Saturday, September 17, 2011

Her Old Kentucky Home...

As most of you know, this past week was a sad time here in the Keil household as my brother Jeremy's girlfriend Libby passed away due to what was determined to be a clot in her pulmonary artery. It was also a "double whammy" as they found out the day before that she was also with child.  Her parents made the call for her to be buried in her home area so Jeremy and I went to Kentucky as we laid her body in her final resting place.  We arrived there Sunday evening and got back very early this morning about 12:40am.

Other than for the main purpose of the trip, Jeremy and I had a great time exploring the Bluegrass State.  First day we were there, we got to visit some sights that she liked to visit in Elizabethtown (or E-Town for short).  Tuesday, we went up to Louisville and looked at some old houses dating back as far as the 1890s (very well kept, I might add) and visited the Science Museum there.  Basically, while the family was getting arrangements made and waiting for Libby to be transported back to Kentucky (who knew death would have to be so bureaucratic!), we virtually stayed out of the way.  But they were very gracious to us, let us stay at their place and make ourselves at home, even the DirecTV.

A couple of little funny instances while we were there...

1.  First morning we were there, her dad Skeeter took Jeremy and I around, showed us their home church (more on that later) and took us to the lake where the family liked to fish and everything.  On the way to the lake there were deer on the side of the road.  They were just right there minding their own business, grazing along the shoulder, looking at us like "hey, what's up?"  

2.  This one I found kinda funny, being interested in radio and TV broadcasting...same morning, we were watching the CBS affiliate out of Louisville and I thought I heard and saw some familiar production elements that one might see on Channel 5 in Oklahoma City.  Come to find out, WLKY is owned by the same company as KOCO so not only are they sister stations but in a sense, they are a sister station to News 9 (CBS).

Anyway, the church that Libby and her family go to and grew up in is one of those old fashioned country churches...complete with cemetery next door, similar to Peace-Bessie only there's no fence around the cemetery.  The church was small, but there was no sound system and there were no musical instruments either.  The church may be a Baptist church, but they are Baptist in name only.  It leans more toward old-fashioned Pentecostal (similar to how we were raised, but not really).


 All-in-all, with the exception of the main purpose it was a very enjoyable experience in Kentucky.  I would have loved to do more sightseeing...and visit the Louisville Slugger factory and museum, but it was fun and one experience I would love to do again...only without having to bury someone. 

Saturday, September 10, 2011

10 years later...

I don't mean to sound like I'm "Robbie Downer" (after all, my mom's name is Debbie)...but I haven't been getting into all the spirit of reflection on what happened 10 years ago tomorrow.  Much like right now, I had other thoughts going through my mind...the least of which was reacting to planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and crashing in a field in Pennsylvania and the magnitude of it all.  It was later in the afternoon seeing of all people the late Peter Jennings on ESPN did I realize that it was big.

I was struggling with some issues of my own at that time...some may say I'm still struggling with them today but oh well.  Like I said, I don't mean to sound crass but Sept. 11, 2001 was just another day for me.  True, it affected me as an American, but I was dealing with other things in my life.  And I'll leave it at that...

Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Valley of Decision...it's a deep one!!!

My topic du jour in case you might not have heard by now...after nearly 30 years at 221 South 5th, we are going to have to move because our house has been bought (we still don't have a clue who bought it unless it comes out in the Clinton Daily News in the next few days).  And it wasn't just our house either...two neighboring lots next door were also purchased.

Our preliminary indication is that the buyer purchased not only our house and the houses next door, but lots facing 4th Street/US 183 for the new home for the Clinton Fire Dept.

Whatever it was purchased for, there are lots of memories of this house that we're going to take with us.  All three of us grew up here.  There have been a lot of good times and yes, there have been a few bad ones (basically being the first to hear about Grandpa Tucker being one of them).

I've got some decisions I'm praying and pondering over...Mom and Dad do also as well as Stephenie.  One thing I do pray for all of us is that we make the right decision that's best for all of us.

That's it for this topic for now.  I will update this post when new details are available.

Update -- Sept. 8, 2011:  As expected, our house and property have been purchased by the City of Clinton for the purpose of building a new fire station.  Two other houses next door to us were also purchased as well as the lots on 4th Street between Avant and Hayes.  There is one other house that the City is wanting to purchase -- but the owners haven't decided to sell yet.  Won't be surprised if "Eminent Domain" winds up being exercised.  Stay Tuned...

Monday, July 11, 2011

One of life's "non-issues"...

As I am sitting here, an interesting topic comes on one of the sports channels. 

In case you are not a sports follower, I'll try to make a synopsis for you.  This weekend, New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter eclipsed 3,000 career hits with a home run during a game against Tampa Bay.  The person that got the baseball that was hit for the milestone, Christian Lopez,  just gave the ball to Jeter without any qualms, no "What's in it for me?", no demands for cash or memorabilia or what not.  The Yankees did however set the guy and his friends up with the use of a suite for the rest of the season and into the postseason (which was sweet)  and some Yankee swag.

But the point of the conversation on the sports shows I listened to and watched was, "Do you think the guy should have asked for something in return or did he do the right thing and just give it to the team w/no strings attached?"  I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like that's advocating being greedy.  "I've got this home run ball, but you can't have it unless you give me such and such."  Take it for what it's worth, but in my opinion the kid (I say "kid", he's 23...compared to my almost being 40) did the right thing.  He gave the ball to the Yankees and probably didn't expect anything in return.  He probably would say that the suite and everything else that the team did give was an unexpected blessing.

That's probably my "old school" way of thinking, but weren't we taught to obey the Golden Rule? (the original one "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", not "he who has the gold makes the rules.")  To me, that's one of many "non-issues" that gets magnified far too often in the Fox News/ESPN/Nancy Grace microscopes.  Oh, did I mention Nancy Grace.  Don't get me started on her....

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Valuing Friendship...

Due to some changes I've done with my e-mail and stuff, I have had to do some changes with this blog with the new name and the new address.  But I'm still going to give comments every once in a while on various topics.

I was thinking about today's as we were doing our Vacation Bible School at church.  Today's lesson was focused on Peter and when he denied Jesus three times.  For the story group part, I played the role of Peter and talked about he thought how hard it was that his best friend -- Jesus -- would tell him, look you're going to have to say "I don't know Him" before the rooster crowed those three times.  

I asked this question to the children who were there --"How would you feel if your best friend had to tell you that you had to deny that I knew you. You would be upset, wouldn't you?"  Now, to a 3 year old, it would be hard to answer that question since their social skills are still developing (meaning hanging out with more than just family).  Once you get a little older, you tend to grasp more of an understanding of it and probably the only way you would lose that friend is if they moved to another town -- and that's the nicer scenario.

Now I admit, I've developed friendships with people over the years (don't worry, it was pre-Facebook) that I wish I shouldn't have at the time and it blew back up in my face.  With any of you who are my friends now, it would be hard to make that statement that I didn't know them when the proverbial chips are down, even if it means going to jail with them (an experience I hope not to relive again anytime ever).

That's about all I can think of to comment on this right now.  May you have an excellent evening and God bless.