This has been a sad week. No one can escape the news from Blacksburg, VA; it’s everywhere. USA Today carries daily stories on the 32 students murdered on Monday. The stories will rip your heart out. Lynn had nightmares Monday night and awoke so distressed that she immediately contacted our only son left in college just to make sure he was all right. My heart goes out to every parent who lost a child in that tragedy, every one who lost a brother or sister, every grandparent and friend.
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I get most of my follow-up news about the Virginia Tech shootings from one of several stations on my truck’s XM radio. This week brought an unusual amount of newsworthy programming. I found myself switching among the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Virginia Tech, the Mary Winkler trial (a regional story that has attracted national attention), and of course Boston Red Sox baseball. And of course I have to find out how the Evil Empire (Yankees) is doing. Then, there’s all that music, old time radio, and the Dan Patrick (sports) Show. So much radio, so little time.
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If that’s not enough, I also have a cassette player in my truck through which I listen to tapes of old “Prairie Home Companion” programs. They were a gift from my oldest son and prompted me to think about the various and wonderful gifts that my sons have given me over the years. My youngest son knows my love for the Beatles, so I cherish and enjoy the Beatles number one hits and a huge coffee table anthology of the Fab Four he’s given me. He also gave me a CD of Elvis’s number one songs. I don’t lack for entertainment. In addition, I have hundreds and hundreds of workshops/seminars/lectureships recordings plus sermons and Bible classes on cassette. A few dozen of those are my own sermons and classes, but I dare not chance dozing off at the wheel so I’ll wait until I’m home before cranking those up.
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On the light side: At the huge Sears warehouse in Olive Branch, truck drivers must give their name and commercial driver’s license number before entering the facilities. I thought instead of taking my license into the guard shack each trip, I would simply memorize the nine digit number. This would have been no problem 20 or 30 years ago, but I found it more difficult than I thought. However, after a few weeks, I was able to commit the number to memory. After about a week I felt confident enough to leave my license in the truck and give them the number from heart, only to have them inform me that they no longer needed the number, only my name. Perhaps someone will come up to me one day and ask for my driver’s license number, and I’ll blow them away with my steel trap memory.
Wayne Holt said
Steve,
I, too have children who bought old Dad the coffee table Beatle book. Still the best music in rock history.
Wayne
antonio de. owens said
First, this may seem strange to some but I hope and pray that we as a society can start making everyone feel wanted and accepted. I too feel sorrow for all the families devasted by this tragedy. On the other hand, I have felt the way the gunman felt…thanks to God and people like Steve and his family and many others. I was made to feel important and most of all appreciated. I know some will probably say I have felt this way and I did not kill others or harm anyone. Think about what you just said, you may react in a rational way while someone who feels like an outsider may result to violence. Let us all pray for each other as well as the safety of this great nation.
Steve Holt Sr. said
Wayne, that book is so big I’ll soon be too frail to pick it up. We’d better read it now!
Well said, Antonio. Thanks!