Stories for the Boys - Honeysuckle Farm, LLC

Stories for the Boys: #Triggered

I was wandering around the Twitter-verse last night after midnight and I found a hashtag that I decided to follow. One of the things I found triggered a memory so I thought I would share for the boys.

A Time-Travel Story

The daily prompt I encountered was, “Name a time-travel story you enjoyed”. I began thinking of the time-travel stories I’ve read – quite a few. I wrote one of my own so it helps to know what’s already out there. My brain settled on one book in particular and here’s the memory it triggered.

My “Perfect Book at the Perfect Time”

When I was a child, my love of time travel stories was kicked off by Andre Norton with her book Octagon Magic from her The Magic Books series. It’s one of the earliest books I ever remember reading. I lived in a small, rural town that didn’t have a public library at the time (at least not that I can remember). I don’t even remember having a school library at that time! Our library “service” came via a pamphlet in the mail every month. I couldn’t wait for that pamphlet to arrive!! I would pore over all the books marking ones I would like to read. I wonder if my mom ever missed that pamphlet? I’m not sure she saw enough of them to know we were getting them because I swiped them!

Anyway, at that time, you would choose your book(s), mail the order back in and in a few weeks you’d get your book to read. #OldSkool

Cover of Andre Norton’s *Octagon Magic*.

I may or may not have gotten the book through the mail service. I really don’t remember how I got access to that book but I suspect it was that service. (However, my mom was working on her Bachelor degree to be a school librarian so it could just as easily come from her!) I never read any other book in the series and don’t remember even knowing it was a series until I was an adult and looked for that book again. In fact, I don’t think I ever read another Andre Norton book. If I did, it didn’t leave an impression like this one did. There’s nothing like the perfect book at the perfect time!

My Wish For You

My wish for you is that you find your “perfect book at the perfect time” sooner rather than later, and that you find many “perfect books” during your lifetime. A quick recommendation for my grandsons: the author Jon Scieszka. His goal in writing is to create books for boys who don’t necessarily like to read.

Happy reading,

Grandma, aka Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Stories for the Boys: It is Well

I wrote this blog post a couple of years ago while I was chaperoning a senior trip to San Antonio, Texas. Things got busy and I didn’t finish it and then other things happened when I got home and it has stayed in draft form ever since. When I saw that this week’s theme is ‘music’, I knew it was time to pull it out and finish it. I’m going to leave it mostly as I wrote it back then, even though it’s been two years. This was originally written 20 May 2019.

Just a side note for anyone new to the blog: the Stories for the Boys series is specifically written for my grandsons so they will know a little about mine and my husband’s lives in addition to those of their ancestors. It is my hope they will be interested in these stories at some point in their life. I know there are so many times I wish I’d listened closer to my grandparents and great-grandparents when they told stories. Now they’re gone and I can’t ask them for details anymore. Hopefully this will help alleviate that problem for my grandchildren. Additionally, I mention my son in this post. When he was in high school, he “copyrighted” the spelling of his name. He always wrote “DeReK” with a little copyright symbol after it. So I will often retain that spelling when I’m writing about him. So no – it isn’t a grammatical error, it’s a tiny homage to my son and his unique personality. I hope you enjoy reading the post this week.

May 20, 2019: Ft. Worth, Texas to San Antonio, Texas via Amtrak

I’m currently en route to San Antonio, Texas with a group of 12 teens who graduated from high school last week. This is their senior trip- their final moments together before they launch into their adult lives. Two of them were aides for me in my library this past school year so I got to know them better than other students. It’s always a little bittersweet saying goodbye to a group of students at the end of each year knowing that it may be years before I see them again- or maybe I won’t see them again at all in this lifetime.

To be completely honest with you, I’ve been dreading this trip all year. It didn’t help that one of the other (experienced) senior co-sponsors spent one evening telling me all the senior trip horror stories. Then my dad, bless his heart, told me a couple more senior trip horror stories just yesterday. There are a lot of reasons I didn’t want to be on this trip- mostly selfish ones. But, from the moment we boarded the train in Oklahoma City I began to find many reasons this trip was a good thing to do. We haven’t even reached San Antonio yet and I’ve already experienced a moment that I know I will treasure. Let me tell you about it.

When we switched trains in Fort Worth, Texas, we boarded a train where a group of Amish women were already on board. Sometime in late evening they began singing hymns in the lounge car. When I realized what they were doing I moved into the lounge area to listen and a few students also came to listen.

It’s always so nostalgic for me to hear the old hymns and they were singing a capella which I love. After a while there was a lull so I got up some courage and went and asked them to sing one of DeReK’s favorite hymns, It Is Well With My Soul. You can hear it below.

