It's True.......You Can't

There's an old saying....."you can't go home, again".........and maybe if you can, you shouldn't.

A friend and I decided to make a trip, while in Des Moines, down SW 9th Street. For approximately 13 years, I had worked in an office at the end of a small strip mall on that street. The man, for whom I worked, owned a chain of McDonald's Restaurants and a chain of Camelot Dry Cleaners.

We drove from Fleur Drive across Bell over to SW 9th. Nothing looked the same - everything had changed. Of course, I had to take into consideration that it had been well over 30 years!

I suddenly realized that we were passing what looked like the small strip center, so we turned around and went back. Mike pulled the car into the parking lot, and I decided to get out and go into what was once the old Vegas Corp. offices. It was now an eVape shop.

Once inside, I explained (to the very unconcerned young man behind the counter) why I was there. I asked if I could look around.....but it had changed so much.....I recognized nothing.

Have you ever wished you'd just left your memories alone?  

Here I was.....a grown woman who was revisiting memories of 30+ years......and in an eVape shop I felt the tears building in my eyes. What, in the world, would Arch Madden think? He didn't smoke. Would he approve of this?

As I walked outside, I realized that the fish pond that had been outside the office had been replaced with rocks, and the

beautiful rock wall was now just stucco. 

All those memories of years gone by had flooded my mind. 

How could things have changed so much? Why had things changed so much? Where had all the years gone? Where had all the people gone?


The office wasn't the same. The McDonald's Restaurant was gone....there wasn't even one, anywhere, on SW 9th! The lot, where the McDonald's had been was empty except for a storage building.

The strip mall wasn't the same.........everything had changed.....except what had existed in the "Memory Book in my Mind."

When someone says "you can't go home, again".....it's true. And even if you can.......you probably shouldn't!!

Do You Ever Wonder........

I'm not quite sure where the name "Sluggy" came from, but my two Texas granddaughters gave Douglas Bynum that name when they were younger.  And, it stuck. 

Strangely enough, they called Hilda Grace "Mary" (that was her mother's name - but Miss Mary died before they were even a gleam in their mother's eye.)

On Saturday, granddaughter Sydney and I went to Meridian, to the hospital, to visit Sluggy. Neither of us was prepared for what we saw. 

He wasn't the Sluggy that Sydney remembered - nor was he the Doug that I remembered. We both knew that he was in the end of life stages - or as a cousin says he was about to finish his journey.

He didn't know we were there. The visit was more for us and for "Mary" than for Sluggy. It brought back memories of the final days of Sydney's "Papaw."  

Late last night, we received the text message that the time was getting close - and then, the final "he's gone" message came.

With the message came a sense of peace because he was no longer in pain and suffering, but it brought sadness to this house where Sluggy and Mary had celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary just three years, earlier.

My mind wandered to times gone by. Doug and Bob would often collaborate in the shop. Bob would loan patterns to Doug and they would plane boards for things that were being built. When we built our house, Doug made the screens for the sun porch. 

Doug loved jokes - and he would often tell them over and over. He liked to talk about his time in Korea during the Korean War, and if he started the "telling"....you were held hostage until he finished his story.

I began to wonder,  what really goes on in Heaven?  Are there Golf Courses? Are there Woodworking Shops? Do old friends get together? Do they really look down on us and protect us? 

I'm going to remember the Doug that I knew and not the one that I saw, on Saturday. As granddaughter Sydney said, "I want to remember the Sluggy that walked up to Papaw's shop - that's the one I want to remember."

RIP, Doug....and if there's a Woodworking Shop in Heaven...I know that you are already there.

Do you ever wonder???

Prayers for Jerry Shepherd .......

I've been a little "under the weather" lately, so blogging has been slow (well, non-existent.)

In my previous blog, I discussed the upcoming (next month) "Author Extravaganza" at Main Street Books in Hattiesburg, MS. Main Street is owned by Jerry and Dianne Shepherd who are also very involved in community life.

After retiring from the Petal School System as a Principal, Jerry and Dianne, who had retired from USM, opened Main Street Books in 2002. They are tireless promoters of local authors.

Last week, on October 31st while I was having a Heart Cath in the Laurel, MS hospital, Jerry Shepherd was undergoing surgery, in Hattiesburg's FGH, for a Brain Tumor that had been discovered, just days before.

My diagnosis was better than Jerry's. The Brain Tumor is a Glioblastoma - which is a very aggressive type of brain cancer.

