SOMEONE - A Valentine Tribute to My Wife- by Darrell Bassham

SOMEONE

(Author-Darrell Bassham)

                                    Have you ever hoped to know  someone

                                    Who seemed to most always make the right

                                    Calls in life’s journey

                                    Someone who you would not only

                                    trust by your side in challenging times, but

                                    Insist on her presence in good times

                                    Someone who sets a positive example

                                    in handling life’s situations

                                    Someone who quietly does good for others

                                    Someone who loves good things unconditionally

                                    But confronts bad head on

                                    Someone willing to sacrifice their interest

                                    to please yours

                                    Someone willing to help you fulfill your dreams

                                    Yet able to offer sensible considerations

                                    Someone who with a gentle hug

                                    or word of encouragement

                                    can make doubt become invisible

                                    Someone who can be compassionate

                                    When none is deserved

                                    Someone who is a lighthouse in a storm

                                    Someone who can show they love you

                                    Even when you don’t feel lovable

                                    Someone you can always count on

                                    when the “chips are up or down”

                                    Someone who commits their life to you

                                    through thick and thin

                                    Someone who forgives and forgets

                                    Someone whose warm touch fills

                                    your heart

                                    Someone whose caring actions prove their

                                    worth

                                    Someone whom all the world’s treasures and pleasures

                                    can never replace

                                    I know that someone

                                    It’s my wife

                                    I love you Karen

                                                                                                dtb original   12-15-95

Tribute to my Sister-in-Law-Barbara Reynolds Bassham

My Sister-in-Law passed away this past Sunday night July 10, 2011 after a long battle with colon cancer. We attended her Memorial services yesterday in Auburndale, Fl.

We can shed tears that Barbara is gone and we do

But, we can also smile because she has lived & touched our lives…

We can close our eyes and pray that she come back

Or we can open our eyes & see all that she has left

Our heart may be empty because we can’t see her

Or we can be full of the love & friendship we shared

We can turn our backs on tomorrow & live in yesterday

Or we can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday

We can remember her & only that she is gone

Or we can cherish her memory & let it live on

We can cry & close our mind,

Be empty & turn our back

Or we can do what she would want:

Smile, open your eyes, love & go on

Barbara, We will miss you in our presence BUT

Cherish the comfort of knowing we will see you again

in heaven at our appointed time

AND we can be thankful, as far as we know, that there are “no politics” in heaven but even if there is, we can rest assured you will have already dealt with them by the time we get there.

Thank you Barbara for being such a wonderful wife to my brother, such a great daughter in law to my mother, and not only a blessed sister in law to Karen, Gene & me BUT even more so, I thank you for being that sister, I never had…

Barbara, I will miss you…I am so glad you were a part of my life!

By the way, say hello to Dad & let him know how we are doing!

So many positive traits come to mind when thinking of Barbara:

Passion

Conviction

Substance

Opinion

Talented

Engaging

Caring

Courage

Thanks Barbara for your inspiration

You will be missed but your Legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of those of us who knew you.

FAREWELL TO A DEAR LONGTIME FRIEND-Wonderful Legacy left behind!

This past week we attended a funeral service in Orlando. A dear longtime friend has departed this ole earth but the memory of him and the legacy he leaves behind will long be in my memory bank as it will be for the so many who knew him.I am confident Leo left a positive touch on those he encountered  throughout his 94 years. Even til the last day of his earthly existence, he always put forward an active "can do" effort never ceasing to give in to several types of cancer over the past several years. His ongoing attitude constantly looking to the future is a "true legacy" in itself. He was an avid golfer all his life even playing only two weeks prior to his final day. On his last day he had traveled a distance for a family event and upon returning home, he had backed his car into a narrow section of his garage (I still can't do that!). That evening while settled in to his favorite chair, watching TV, He went to sleep and woke up in heaven.
We all will miss you my dear friend. If you can somehow hear me, I just want to say "thank you" for touching so many lives and "thank you" for truly "LEAVING A LEGACY" in its truest form.
In favor to Leo, here is an Anonymous poem:
" Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep,
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am a diamond glint on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain,
When you wake in the morning hush;
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night,
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep."