It Is Well With My Soul

Later one of the students got brave enough to request I’ll Fly Away which is one of my all-time favorites. You can also hear that one below.

I’ll Fly Away

I’ll leave you with these beautiful hymns (the recordings don’t do these women justice- I had to sit too far away due to all the seats being full) and I’ll also leave you with my view from the train car window during our impromptu concert. God is good.

While you’re listening, say a prayer for these women. They are traveling down to Mexico to teach English for six weeks.

The scenery was pretty and relaxing. I very much enjoyed the train ride.

Another scenery shot from the trip down to San Antonio, Texas.

What a way to start the trip. Music calms me. I loved this moment in the trip. It was like a reassurance from God that everything was going to be okay.

Update: as I edit this on 30 March 2021 in preparation to finally publish it, I’m adding a couple more photos that were taken on the trip down to San Antonio and one more snippet from a song sung by the Amish women. I hope you enjoy my trip down memory lane. I sure do miss these kids and hope they’re doing well in life.

I Am Thine For Service Lord

Peace,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

The Revolution

Dear friends (and boys- because I do hope you read these stories when you get older),
I have never been more proud of my profession, my coworkers, my administrators, or my school board. But I am also tired. I am also sad. I am also angry. I am so many emotions I can hardly contain them. Sun up to sun down every day for over a week now. But real life is like that, isn’t it? You hit a brick wall (or maybe just a roadblock, but today feels like a brick wall) and you feel as if you will never get past this moment. I will get past it. I know I will but I’m talking about raw emotion right now. I haven’t written a post since…well, I couldn’t even tell you without looking. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. My life has been turned upside down and I’ve had one singular focus with no extra time for anything else. But I’m bowing out. Just for today. I’m taking a “me day”. I feel guilty. I should be sitting in church right now and Lord knows I need to be there but I just couldn’t. There’s a lot of bitterness and hatred in the world and I’ve felt it was aimed at me (and my friends) this past couple of weeks. I need a break.
This day’s been a long time coming. You see, I am a teacher- a librarian, yes, but surprise- librarians teach, too! I had to get a Masters degree to be a school librarian. I’ve worked in several different schools and have finally found the right school, the right grade levels, and the right community for me. For far too long, professionals in teaching positions all across this nation have been paid far too little for all that they do. We are degreed, certified, professionals. I could make more money at a QT convenience store than I make to help educate your children. How sad is that!
In late February, the teachers of West Virginia had had enough. They weren’t taking it anymore. They walked out. Their strike lasted 8 or 9 days. They got a raised but the funding is questionable. They are committed to striking again if lawmakers can’t do their jobs. Their brave actions set off a chain reaction across the nation amongst teachers who were underpaid, overworked, understaffed, and ill-equipped to do their jobs. My state, Oklahoma, was next in line and Kentucky is right on our heels. Arizona is fast approaching this point as well.