This sweet man, and his family is desperately in need of prayers.

Our family has had two occurrences with this type of cancer. It's unforgiving, relentless, and severe.

Prayers for you, Jerry Shepherd....and for your family.
#Glioblastoma  #JerryShepherd  #MainStreetBooks #PetalSchoolSystem

It's A "Big Event!"

Behind the doors of Main Street Books,     

in downtown Hattiesburg, are shelves and tables filled with books of every genre.

This unique, independently owned bookstore is one of the few jewels remaining where Indie authors (those who are self-published), local authors, "newbie" authors, Mississippi authors both known and unknown can display and sell their books.

Many well-known authors (James Patterson, John Grisham, Eudora Welty, etc.) can be found among their stacks - but the display of books written by lesser known Mississippi authors is plentiful and varied.

Book signings are held often, and every year since December 2003 an "Author Extravaganza" is held where recently published books are available. Tables are set up where authors can sit and sign books, answer questions about the background of the story and/or the author, as attendees also browse among the store's many offerings.

I am so very pleased to be invited to participate in this 15th year, on December 3, 2018!!

It's a BIG EVENT!!!
#MainStreetBooks  #AuthorExtravaganzaHattiesburgMS #JerryandDianeShepherd #IndieAuthor

'TALES' is on sale in Hattiesburg!!

'Tales from the Porch' is now available at Main

Street Books in historic downtown Hattiesburg, MS.!!

Jerry Shepherd, and his wife Diane, opened Main Street Books in November, 2002 after retiring. Jerry was a Principal in the Petal Middle School, and Diane had a career at USM in Student Employment. How fitting that their decision to open Main Street Books is a continuing education, of sorts.

This afternoon, between doctor's appointments, I enjoyed hearing from Jerry the story of how Main Street Books came to be. Diane was busy teaching a Pottery Class in an adjoining room.

When I opened the door to the old building, near the railroad tracks, I felt "at home." The beadboard, which had once served as a drop ceiling - but was "relieved" by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - now covered a back wall. Looking up, I could see through the rafters to the roof. I was in a cozy nook of books!

There were books, books, everywhere.....on shelves and neatly arranged on tables for easy shopping and in piles....in the back of the store..........where an older man (who Jerry said comes in "almost daily") was enjoying himself as he picked up and leafed through book after book.

In the front of the store, chairs had been arranged for a 5 p.m. Book Signing. I had mentioned that I was a "self-published" author, and Jerry took me from book to book noting others who had self-published. It's pretty common these days - and there are several publishing companies from which to choose.

Main Street Books will hold their 16th Annual Author Extravaganza on Monday, December 3rd. If I'm lucky, I'll be chosen to participate.

I'm just happy - fortunate - to have my 'Tales from the Porch' on a shelf (or table) of Main Street Books.

If you're a book lover - this place is definitely worth a visit. Don't go on Monday.....that's their day off!!

Any day spent with a book is a great day - and today was even better than that!

Thanks, Jerry and Diane Shepherd and Main Street Books!!
#mainstreetbooks #dianeshepherd #talesfromtheporch #authorextravaganza

I've Loved Them All.......

When I think back over my life, and remember all the houses - both of my youth and then of my later life - I have come to realize that I've loved them all.

No, I haven't been "in love" with all of them .......but I've loved them.
Some were more special to me than others. Just like porches - houses are important to me. The memories that are attached to these houses are a part of life and a part of the people that have been a part of my life.

The little green five room house on Red Gum Plantation, just outside the little town of Louise, MS, was an important part of the life of both my little brother and me.  Louise was where he started school, and I finished school. The house no longer stands, but the beautiful memories remain. The screened porch, with the swing, where I spent many hours reading - sat in the middle of a cotton field. We were poor......but my brother and I never knew that because our parents provided whatever we needed.

I still remember, fondly, the first house my honey and I owned in Greenville, MS. It was the house where we lived when our first child was born, and it was the house where she learned to walk.

There was the old two-story house in which we lived, in Iowa, where our youngest daughter was born. And where I fell down a flight of stairs, while holding her.....but she never touched the floor! (And I had a C/S when she was born....Ouch!) And then, there was the house near Winterset, Iowa ('Bridges of Madison County') that my honey remodeled - and it was our last Iowa house.

There was the house, in Arlington, TX on Juniper Lane in which we lived when our youngest daughter finished high school and where we lived when our first grandchild was born.

