alive if it was the last thing I was going to do. If you could have seen me you would have laughed....

I got this little baby to come to the ground... which was a start! I think he/she was trying to figure out what this crazy lady was doing talking all crazy.....

Or maybe it was thinking how it could just get out of here! After about 15 minutes....

It flew out the garage door! I was so happy as I knew it wouldn't live if it stayed all night in the shop. The hummingbird whisper-er threw on her charm and saved this little bird. My work is done for tonight!

Joe Walsh Autograph!

Monday August 20, 2012 ~ We love the Eagles! We have seen them in concert 3 times and loved them so much that for our upcoming 15th wedding anniversary I purchased 2 VIP tickets to see them in Las Vegas on Novemeber 17th! We will be sitting somewhere between the 2nd & 8th row from the stage! I was so excited to tell him as it was going to be a surprise but you know me... it was killing me so I had to tell him!

 About a month ago I opened the mail and Timothy B. Schmit had sent me a personalized autographed photo and a guitar pic. I was so happy and kept my fingers crossed that the other 3 would also send me an autographed photo as well.

Well guess what.... I got to the mail box and I had an awesome surprise waiting for me.... Joe Walsh sent me an autographed picture and 2 of his guitar pics! (I apologize for it being upside down... for whatever reason my blog does this from time to time) I am so excited and now I sure hope Glenn Frey & Don Henley send me their pictures autographed too! Once I get all of them I am going to frame them for our office along with our upcoming tickets! I am one happy girl!

A cracked diamond....

Please note: Objects in picture are much smaller in person! Just sayin'

Friday August 17, 2012 ~ While I was out and about in town I decided to stop and have my ring inspected and cleaned. Something I try to do every other month as I wear my rings all the time. Upon inspection she asked me what the heck had I done to my diamond. I laughed and said "If I own something it better hold up good as I am pretty rough on anything I own!" (Brandon says I beat him in the middle of the night because he wakes up sore and stoved up like a little old man!) She said I have cracked my diamond from "6 o'clock almost up to the 3 o'clock". Really? She let me look at it under the microscope and I tried to take a few pictures through the lens. I couldn't believe I had done this and she said in her 25 years she had only seen this happen about 3 times on a round stone as they are pretty durable. She said it's common for the princess cut diamonds to crack/break as they are thin around the edges. 

Here's a little better picture of the crack as you can see it's pretty good from the "6 o'clock to the 4 o'clock and faint up to the 3 o'clock". So the next question.... what happens now? Thank goodness I purchased the POM (Peace of Mind) Insurance and it will be replaced free of charge! Shew! I have an additional policy on it however I don't want to have to use it! So ladies, take this as a warning! Go get your rings inspected often (especially if you wear them pretty much everywhere you go) and inquire about insurance! It was well worth it and not one penny comes out of my pocket!

Jaxon and his animal sounds!

August 12, 2012 ~ I can't believe how big my nephew Jaxon is getting! He is 18 months old and so much fun! He is weighing in at 35 lbs and is 3' tall. He is wearing 4T tops and 3T bottoms. (Yes, his momma and daddy have fed him muscle milk to get him this big!)  He has been learning what sounds animals make and I can't believe I got him to sit still long enough to record him! He loves to swing and had me laughing... my favorite is how he says "Goat" which comes out "Goak"! I should have asked him what a rooster says then he would have done the "doodle doodle". My favorite part... his cheesy little smile at the end. Gosh I love that kid!

Jaxon James Adams 18 months old!

Eugene Pottinger is on his way home!

August 13, 2012 ~ Today was a good day. I was thankful that Eugene had a warm bed to sleep in last night because a storm was headed our way. I don't think we got much in Midway as the storm broke up before it hit but there was lighting. (I couldn't imagine being all alone in this crazy world and trying to find shelter at night) I called his room at 7:45 am and asked him to meet me at the Midway Family Restaurant at 8:15 am. I couldn't expect a man to travel without a good meal first so I bought him whatever he wanted. He ordered steak and eggs with Texas toast and strawberry jelly. I knew he was hungry and it's probably been awhile since he had a good meal.

I needed to talk to Michelle at the Columbia Greyhound. Since he only had a social security card for identification I would need to beg for an exception to be made.