Good Friday, my first day holding a sign. Jay, OK, 2018. I was taking the photo. Left, Matt Nowlin Oklahoma/Arkansas Carpenters/Millwrights Local 216 #UnionStrong. To the right of Matt are my fellow teachers. #StrongerTogether
Oklahoma teachers walked out April 2nd. It is April 8th and we will not be going to school next week unless the legislators do their job and provide funding. We aren’t even asking for all that we should. We are only asking to be funded at the levels we had 10- TEN- years ago. We want textbooks that at least include the Obama presidency. That’s how old our textbooks are- they don’t even include the 8 years of the Obama presidency. There are so few textbooks left that students can’t even take them home to study. Teachers are using textbooks that are falling apart- some duct-taped together so they can be used. Teachers have 200 students and 50 textbooks. Is this what we want for our children?? Our future?? Chairs are broken. Our high school library- my little library- has a collection of books with an average copyright date of 1996. I have books older than me and I’m not talking classics or fairy tales. Actual novels and NONFICTION books older than me! Books that were here when I was in high school here 30 years ago. Books that were here when my children were going to school here in the early 2000’s. Yet teachers go into this environment every day and we still do our jobs the best we can. We still educate and care for the students entrusted to us.
I’m not telling you all this so you pity me. Don’t pity me. What I want is for you to get angry. Get angry that legislators have gotten away with telling you that this is how little your children mean to them! It’s intimidating to call a legislator, much less go visit them. And they are rude- I get that. But sometimes we have to do hard things for the people we love. Teachers have their raises. We could have stayed in school and forgotten about the fact that your kids still need textbooks and chairs and supplies but we didn’t. We care too much for our students. So here we are. We completed Day 5 of the walkout on Friday. Day 6 of the walkout is tomorrow. I’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it. Will you join me? Yes. Yes. I know. You have jobs. You have lives. You had bad teachers so you’ll never support us. I get it. I do. But this isn’t for “us”. We already have our money (provided they will actually FUND the bill they passed). This is for your children. You have to make your own decisions and care for your own lives. I’ll still be going. Spending my own money on your children (again) and my own time (still) but it would be so much better if you would meet me there. Those legislators need to see YOUR face. They need to see YOUR children that they are shafting. The news is reporting that it’s chaotic and dangerous. That’s a lie. The place is crawling with State Troopers (who were also included in our funding request, I might add). They have been so good at what they do and so good to us. They have said this is one of the most peaceful (and even enjoyable) rallies they’ve ever seen. Teachers are polite, courteous, and pick up after themselves. No big surprise to me. We’ve been cleaning up after ourselves and your children (and legislators) for years.
I’m tired of being called greedy (and much worse). I’m tired of the DHS workers (whom we also included in our request for more funding) saying bad things about us. Saying that we aren’t doing enough when they don’t even show up at a rally designed to get more funding for them too. We didn’t have to include state workers but we did. That’s what teachers do- they care. I’m tired of defending myself, my profession, and my friends. I’m sick at the thought of how little a few of the community members think of us and how vocal they are compared to our supporters. My friends have left Facebook. They can’t take the teacher-bashing any more. They are staying home, trying to rejuvenate going into next week. You can see I’m sitting here (alone) on my couch writing to you because I’m an introvert and writing makes me feel better. I won’t quit though. My students aren’t second class citizens and neither am I. Even with this raise I won’t be earning a lot of money for a degreed, certified professional. I don’t do it for the money though so I’ll take what I can get. It’s been over a decade since teachers got raises. What degreed professional never gets a raise? I could drive 20 minutes further into Arkansas and earn $20,000 more and get a lot more respect but I love my little community. I don’t want to leave. I love our school board and our administrators who have so graciously backed us up and supported us. I will not stop defending them because they did not have to support us like this. I am beginning to wonder whether it’s worth it but I’m going to finish this fight. That way, if my grandsons should ever move to Oklahoma it will be a better place for them to get an education.
I’m not going to edit this post a lot. This is raw. This is how I feel. I’m going to have a good cry then I’m going to pick myself up, go visit my family and then get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, the Women in Black show up at the capitol building. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. See you in Oklahoma City tomorrow.
Peace,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Stories for the Boys: Space Shuttle Challenger, Touching the Face of God

“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.” ~ President Ronald Reagan

Dear Reader,
If this is the first post you’ve read in the “Stories for the Boys” series then there is a little information you need up front. This series is written to and for my grandsons (and granddaughters, should I ever have any). The stories in this series come directly from mine and my husband’s lives and are told with the hope that one day my grandchildren will read and treasure them and get to know who we were as people and learn what events shaped our lives as well as our perceptions of those events. You’re welcome to read them and I hope you enjoy them, but the intended audience is my grandchildren.
Read on, friend.

Reach for the Stars

“Sometimes, when we reach for the stars, we fall short. But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain.” ~ President Ronald Reagan
This past Sunday was the 32nd anniversary of the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger launch and subsequent shuttle failure/destruction. On board was Christa McAuliffe. She was a history teacher and was chosen from more than 11,000 applicants. Christa had dreamed of traveling in space since she was young. By the time she got the opportunity, she was 37 years old, married, and had two young children. Christa liked to teach her students that ordinary people impact history and “they were as important to the historical record as kings, politicians or generals.” (Wikipedia) I think I would have really liked her. (In fact, I know someone a lot like her – a teacher in my school district who also taught my daughter in 5th grade, Jennifer Daftari. And I do really like her.) Through this program, President Ronald Reagan hoped to remind U.S. citizens of how important teachers and education are. Christa would have been the first teacher in space (and the first civilian) as part of NASA’s Teachers in Space project had the shuttle not exploded shortly after launch. NASA cancelled the Teachers in Space program after the Challenger explosion. It would be another 12 years after the explosion before NASA would institute a similar project and it wasn’t until 2005 that the Teacher in Space program would be revived in the private sector. (Wikipedia)

Christa McAuliffe. NASA.gov photo.

