Stories & Blogs

Roy’s Sunday Letter, June 12, 2022

* First encouraging and celebrative news: Diebeda Francis Kere  has been awarded the Pritzker Prize as Architect of the Year for 2022 Born in an African village  with no school, Kere’s determined way carried him through education to become an Architect His education and public place design are astounding, pleasing, functional, and magical. Find him…

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Why Do I Write?

As a writer of elder age, I am asked why I write stories. My desire is to Engage, I am Interested in how we/I meet and work through life’s challenges. I write from life events I have witnessed or from my “what if” idea bag. What if a shopping center Santa Claus, due to alcohol, was not allowed to…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter, June 5, 2022

* Beth has taught art to African American elders at Como Community Center for 9 months, volunteering each Wednesday. On Saturday, the Center hosted an all Art Day. Various artists, vendors, and classes were held. The elders had their own Art Show displaying their own art. Each elder was proud of their progress, working in…

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Roy The Elder

Perhaps we all have that one morning or afternoon that has remained with us over decades,  still guiding us even today. Mine was the spring of 1970, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Dr. Sam Samford had finished his class notes when he looked down, was silent. Quietly, in the way of older Southern men, said,…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 31, 2026

Meeting Beth & Turning Calendar to 82 Remembering the last Sunday in May, 1977. My life was blessed by meeting Beth at St. Francis Presbyterian, a Ft. Worth house church. Our life together began that Sunday and has continued for 49 years, through 4 cities, 5 dogs, and 5 homes. From our commitment to learn…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 24, 2026

The Songs & Artists of Youth & Senior Years Music, both the sounds and the lyrics, were woven into my youth, working years, and now elder years. Today’s Sunday’s writing will present five of my forever songs. Most Sunday Letter readers were too young, or not even born, in 1966 when Joan Baez came out…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 17, 2026

Creating and Sustaining Community This week’s Sunday Letter has been inspired by Beth’s Delta Zeta Sorority’s magazine “The Lamp.” The current issue focuses on creating and sustaining sisterhood communities. Some readers of the Sunday Letter may participate in a local church, civic, or neighborhood association. Other readers may yet to have that experience or opportunity….

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 10, 2026

MOTHER’S DAY 2026 Writing about mother’s is an opportunity as well as a challenge… Readers of the Sunday Letter may have experienced birth mothers, stepmothers, mothers-in-law or other family members who provided the role of mothers as best possible. Through our service at the Hope & Healing Place in Amarillo, we also know of mothers’…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 3, 2026

All About Goodness First Goodness: I had been dreading the clinic appointment with the Cardiologist. I had completed 3 recent heart tests and would hear test results and recommended next treatment…perhaps a Pacemaker or new medication. Instead, our MD explained my heart had a minor flow issue but were not health threatening. “See you in…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 26, 2026

About HOPE….How To Keep….Offer HOPE To Others Lately, as I have talked and listened to friends and family, I heard and felt their general despair. This despair seems to be from reports on the news, decisions being made by the unqualified, random acts of violence and harm to the innocent. I also heard and felt…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 19, 2026

Benefits of Letting the Old Man or Woman In Toby Keith wrote and recorded Don’t Let the Old Man In during his last months of treatment and eventual death from stomach cancer. There is a popular site offering T-shirts, hats, and bags with this message. I understand the resistance and push back of letting the…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 12, 2026

Paying Attention And Accepting My Limitations Beth, Peter, and I gather twice monthly to share writings and journals. We three also share of our individual lives. Beth and Peter encouraged me to allow a recent individual writing as the content of a Sunday Letter and thus I have done so this week. This Sunday Letter…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 5, 2026

This Easter weekend Beth & I walked our neighborhood block of 16 homes. Beth had prepared a gift bag for each neighbor with Zucchini bread, a card with her original art on the front and contact information. Both Jesus and Mr. Rogers spoke about neighbors. By knocking on 16 doors, we extended the hand of…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 29, 2026

Neighbors and Neighborhoods 2026 I am writing this week about the ways both neighbors and neighborhoods have changed, never to return to the days of images and memories of our experiences often reflected in a TV series or movie. Beth and I live on a traditional block of 16 homes. In my youth I grew-up…

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