I am woman - and I can vote

From the AP Highlight in History: 

1587	Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, N.C.

On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees the right of women to vote, was ratified when Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

Imagine, only 424 years from the birth of the first daughter born to English parents on American soil to the day American women gained the right to vote. What an ultimate tribute to Virginia Dare!

In 1920, both of my grandmothers were coming of age and could take advantage of this great event in their lives. 

Here’s to Abigail Adams, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and everyone else who fought to recognize women as equal citizens. May we never take for granted what they gained for us and exercise our right to vote. 

This isn’t the best recording of Helen Ready signing “I AM WOMAN”, but it has the most acceptable comments. This song got a lot of us through the 70’s. 

A Tribute to Elvis

AP Highlight in History: On Aug. 16, 1977, singer Elvis Presley died at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn., at age 42.

34 years ago ’the King’ died. Although I wasn’t a diehard Elvis fan, I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the day he died. His death made you re-think all the things in your life. Were they actions which added value to your life or were they decreasing the number of your days. 

Who could not like Elvis? Who hasn’t enjoyed an Elvis imitator?  Love Me Tender is still one of my all time favorite songs. We didn’t have time to really know him, did we? Some of his best work though was singing gospels. It is worth checking out on YouTube. 

In honor of today, I’m including a link to Take my hand, Precious Lord. It includes video of his funeral procession. 

In 1970, I was on a summer bus trip with 30 or so older teen age girls and chaperons. We had to come through Memphis to come home to Texas. We made a side trip to drive by Graceland. All we could do was stop and take photos of the wrought iron rockin’ rollin’ gates. 

When I think of Elvis, Graceland is never far behind. It is funny though, when I move to Graceland it is the Paul Simon song that comes to mind. This link is Willie Nelson and Paul Simon.

Or one of my favorite X-File episodes when Mulder had to take a vacation and went to Graceland. 

Loaded for bear - 8-1-1966 The Tower - Whitman

8-1-1966 Charles Joseph Whitman shot and killed 14 people at the University of Texas before he was gunned down by police.

It was a blazing hot day in 1966. I remember sitting in our family room watching this event unfold on television. A drama playing out without any meaning, which turned out to be the first of many in my life. 

I was just days away from beginning my freshman year in high school and college seemed light years away. While I had no plans to go to Texas, at that time, I still felt like we had lost something, something precious. May those were feelings that all true Texans had that day. 

Four years later, I was a freshman in Austin and the Tower was the center of our universe. On any quiet afternoon, crossing the South Mall, for a second, you could feel the rifle scope aimed at your back.  
Listen to a report of the weapons he had with him. 

Where I belong...

The goal is not to bend or change ourselves so we fit the norm; the goal is to find the group in which we are the norm.  SImon Sinek

More than a decade ago, I took a huge risk and attended my first writer’s conference. American Christian Writers held their Dallas conference in conjunction with one of the retail book shows. There was a great line up of speakers: Lin Johnson, Steve Laube, Susan Osborn Titus and Marita Littauer. 

I soaked in every word. I listened to how they spoke. I watched how they moved. At breaks, I approached them with questions. I engaged with enthusiasm. I learned I had too much respect for the craft of writing to be able to do it part-time, so my writing career would have to wait until retirement. 

At the banquet, I sat at Marita’s table. While I enjoyed the conversation, to my surprise, I found myself to be a major contributor. Among these writers, I easily slipped into my true personality. I felt at home. Attending the CLASSeminar one day was my  number one take away from the conference. 

Last week, I fulfilled this long held ambition and attended the CLASSeminar in San Antonio. It was everything I had anticipated: the facilitators, the material, the lectures and the small group experiences.

More importantly it is a community to which I belong, and now as a CLASS alumni it is official.