-Anonymous

We will miss you, my friend!

Nostalgic Tidbit: It is funny how some of our likes and dislikes from an early age follow us throughout life. I have never tired of the taste of bread. In the 50’s, I only remember us having white bread all the time. Wheat  and rye bread existed, I think, but for our family it was white bread all the way. Think of all the bread choices we have nowadays…” It is now a bread lover’s paradise just when I shouldn’t eat so much of it”!

Chapter 17

My Epitaph

When I say I was a bread lover from the first taste, I

don’t mean that I was someone who really liked

bread…I loved it! I still do this very day. While

growing up in the 50’s, Mom and Dad would always

go grocery shopping on Saturday afternoons at the

Margaret Ann store in Winter Haven. The store was

later bought out by Winn Dixie. Anyway, they would

always buy a loaf or two of bread to last the week for

sandwiches, etc. Under normal circumstances, that

amount might be sufficient for three growing boys

BUT, one of them (Me)…felt he could live on bread

alone. 

We came up short on the bread supply well before the

week was over many times. I honestly could sit and eat

an entire loaf of bread along with a cola and be as

happy as possible. What can I say, I was a simple

child. Even today, my wife accuses me of that

sometimes! I even got creative and made mayonnaise

sandwiches, mustard sandwiches, ketchup sandwiches,

and my favorite of all, to this day…banana and

peanut butter sandwiches. Through the years, even as

an adult, I have continued to enjoy bread of every kind,

 from the tasteless hotdog buns to gourmet breads

freshly baked. I can always make a meal to enjoy with

bread alone.

Even at that early age, I established an identity as an

unusual bread lover. 

That identity follows me still. I have often told friends

that if I was on death row or on my death bed and had

one last request for food…guess what it would be?

I have teased my wife that whenever I depart this

world, I  want my epitaph to read: “He tried to live

on bread alone”.

Somehow, I doubt she will honor that request!

Time for me to stop writing…hot bread is coming out

of the oven.

Departing Challenge

There are so many other thoughts and stories I could

share with you but I will wait to do so in future

writings. As you have followed me down some early

memories of my life, it is my hope that you have been

stimulated to capture and make note of some of your

own reflections of the past. I encourage you to write

them down and then determine a format in which you

wish to memorialize to your family and friends. You

will be glad you did! I know your loved ones will

appreciate it beyond what any words can express.

We all have a legacy to leave…We all have a choice

as to how we will be remembered!

How  do   you   choose  

to  be

remembered?

Losing weight made easy-REPLAY of video I did after only 2 weeks.wmv

REFLECTIONS- "Growing up in the50's"- Chapter 16- Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

Nostalgia Tidbit : Going to the movies for the first time ever was  an amazing experience. It is something I will never forget. This time period was before anyone I knew had ever seen or even heard of a TV. The Big Screen became a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Chapter 16

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

In the early 50s, the downtown movie theater in

Auburndale was the only entertainment hotspot

around. The indoor theatre was called “The Auburn

Theatre” and the drive in theatre in town was  called

the “

Dale Drive

In”.     Get it? The Auburn and the Dale

were appropriate for a town called Auburndale. At the

time I thought that was really creative!

The first time I went to the movies, I can remember

being frightened to death once I saw the moving

picture on that big screen. I know it was a western

and a lot of loud shooting going on. I don’t recall the

name of the movie. 

All I know is I had my eyes closed and fingers

in my ears the whole time.

Keep in mind, seeing a moving picture for the first

time ever was a major experience. At that point, I had

never seen or even heard of a TV. Books and radio had

been it.

Finally, I adapted to the wonderful experience of

watching movies. Saturday afternoon’s became one of

the great highlights for the entire gang.

