Good morning my friends. Wow, what a day we had yesterday!! I have been tired lots of times in my life, but I had not experienced a seventy-year-old-tired before. Don’t get me wrong my friends, it was a good-tired, one that was filled to the brim with precious memories of the friendship expressed by literally hundreds of friends who came by in person to give me a memorable hug. Words can never express my gratitude to you all for making my day so special. And I could never begin to thank Vickie enough for putting on such a festive celebration and making the pictures of me hugging up on all the pretty women…I guess she figures now that I am too old to do too much and thinks I am probably completely harmless now that I’m seventy. I’ll tell you what though; I felt a whole lot younger after getting all those hugs and kisses. Maybe the secret of not growing old is surrounding myself with young people. Actually, I’m just one day older than I was the day before and we all are aging at the same rate, so I don’t feel too awfully bad about being seventy. If everything goes well, you folks will probably be seventy someday yourself, I just got here a little sooner and I’ll tell you right now, it ain’t too bad! Seventy is definitely not as old as I used to think it was. I want to thank Michele Bolling, too, for working so hard running to and fro, (maybe someday before I die, somebody will tell me where fro actually is,) and for keeping plenty of the food out, waiting on customers, wrapping packages, and helping Vickie get things ready and cleaning up afterwards. I know she and Vickie are tired up until at least Friday. Thanks again ladies for everything!! And a special thanks to Kirk Ballard and the staff of the Mooresville/South Iredell Chamber of Commerce for coming up with the idea of getting the community involved. I think after Vickie heard that the Chamber was coming, she got all fired up and really put on the dog. My darling wife is the consummate planner and really enjoys hosting these special occasions. Our Chamber has a way of making their members feel really special and their presence yesterday was certainly appreciated and proved that we have a caring group of people working diligently on its member’s behalf on a daily basis. Thanks to you all for your support throughout the year, and not just yesterday. My day would not have been complete without my friend and companion, Stephen Brooks, (aka, Butch), for playing his guitar and singing and making his bud, old Sundance a happy boy. I can hardly wait until Friday when he and his lovely wife, Teena, come over to watch the segment of North Carolina Now which will air on Friday evening at 7:30 on PBS…Stephen and I sing my favorite song about friends that Stephen wrote himself. Actually, Butch does the major singing and I just kind of tag along with him. Love you my friend!! Thanks to all my friends on facebook who sent cards and birthday wishes yesterday and the day before. I am so sorry I cannot respond to everyone of them individually, but there were literally hundreds of them and I am still overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. There were times yesterday, especially when Stephen started doing his little surprise tribute and led the crowd in singing Happy Birthday, that I was moved to tears. I will never forget yesterday or the heartfelt love shown by you all and from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!! And if there are some of you ladies who still care to drop by anytime within the next year to wish me a happy Birthday, I will still accept hugs with gratitude. God Bless!!
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 08:48:12 +0000