Cut to Jay High School (Jay, Delaware County, Oklahoma), Mr. Netherton’s Computer Class

Most people can tell you about a defining moment in their life that had nothing to do with them personally yet they can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing. An early “defining moment” for me was the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. I was a junior in high school in January of 1986. Bart was in his first year of college at Oklahoma State University. It was mid-morning. I remember it being about 9:30. (Looking at the internet I see it was 11:38 EST which would be 10:38 here in Oklahoma so my memory was a little off.) I was in Mr. Tom Netherton’s computer class and we were learning computer coding to make banners (likely on Apple IIE computers- WAY back then). I can’t remember exactly what was on my banner but I remember I was working on it and we had the television on watching the shuttle launch. I’m assuming most classes had a television on in their room. It was a big moment in history for educators.
The shuttle launched and a little over a minute into flight, the shuttle exploded. It was confusing at first. I knew there were objects that were supposed to disconnect from the shuttle and fall away at some point and yet that didn’t seem quite right for what I was seeing on television. A vague feeling of fear was pervasive even though the event didn’t directly affect anyone I knew. As the announcers kept talking and the shuttle fell down toward the ocean, confusion and fear gave way to sadness and disbelief. The only positive thing I can say is that Christa died fulfilling one of her lifelong dreams- pursuing space travel and another opportunity to broaden the horizons of her students.
There are many sad parts to the Challenger story. One of the saddest parts of the shuttle disaster is that Christa’s parents, sister, and son were present and watching the launch (as were other astronauts’ families). I tried watching the video of her family watching the launch. I saw them slowly coming to the realization that Christa was in danger and they could do nothing to help her. I’m going to be honest, I couldn’t finish the video. My heart broke for her family and for the other families watching on in horror.
The Challenger launch was rescheduled so many times due to many different problems. It was originally schedule to launch on January 23rd, then the 24th, then the 25th, 26th, and 27th for a variety of reasons including mechanical issues and weather. NASA received many warnings from engineers not to launch on January 28th but they were determined to do it anyway. From the very second of liftoff, there was one failure after another that ultimately led to the explosion and subsequent loss of life. Once the explosion occurred, NASA locked all their doors and cut communication with the outside world. This was, apparently, their written procedure. There was no way for the crew to escape the shuttle. Several times escape capability was discussed but the top NASA officials in charge decided against it each time. The crew was conscious and apparently uninjured by the explosion. You can hear that in the video below detailing the on-flight voice recordings. There is evidence that at least three of them were conscious for at least part of the fall from sky to ocean and some investigators believed the crew were conscious right up to the point of their 207-mile-per-hour impact with the ocean surface. And then there are others who believe they survived impact and were alive for several hours on the ocean floor.

Think, Pray, THEN Act

To my boys: let this be a lesson to you. If God makes something so difficult for you that you have to defy logic, morals, and established procedures to make it happen, you need to take a step back and really think and pray about what you are wanting to do before you go ahead with it. Only God knows if it should happen or not. Seek His wisdom. Between prayer and God’s wisdom that He gave us in the form of the Holy Bible, you have any answer you will ever need. I’ve found that in my life if something is becoming that difficult it may be because it isn’t what God wants me to do. Think. Pray. Read your Bible. As my Papa DRAKE always said, choose to do the right thing no matter what.
I’m going to leave you with a few YouTube videos and a couple of photos now so you can get a feel for what I experienced that day in 1986. The first video is a news channel showing the launch live so you get a feel for what I saw, heard, and felt that day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTrmJtHLFU
The second video is the launch live on CNN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfnvFnzs91s
The third video details what was going on inside the cockpit through the launch and explosion. It was business as usual and not a word from Christa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQV-DrpReeQ
Watching these videos still takes my breath away and makes my tummy feel queasy. I could not bring myself to post (or even finish watching) the video of Christa’s (and the other astronauts’) families watching their loved ones die in front of them. You’ll have to find that on your own if it still exists when you read this and if you have the desire.
The third video is the speech President Ronald Reagan gave after the explosion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq1jr7UntFw

The first photograph is the image I remember when I think of that day and it is of the Challenger exploding. (Photo from LATimes.com)

The second photograph is the second image I think of when I think about this day and it is the Challenger crew in uniform. Christa is the woman next to the flag- top row, second from left. (Photo from NBCNews.com)

One more site I appreciated for Challenger history is at Mashable.com. It’s worth taking a look.
Learn from history, boys. That’s why I write these blog posts. The people before you have made the mistakes and paid the price. All you have to do is learn from it. I’m not saying be afraid to take chances or do things. I’m saying there is a time to take chances and there is a time to use caution. I pray that you will allow God to lead you in the right direction as you live out your life. I love you, boys.

Love,
Grandma

Stories for the Boys: About Libraries and Self-Esteem

Note to reader: These “Stories for the Boys” posts are specifically written for my grandsons- Ashton, August, Theodore, and Foster- so they will have stories about my husband and I. You may read on, but my intended audience is four little boys who stole my heart.

