My Portfolio

Since Tom Cormier’s son Tyler wrote a story about his experience with his dirt bike and his cars I will write one about my deceased son’s car. Since he is not around to do it for himself. It’s just too good of a story not to pass along. Charlie as we...

When I was in high school in Pauls Valley ,Oklahoma the main thing we did during the summer months was go camping at Lake Murray near Ardmore Oklahoma. This is about 50 miles from the Texas state line . It never gets cold until late December that far south . This...

September 11 2001 was just like all of the other days that had came before . I got up , made the coffee , got my lunch and my wife’s lunch together getting ready for another day at work . My wife always turned the TV on to listen to the...

But I was not surprised.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Last week’s story prompt was something along the lines of “What proud accomplishment did you share together with a friend, colleague or family member.” I had to think a long time about that question, but finally I figured out the answer. It’s been...

Where were you when the terrorists attacked on 9-11 and how did you learn about it? It's the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States. Your feelings and personal perspective will be important to future generations. Politics aside, it's more about how you and your family were affected...

Willemke de Jong, the subject of this sketch, was born Willemke Steenblok to Tallegien (Talligje) Steenblok on November 21, 1844 in Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.   She was Tallegien's second daughter, according to records found in Groningen. Willemke Steenblok de Jong, about 1927 Willemke must have had a very hard life.  Her...

World Rally Championships, Rally Cross, or just Rally Racing in general just oozes skill and determination when you start talking about motorsports.  At 12 years old I was introduced, unofficially, into this world of on the edge of your seat racing.  Now some people might think that's pretty impressive to be...

Antoon Thiessens, ca 1927 (age 79 years) Antoon Thiessens, the subject of this sketch, was born January 28, 1848 the fourth child by the second marriage of Hendrik Thiessen or Thiessens.  Hendrik was a tailor by trade.  His mother was Grietje Bulthuis, and he was born in the norther Dutch city...

    My grandfather Loy was born September 16, 1884, the same year as future President Harry S. Truman and "modern" Italian artist Modigliani came along. It was the year Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn, a well-loved and hilarious American classic now under fire due to our national romance with the...

I grew up in rural Belleville in St. Clair County Illinois in an area known as Dutch Hollow.  The kids were relatively safe and could go anywhere in the area and they knew if they misbehaved it would be dealt with then and there.  We had a neighborhood tavern where the...

When I was small I would go outside and play like any other kid so mom would tell me don’t go out of the yard.  Now you have to understand that I lived on a little hill and there was a field that my dad would put a garden in and...

Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE   Often I have been asked about which person in my life, now dead, would I like to spend an extra 24 hours with, and my answer is always the same – my Dad, Ken Wallace. I have always been told that I...

Many summers while I was growing up, we took a summer vacation to the Adirondack mountains in New York to visit my grandparents (Grandpa and Grandma Reed).  One of my favorite places to visit was Bald Mountain.  It was always a great outing.  The first part of the trail was mostly...

My mother was the tenth child and she too young to argue about her name that she grew up hating all of her life . When she introduced herself at school functions she used her middle name Ruth and all of the family used her nickname “ Sis “. It was...

Millard “ Don “ Carriker and I are first cousins . He is also a member of Legacy Stories . Matter of fact he is the one that told me about this program . To my memory we have never met in person but a few years ago we met on...

In July 1903 my Grandpa Spratt had finished his homestead time on 40 acres of land just south of Ft Smith Arkansas. By November 1907 Oklahoma was a new state and had new opportunities. My Grandpa was just an old poor farmer looking for a better life for his family of...

The most important and most challenging job that I have attacked was bringing two families together in peace with my wife. I started in April 1988. My wife’s daughter was a strong spirited seven years old that her father had died with a heart attack suddenly three and half years prior...

All of my life my mother hasn’t liked her mother in law . My Mom and Dad got married and lived with my Dad’s folks for awhile after they were married . My Grandmother ( Her mother in law ) said something that didn’t set well with my mother and my...

It was going to be a full day of nothing but fun for my older brother and I. My brother was four years and four months older than me so he got to help keep me entertained ( out of trouble). We left early in the morning for the forty mile...