It was about a two mile walk to the downtown theatre

and we did it many times on Saturday afternoons over

the next several years. The cost of admission was 15

cents. 

You could sell three cola bottles and you had your

ticket to the movies.

Popcorn and candy were reasonable as well.

An afternoon at the movies always included a double

feature, a cartoon, and lots of previews. There may

have been some advertisement but I don’t remember

any. This was a super bargain for 15 cents.  You could

even stay and watch the re-runs as many times as you

wanted. We did many times!

Movies of that era were primarily westerns. I can

remember watching numerous horror films too. I came

a long way in a short time…from closing my eyes and

holding fingers in my ears to becoming a big horror

film lover. Two movies you may have never heard of

stand out in my mind…”The Creature from the Black

Lagoon”  and “The Hitchhicker.”

Nowadays, when we see the re-runs of a lot of the old

movies from that era, even the serious ones seem

almost like a comedy. Still, at the time it was great

entertainment for all of us who spent “Saturday

Afternoon at the Movies”.

REFLECTIONS- "Growing up in the 50's" Chapter 15- A Second Language

Nostalgia Tidbit : In Central Florida in the 50’s, we never heard anything about how important it was to learn a second language. Today, we all know how valuable it is in Florida as well as many areas of our country to understand Spanish. Our Hispanic population growth is tremendous and will continue at a steady pace. Back then, those of us who had learned another language thought we had “one up” on everybody else.

Chapter 15

A Second Language

(ig-pay   atin-lay)

To feel the need to learn a second language was not

even on my radar until some friends shared some

insight in to  a secretive way of verbally

communicating with each other so our parents and

strangers would have no idea what we were saying. It

was a language that even the name of it would make us

laugh.  “Pig Latin” was the new found method of

communication. Just in case you don’t know how Pig

Latin works, here you go.

The usual rules for changing English into Pig Latin are:

1.                        If a word begins with consonant sounds, move all the first consonant sounds to the end of the word and add “ay”. As follows:

bat     >  at-bay

door  >  oor-day

John  >  ohn-jay

2. For words that begin with vowel sounds (including silent consonants) you add the syllable “ay” to the end word. as follows:

I        >  I-ay

equal > equal-ay

honest> honest-ay (because the h is silent).

Anyway, you get the idea. We had our own second

language and probably felt it had been invented within

our own little group of friends. It was most fun to use

around the adults because we felt there was no way

they could ever know what we were saying. 

One day, a good buddy  and I were at the corner store 

and we went into our “second language” mode just to

test it out. “red-Fay    is-ay    uper-say  tupid-say 

which translates in to a not very nice “Fred is super

stupid.”

Fred looked at us with a sign of shock on his face. We

 laughed because we knew we had done it on our first

try…puzzled an adult with our second language.

After a moment, Fred replied. “ ou-yay    are-ya   ot-

nay  ooling-fay  e-may  which means (You are not

fooling me.)

We had to think about what he said for a moment to

decipher what he had actually said. 

At this point we had spent so much time learning to

speak Pig Latin that we had not perfected listening and

understanding…BUT…we got it! He was on to us!

Apparently this new second language of ours was more

widespread that we had known. After that lesson, we

tried to stay away from saying anything negative but

did enjoy being able to speak a language that most

others, especially adults, did not understand.

Even to this day “Pig Latin” works very well if you are

in a foreign country and need to stay away from

English. You will confuse the heck out of any rude

foreigners who know how to speak English. Try it!

 Also, if you are ever asked on a job application if you

speak a second language”? You can check “yes”! Ig-

pay   atin-lay.

I double dog dare you! You won’t get the job, but what

an interesting reaction you will receive!                                

 UST-JAY  OKING-JAY !

Did you get it?

Just a funny side note: While writing this story my PC “spell check” went crazy…..maybe one day even our computers will recognize Pig Latin!