Hiking Through Life

Well, once again I had a great time visiting with Sam, Drea, and 3 month-old Adelaide. That baby has won my heart all over again!! She's at the cute smiley stage that makes you want to laugh whenever she does. Unfortunately, the visit was way too short, but I hope we can go see them again before too long. Here are a couple of pictures. Drea took the one of me and Adelaide after church this morning.

It's such a blessing to have such wonderful friends!

When we were getting ready for our 3rd of July fireworks party, we saw we had a Mama duck and 7 eggs between two rose bushes just off our deck. When we got home from dinner tonight, we saw these precious little baby ducks! Cookie's telling everyone we have "grand-ducks"!

I was there 18 years ago but I hope it won't be that long before we return! Fabulous talent!!

Tomeka Hart, on her blog "Hart for Memphis" http://hartformemphis.blogspot.com/ said: Journalist and political pundit Tavis Smiley created the Covenant with Black America, a plan of action for addressing concerns of the African-American community. The Covenant covers ten issues: healthcare, criminal justice, education, affordable housing, voting, rural development, police accountability, economic prosperity, environmental justice, and the digital divide. To assist communities to actually give the Covenant some life, Smiley also published the Covenant in Action. What if we produced the Covenant with Memphis?! What concerns would we include? What action plans would we implement? What role would you play in breathing life into the plan? I submit that the CWM would have to include race, education, government accountability, and economic development/poverty. What else should be included? Your thoughts?

It's so hard to believe my "baby" is now 25 years old! And even has a baby girl of his own. Samuel James Braddock was born at 0730 on 1 July 1982 at Tripler Army Medical Center Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. That afternoon, a nurse came into our room and said, "You need to go look outside, there's a double rainbow. It's beautiful!" She was right. No matter that I would see a rainbow 5 out of 7 days every week, they never ceased to thrill me, and apparently the nurse felt that way too. And that rainbow, like Sam, seemed to hold a special promise. Sam has always been my outgoing child, inviting people at the mall to dinner, never-met-a stranger guy. He's funny, talented, and musical (beautiful tenor voice, plays guitar). I love the way he connects with people and the way he encourages them. Everyone is important to him and he is a good friend to his friends. He is a wonderful and loving husband, father, and son. And most importantly, he is a godly man. ...