We started making small talk and I started asking him a few more questions as I really wanted to know more about him. He said that he was born and raised in Chicago, IL and has a twin brother, George who he hasn't seen in many years. His mother passed away in 1989 and his father was never really around. He joined the military and served primarily in Vietnam from age 18-38. In those 20 years his title would be Commander Navy Seal. Things began to get emotional for me as he talked. I could see the hurt in his eyes and that made me sad. He said that he spent 5 years in the states and the first 8 months training to become a seal. His mission was to seek and destroy. He was a POW (Prisoner of War) for almost 4 years. Upon being released he came back to the states and spent 18 months in Maryland to try and get back to a regular state of mind. I didn't push him to talk about what happened as I knew he had been through so much. He also had been exposed to Agent Orange. At that point he had a decision to get out of the military or volunteer to help get other people out of being a POW. He said at that point it was like a suicide mission for him. He said he really didn't have much to live for and if he were to get killed while serving it was ok but if he could get our men back then he got back at those people that hurt him.  He said that he found one of our men and got him back home. I asked where he had served and he said Siagon, Vitnam mostly but also Taiwan, Aboud & Hanowi.

I could tell that it was not something easy for him to talk about so after a long pause I started asking him about his family. He said that once he got back to San Diego, CA (specifically Linda Vista, CA) that his wife would pick him up. He doesn't have any kids and they have been married for 19 years. Her name is Robin (aka "The Boss") and she works for a hotel as a host. Once he got back home he would have a home and be able to find work pretty easy. He said that he has worked in the steel / construction industry and wasn't afraid to work. He said he went to work for a company in North Carolina but after 18 months they were shut down because of back taxes. So he made it to Kentucky and helped out on a horse ranch. He said he didn't have a clue about horses but did whatever needed to be done. His focus was on getting back home.

He said that he had been clean for 3 years now. No alcohol or drugs just cigarettes and coffee. He said that he realizes that he put his wife through hell but when he got back from the war the first thing he did was burned his uniforms/fatigues. He said that when he got off the plane people would spit on him and call him really bad names and he hurt. After serving his country and yet to be treated less than a human was hard to handle. You could see so much emotion in his eyes as he talked, opening up to a total stranger yet I think it was good for both of us to hear this information. For him, living through all of this and having someone who wouldn't judge him was good. For me, one can never really understand what war does to a person. I could tell it forever changed him.

At 9:05 am I made the phone call to Michelle at the Greyhound station. She listened as I explained our situation and was willing to make sure we got him on the bus! I immediately called Taxi Terry's and had them come pick him up. He was excited. I know he probably thought this wasn't for real, how could his life start to get better in the 3 days he had met me.He quickly ran over to the hotel and I waited until the taxi got there. Pretty sad when all the things you have fit in a duffel bag and a backpack but it didn't matter... he was going home!

At 9:40 am Taxi Terry arrived.... the bus would be leaving at 9:50 am and I was getting nervous. I told him that the taxi driver would be driving like a crazy man but we were going to get to the bus station quickly! He was loaded up and I was following behind. I called Michelle again at the bus station and told her what was going on. She said the bus would not wait however there was another bus behind it and it would leave in 30 minutes! (Thank goodness!) We arrive at the bus station at 9:48 am and we ran inside to get a ticket. He was really getting happy now! We got his ticket and walked outside. I gave him a full new tablet of writing paper as he said he was almost out, some cash and a self addressed stamped envelope and told him that when he got home I wanted a letter from him. He said he would send a letter and a picture of California! I gave him a quick hug and headed out the door. By 10:30 am he would be on his journey home.

Today was a very emotional day for me. To hear him talk about things that he had experienced, where he has come from and choosing to be "clean" for 3 years made this all worth while. I knew there was something special about this guy and all of his life he has been judged, mistreated or put down. Today that wasn't going to happen. I wish him safe travels as he makes his 2 day trek and I look forward to receiving his letter. Until then know that he is in good hands and soon enough he will be reunited with his wife.

On my way back to the shop I couldn't help but look over. This spot at the top of exit 121 seemed so sad and lonely but the thought of him being so completely happy makes me smile. It's been a great day......

A Hero’s Hero

So Many Soldiers
Living on the Street
Their Spirits Broken
With Defeat.

What Must They Think
When They Look Around
Eyes Passing By
Staring at the Ground.

Does Anger Fill Them
When We Turn Away,
From the Debts We Owe
That Should Be Repaid ?

What If A That Moment,
Just Once, Instead
We Saluted in Honor,
Right Hand to Head?

To Let Them Know
They are Not Ghosts,
Thanking Them for
Being Braver Than Most.

If Everyone Would
Show Them Grace
We Just Might Find
Their Pain Erased.

For All the Heroes,
Still Fighting To Live
And For Heroes Like You
Who Continue to Give.

If You See Someone
Who Is Really Lost
Please Stop and Remember
What Our Freedoms Cost.