There was the house in Georgia and there was the house in Florida.....so many houses.....so many memories.

Through the years (and as I write that phrase....the song comes to mind), there has been one important house in my life. The little house (the walls were like those of a balloon - they expanded as the house filled, with people) on Fellowship Road .......just outside Taylorsville, MS.

It was the house that was built in 1932. It's the house in which my grandparents first lived and then the house in which my parents lived. It sits just across the driveway from my house.......the second most important house, in my life.

Over this weekend, we've spent hours cleaning out the old house......it has been used as storage, for years. Hard working men have stripped the old house of anything that might be "usable."  I've found things that were "missing"......and I've found things that I didn't even remember!

Tomorrow, this piece of my history.....and a piece of the history of Fellowship Road will be buried.

I have sat, on my front porch, and imagined Granny rushing out the door.....wiping her hands on her apron. I've imagined Mama.....standing, with tears in her eyes, as we drove away. I've imagined Thanksgivings and Christmases and Easter.....and I've tried to store, in the Memory Book in my Mind.....a permanent picture of that old house........that I can recall .......after tomorrow.

Yes, I've loved them all....but I've probably loved this one the longest because it's always been a part of my life.

Yes, I'm sentimental.....but tomorrow, I'll be strong!!

What is the Storyline?

I have been working on the Family Tree for my "significant other's" paternal side of the family.

Other than writing; cemeteries and genealogy are another of my passions.....I actually call them addictions. I can wander through an old cemetery regardless if any of my own family is buried there.

Old cemeteries are peaceful. There are often interesting, informative tombstones - and there's certainly no chance of any long-winded conversations, if one is alone!

Through hours of digging, I had learned that many of my friend's father's mother's family were buried in a cemetery not too far from where he now lives. Yesterday, on our way back to his home from a "weekend getaway," I suggested that we go by the old cemetery and try to find some of the tombstones.

(We found the huge cemetery, but need more information to find the stones.)

We ended up stopping at McDonald's for a "healthy" lunch of a chicken sandwich and a chocolate shake. Outside, in the hot sun, sat a woman looking pretty disheveled.

After we got inside and began to eat, she came in and sat across from us. Her face was red from the sun and the heat, and I felt guilty as we ate and she seemed to watch. She had nothing, in her hands, but a small phone - no purse or wallet.

We debated about whether or not to offer her some food and decided to talk to the McDonald's Manager. We were assured that she had bought herself a drink, so we figured she had money had she wanted to eat.

As we got ready to leave, my friend stopped and spoke to her and asked her how she was doing and her reply was, "not too good."

He continued the conversation by asking her what was wrong. She told him she was stranded in this small town and needed to get back to Des Moines - approximately 80 miles away - and had no way to get there.

I walked up, and he looked at me and said, "she needs to get to Des Moines."  My response was, "too bad we just came from there."  His next question was, "should we take her?"

I was surprised by this, because I'm the one who usually does these type of things that one should not do, in this day and age!  And, I get fussed at!

Now, we were going to drive back - the same 80 some odd miles we had just driven - and take this unknown (strange looking) woman to Des Moines.

My response was, "whatever you think."

By now, several other people in the restaurant had begun to look and listen - and after we had her in the car - they came to my friend and asked, "Are you sure this is a smart thing to do?"

He said, "She needs help."

As we made the trip, back toward Des Moines, we learned (quickly) that she was a 'Special Needs person' who had really been "taken in" by someone.

A man had paid a taxi over $100 to bring her to his small town the night before. Apparently, she wasn't what he had hoped for, and he stranded her. She had lost her medications, she had no money and she couldn't get back home.

She didn't ask us for any money - she asked for nothing - and she was very appreciative that we were willing to take her home. The house where she lived, with a caregiver, was well-kept and in a nice area. She thanked us and jumped out of the car and ran toward her house.

Last night, during my "wakeful" periods, she took up space in my mind.
I am a firm believer that "God works in mysterious ways," and this had certainly been one of those days and one of those ways.

We often have no idea what the storyline may be, in the lives of others.

History Lesson While You Read

Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek was the brainchild of Mary Cooke....my friend who writes as Mary Lou Cheatham. I think Mary Lou must, like many other successful writers, have dozens of ideas just churning in her head. She has such an imagination!

While I, on the other hand, really have to write non-fiction. It has to be something I've seen or something that has happened to me. Sometimes, it's funny - sometimes it's sad. I have that kind of imagination, but I can't imagine something that hasn't happened! I'm just not a fiction writer. Everybody can't be!