Banned Books Week is coming up next week. I’m a high school librarian and I’m celebrating our freedom to read at my high school library.

Banned Books Week signs jay high school library
Banned Books Week signs in Jay High School library- made by me and your Papa Bart and two students who helped me.
My mom (your Nanny Kay) was a school librarian. My dad (your Poppa Roy) was also an educator and loved to read, too. When I was a child it was a normal occurrence for my mom to read a few chapters of a book to my brothers (your great-uncles, Cortney and Jared) and I at bedtime. I don’t know how old I was but I was old enough to remember. I’m guessing I must have been about 11 or 12 because I remember my youngest brother (Jared) being about 5 or 6. Anyway, I loved those years. I had a favorite reading place for when I read by myself (in between the couch and wall- oh to be THAT skinny again!). I don’t remember our school library at Jay Elementary School but I’m sure we had one. I must have had plenty of books at home since I don’t remember using the school library.
When I had kids, I read to them at bedtime, too. The last time I read to my kids, my son (your dad/uncle Derek) was in high school and my daughter (your mom/aunt Shaina) was in middle school. We read A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer. We laughed and we cried. It was the perfect book for that moment in our lives. I have two copies of that book sitting on my bookshelf just waiting for you boys to grow up enough that we can read it together. And speaking of banned books, when my kids were in elementary school we started reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn together.

banned books week huck finn book jhs library
The Huck Finn book on display at Jay High School library for Banned Books Week (along with the reason it was banned/challenged).
We didn’t finish this book but we had a good time. To be honest, we didn’t get past the first use of the ‘n’ word. They were aghast that a book would actually use that word so we had a good long discussion about how society changes and what was once okay is no longer fine. We talked about tolerance and what we should and shouldn’t do or say. It was productive and it was enough for elementary-aged kids. My kids grew up with a fondness for Mark Twain’s dry sense of humor.
Although I don’t remember my school library, I do remember using the public library. I remember way back when we got the books by mail-order. Man, I loved browsing through those book catalogs! I bet my parents never got to see one because I always had it. When I was older and the public library expanded I remember going to Delaware County Public Library in Jay, Oklahoma. I remember my mom taking me and I remember the librarian. She was quite intimidating. I have one strong public library memory from those years that affected my life. My mom and I had gone to the public library. I picked out a book the public librarian thought was inappropriate. She told me I couldn’t check out that book. My mom, God love her, stood up to that librarian. My mom told her I could check out any book that woman had in her library. That did a lot for my self-esteem. I have no idea what book I checked out that day. What I do remember is that my mom stood up to that librarian and her censorship. Also, my mom trusted me to select my own books. As a school librarian, I always keep her actions in mind and do my very best not to censor a student’s reading choices. I try to always trust the student. If a child checks out a book that’s too hard, does it really matter? What if that child wants to read that book so badly that they sit down with the book and a dictionary and they learn new words and keep learning new words until they understand what that book is saying? Wow! And if they don’t want to read it that bad? No big deal. They’ll soon bring it back and get another. What if a child picks up a book with themes above their head? Still no big deal. As an adult I’ve re-read enough of the books I read as a child/teen to understand that I did not fully realize what I was reading. The things that needed to go over my head, did go over my head and I was no worse for reading the book. Kids are smart. We need to trust them to choose their own books and let *them* decide when they’re in over their head.
One more library story for my boys and then I’m done for now. My husband (“Papa” to you boys) never read as a child. He just wasn’t interested. When he was in high school he heard about the Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkein. He wanted to read those books. He went in to his high school library (Jay High School where we both graduated) and he told the librarian he wanted to check out the first book in the series. She told him it would be too hard for him and he needed to choose an easier book. But once Papa Bart gets something in his head he doesn’t back down. He found that book, convinced her to let him check it out, and he read it. Then he went on to read the rest of the series. The way he’s always told me the story is that those were the first novels he ever read. No one can say when another person will learn to love reading. You learn to love it when you find books you’re interested in. He just didn’t find “his” book until high school. I hate to think what would have happened if he’d listened to that librarian.
So boys, if you ever have someone in your life who doesn’t believe in your abilities enough to let you read what you want to read, then believe in yourself. All of you boys are so smart. Some of you like to read more than others but as long as I’m around I’ll keep finding you books you love until you learn to find them on your own.
I believe in you, Ashton!
I believe in you, August!
I believe in you, Theodore!
I believe in you, Foster!
Now go read so you can learn amazing things and take on the world!
Papa and Grandma love you boys so much.

Until next time,
Grandma Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Category: Stories for the Boys