By LAMAR THAMES

Tuesday, May 5, is my birthday, and while that doesn’t have anything directly to do with this story, I mention it as a way of telling you that the month leading up to the 65th celebration of my birth has been enormously satisfying — and possibly even life-changing. More about that later. Right now, let’s talk about the satisfying parts. In the past month, I:

• Visited an elderly aunt and took her out to lunch on her birthday
• Visited a bed-riddden cousin in a nursing home
• Spent three days at Easter with all six grandchildren and took them to church Easter Sunday
• Spent a few days with my sister and favorite uncle in the Tampa area
• Attended my eldest son Robert’s acting performance in the play Holy Ghost
• Took two of my grandsons to play golf
• Played golf with a Rotary friend
• Attended a most satisfying elementary school musical with my wife and three of our six grandchildren
• Finished it off by listening to another son, Joe, sing at a charity concert a song he wrote honoring my father and I. 

Of course, most of these activities, except the golf, were shared with my companion and love of my life, my wife, Barbara. So truly, I have been blessed with an exceptional month. Read the rest of this entry »