I had written lots of things - articles - for the local newspaper, for my blog and for the Writer's Group to which I belong. But.....I had never written a book. I always WANTED to write a book, and had actually started one, years before - but never got around to finishing it.

Mary Lou had read some of the things I'd written. She seemed to appreciate the way I was able to describe scenes - that would make one tend to feel they were actually there, or seeing what I was describing.

She asked if I would like to coauthor 'Travelers' with her and my writing career was born.

I have since written my second (I'll tell you about it on another day), but Mary Lou and Travelers were my inspiration.

You can download it to your Kindle, order the Paperback if you're one of those that likes to "hold a book in your hands," or you can listen to it. Jamie Hockenberg recorded it, on Audible, for us.

Lots of research went into gypsies and gypsy life - so you'll get a history lesson while you listen or read.

It Wasn't Easy......

"What wasn't easy?" you ask.......

"Writing that first book," I respond.....

I am one of those folks who probably has "Adult onset ADD"........in other words, I just can't seem to remain focused. I begin researching something online, and I will see something interesting that leads me in another direction. Before I know it, the ADD has kicked in and I don't even remember what it was I was supposed to be doing.

However, my first book was the inspiration and suggestion and at the invitation of Mary Cooke, to write with her.  Mary writes as Mary Lou Cheatham and has written 14 books. Many of her books are in the Covington Chronicles series, and she also has a Cookbook in her list of books.

Mary Lou had read some of the articles in my 'From the Front Porch' blog as well as some of my "outbursts" on my personal Facebook page. What Mary Lou didn't know (until I told her) was that her mother, Myrtle, had assisted the doctor as the Midwife, when I was born!

Mary Lou has such a great imagination (one of the facets of which I'm lacking.) She had decided to write a book about Gypsies who moved into the area where I now live. 'Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek' was born in Mary Lou's head and it grew between us.

It isn't always easy writing what someone else imagines. My experience with Mary Lou made me realize what a tough job the Ghostwriters who write with and for James Patterson must have. Does he have the idea.....they do the research.....and write the the story, or does he have the idea, they do the research, and he tells them what the story should be?

Often, Mary Lou would suggest what she wanted - I would research - write my thoughts, and she would either rewrite what I had written or incorporate it into what she was writing.

Of course, it also didn't help that my urge to write might not coincide with Mary Lou's. Nor did I realize, until I wrote my own book, all the hard work she had to put into "our" book.

I had no idea how much work she was having to do to get the manuscript formatted correctly. Thankfully, her husband John was the "Master Mind" of the cover and created that, for us. When Mary Lou would tell me how much time she was spending, on the book, making corrections I didn't understand - until I wrote my own. Then I really knew, it wasn't easy!

Mary Lou had asked me to write the book with her but she carried the load. It wasn't easy.  She was my inspiration to get started. She was my Mentor. She took a chance on me ........it wasn't easy.

What this blog is about.......

"Should I have a website/blog that is dedicated solely to me.....as an Author?" I asked?  

I already have a personal Facebook page, and my friend Mary Cooke (who writes as Mary Lou Cheatham) and I have a Facebook page titled 'Okohay Books,' and I have a blog 'From the Front Porch,' and when my honey had Multiple Myeloma, I had a blog for that, and when we went to Europe, I had a blog for that! And I belong to a group, on Facebook, called DAWPA.....it's for Amateur Writers, Photographers and Artists who have a connection to the Mississippi Delta. That seemed like enough to try to manage. If I created a website/blog, just for Sarah Walker Gorrell, Author....how would I ever have time to write - which is what this is all about!

But, they said....."Of course you need a website/blog which is dedicated to you, as an Author." 

And so, I decided (in my head)....."Okay, if I'm going to join these groups and ask for their advice, then I need to follow what they say."

And the fun began.

First, I searched for the perfect "Stock Free" photo. (Means you don't have to pay for it!)

And I found it.....absolutely the photo that I needed.

It just needed "cropping" a little bit......putting the name of my blog on it..and I was in business. 

This blog will, not only, tell you about what I'm doing - in the writing world - it may also offer advice, suggestions, etc. I also love sharing information and good news about others, so don't be surprised if everything you read isn't just about me!

I also love comments....so feel free to leave one!  Share what's going on in your (as we say down south) "Neck of the woods."