Stories & Blogs

Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 28, 2023

** Thursday marked 365 days since the gun deaths of 19 students & 2 faculty in Uvalde, south Texas. My Texas Legislature turned away from the pain, the challenge, of leadership, of courage, to take common ground steps to make schools safe. Dallas ISD has distributed “Stay Safe,” a Winnie-The-Pooh book teaching 5-year-olds to “run,…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 21, 2023

** A Santa Fe writer friend linked me to “836 Valencia.” This San Francisco nonprofit began the unique mission of teaching children and teens how to write their story. This program strives to improve reading and comprehension as an integral part of learning. The empowerment of writing is now in multiple sites in San Franciso…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 14, 2023

** Wendy’s is testing an “AI Chatbots” for drive-thru. The chatbot will be able take your order and answer questions. Wendy’s says Covid, economic changes, and staff shortages are the reasons. Wendy’s drive thru now provides 80% of all their food orders. Gear up people, the times are indeed changing. ** I use Mailer Lite…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for May 7, 2023

** Beth and I now have our 6th Covid vaccination. Our pharmacist hopes next year the Covid and flu shot will be combined, making protection easier for us and pharmacist as well. ** St. Andrews Episcopal in Amarillo (our home church) was vandalized Wednesday night. Broken people breaking sacred peace and damaging the interior. The…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 30,2023

** The New Testament (Matthew 6: 9 – 13) gives us the traditional Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily prayer.” I now know more of how we are all connected, the interdependence of climate, crops, support to both large and small, urban and rural communities. I suggest this updated wording; “Give to all…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 23, 2023

** We all know the value and contribution of “Assistance Dogs” that they provide to individuals with physical and emotional needs, disaster search/rescue, victims of crime and really anything they can do for their humans. Something new to me…one of the long-term care facilities here, in Fort Worth has an “Assistance Bunny.” Hallway to hallway,…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 16, 2023

** Anne Lamott writes in Traveling Mercies, “I was raised by parents to believe that you had a moral obligation to try to save the world.” The Sunday Question: What message, if any, did your parent/s give to you? If not parent/s, who taught you to believe, and what was it you were to believe,…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 9, 2023

** As part of morning errands, Beth wanted to bring home breakfast burritos. Both a local burrito place and McDonald’s told Beth, “Sorry, we are out of eggs.” This was a surprise and a bit hard to understand. ** How we communicate with our devices in 2023. To Phone: “Hey Siri.” In our car it…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for April 2, 2023

** My naive 1960’s hope was to change the world, make society better, healthier, safer for all both nationally and internationally. Thus, for elected members of Congress to say, “There is nothing we can do about children being murdered with assault weapons,” it is an individual and institutional sin. I say that because, I truly…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 26, 2023

** I was granted a Master of Theology in May of 1970. I was well prepared to interpret the historical and cultural context of the Bible and to encourage and support a faith experience. Missing in that training were best practices in growing healthy, healing, sustaining organizations, recruiting/training board members, personnel issues, reading financial statements…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 12, 2023

** I recently had the opportunity to talk with two nonprofit Exec. Directors, one in-person in Amarillo and one by cell in Santa Fe. We three are always interested in the best, most effective way to lead an agency or direct a program. Our question as we talked was about our leadership style when: 1)…

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ROY’S SUNDAY LETTER FOR FEBRUARY 5, 2023

It is now Saturday evening, and we are home from a week in Amarillo. Beth and I left FW on Monday morning 9:30 just before sleet and freezing rain shut down Dallas/Ft Worth and then moved down to Austin. We drove through sleet and frozen rain for 3.5 hours before clearer roads and weather on…

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Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 29, 2023

** Beth and I will be in Amarillo this week. Beth and Tricia (her LPC partner) began The Hope & Healing Place, A Grief & Loss Center for Children and Families. The HHP board and staff are recognizing 20 years of the HHP mission and services with grieving families. 20 years doesn’t seem possible…Hope &…

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The What, Why, And How Of Work, 2023

My grandfather’s faded red tractor of many a plowed field and harvested crop was his office. From here he watched rain clouds, dipped snuff, and conducted the daily business of a dry land east Texas farmer. Walls, glass, door or no door offices grew from the 1960’s onward. Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford showed us…

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Am I Old….Really?

We live on a block and in a neighborhood of younger individuals and families, different than our 78 and 73. We speak and wave in driveways or dog walking, as we come and go in our daily lives. I often want to ask one of the younger ones to join me on front porch or…

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Searching For Stability

Turning away from the upheaval of politics, market reports, wars and societal chaos, I thought Weather might be a safe place to find stability, maybe even a little consistency. Fort Worth was in the OK 90’s until early June. Then, we went from 95 to 113 and stayed until last weeks. No rain from June…

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A Blog For Tim

The decision to choose a partner is different than a consultant. I recently faced this challenge. I had published a book, a printed collection of 32 of my short stories. A writer’s web site was needed to promote the book and provide a platform for book sales. After several false starts I had the opportunity…

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I Am More Than A Memory

As an elder of years, and as an Executive Director type since 1970, I have more than a few wonderful memories. Two are special, forever memories. In 1995, as ED at Family Support Services in Amarillo, my revenue budget told me I needed a new fundraiser. About 6 of us gathered in the board room…

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Do You Buildup or Tear Down

When children play with wood or plastic blocks, one child may choose to use blocks to build a house, a street, or even a bridge. Another child may not like what the first child is building, showing the positive way blocks can be used, even in the play of as child The second child may…

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Stretching To Just Stay Up

As an elder of 78 stretching and learning WordPress, Mailerlite, is a challenge worth facing and finding my through. Writing the 32 stories in Let Me Tell You A Story, the easy part. Writing a blog and then posting on my WordPress web site the challenge. I was taught when young that “stretching” was good…

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