Went to Kerrville this last weekend.

It was the first time we have seen grandma and grandpa in over a year!

In fact, it was the first time we have seen them since we were in the hospital with T.

Also, T, this was your first trip to Kerrville.

Crazy it has been that long.

Covid is so stupid.

Good grief…

…Not just for the people whose lives were cut short – but also for the way it made the world lose it’s mind and altered the way we lived.

Anyway, it was good to see them and get away.

We watched the deer, went for a few short walks, and ate lots of my favorite Mexican food.

You girls loved entertaining yourselves in the little playroom that my dad built for you – and you devoured the blueberry muffins that my mom always makes so much she had to bake more.

So…

I think grandpa has advanced Parkinson’s disease.

Doctors disagree (or are not getting the full picture) and he is currently being treated for “CIPD.”

He has been slowing down for a while, honestly.

But it’s sad to watch.

His walking is getting worse. He has difficulty especially turning around. And he can barely get up and down out of a chair.

He just started using a walker.

I can close my eyes and think back to my little boy self and picture my dad.

He’s smiling and strong and fast and smart.

And I wish I could sit with him again.

We drove back to Lubbock Sunday afternoon and that evening my dad called and told me that his older brother died.

I always called him Uncle Bob.

I love you.

-Dad

Goodness-gracious-alive.

I almost forgot this story.

So it started because we were all outside in the front yard, I can’t even remember what for.

But something in the air changed, and girls, your faces lit up like a birthday candle.

We all heard the music of an ice cream truck.

Y’all were immediately asking for ice cream and begging for money.

But then the music began to get faint…

We listened for it, went into the house to get more money, paced up and down the block looking at side streets, and we waited. We heard the song again.

This pattern went on at least another two times as you girls impatiently paced.

Eventually the music did not return.

After a bit – mom suggested that I could just go be the ice cream man.

It seemed silly, but I gave in when everyone started begging.

So, I loaded a little cooler with ice cream from our freezer and drove my car around the block.

I rolled my windows down to play music (like mom told me too) but while going around the block, I couldn’t find anything appropriate.

I’m turning the radio dial as fast as I can going:

Tejano, no. Classical, no. Talk radio, no. County music, ahh, maybe this could work. Some song about whisky, no. Commercial, no. Ughhh.

As I approach the house, I get to a Christian station and Rich Mullins is singing his version of Awesome God (it’s his song – he wrote it).

I think: Good enough. This will do.

A couple is out for a walk and passing right in front of our house as I approach so I have to awkwardly hesitate like a weirdo half way down the street, my windows down and music blaring.

When I pull up by the curb y’all are all laughing like crazy.

Mom is holding T and asks what song is playing. As she hears the chorus begin again, she looses it and just laughs and laughs.

I remember K asking me: What flavors do you have, ice cream boy?

H, you did this slapstick, goofy, kind of laugh that I have not seen you do before! It was endearing and beautiful.

As we were all coming back inside, H, you leaned over to me and with a giant smile on your face and said:

I knew it was you dad. But that was still fun.

Yes it was.

I remember singing Awesome God in youth group as a teenager.

Below is the exact version I blared from my ice cream man car that day.

I love you.

-Dad