Confluence of Celebrations

    Yesterday morning a word popped up in my mind, one that I seldom use and had to look up the meaning in a dictionary before writing. 

   CONFLUENCE

   "A meeting of two separate entities, such as two rivers meeting to form a larger one."

   Hot Dog, here was the word for my blog post and I could look good using it.

   My streams would be Caroline's graduation from Blacksburg High on May 22, 2021 and my 85th birthday on that day. They would merge together to form the events of the weekend.

   As is the case for these confluent streams, one would be the important one and the other an opportunist.

   The Graduate and future Freshman at University of Central Florida.

   

   

   Caroline dressing for the occasion with her sister Laken working on the hair.

   

   Everyone in the family was excited and glad to celebrate.

   BHS Football stadium was ready, with plenty of extra chairs.   

   Proud Parents thinking "Only Three More to Go"

   The celebrating continued on through the day with games galore.

   Corn Hole and Pickleball were favorites and helped us work off all the good food.

   Lucy and David were eager to play and show off their skills.

   There were other decorations around the table as the whole family, 2 sets of grandparents, 5 kiddos and the 2 proud parents, sat down for a meal. It was a birthday celebration tacked on to the graduation.

   Dawn's dad, Golan, takes notes on how an 85th birthday ought to be celebrated. (Token no. of candles, birthday glass, funny glasses that lit up, and a balloon.)

   There was a special present from my charming wife.

   For Pickleball people the shirt reads in small print:

      What's the Score?

      Who Just Served?

      Were You 1 or 2?

   All joking aside, a good time was had by all. We were all glad to have two occasions to celebrate, and celebrate we did!

   Lucy will be the next to graduate, then Laken and David. 

   I believe there are at least 3 more times to make this dual event happen again. Can't Wait.

   

It Happened One Thursday..

   Thursday is Pickleball day. Along with Tuesday, they are my days to play at the BX.

   Since my charming wife has joined the exercise class at the BX, which meets at 10AM, I have changed my playing times on those two days to 10-12. This means we can drive in together, she can exercise from 10-11, and still have time to play in the last hour, or walk the track.

   One recent Thursday morning we showed up at the facility a little before 10. While she went upstairs to join her class, I walked into the gym to get ready to play. Passing by the first 3 courts, I noticed a new player. This was a tall lady, perhaps a former college basketball player, I thought.

   Looking back from the player waiting area, I thought she looked somewhat familiar, but with my memory the way it is, I dismissed the thought and got ready to play. 

   Soon the games began to finish, and the players from court 2 retreated into the waiting area to hydrate and wait for their next chance to play. 

   The tall, rather athletic looking woman was coming my way. Stopping in front of me, she put out her hand and asked, "Don Bowman?".

   Then it all came together. "Sally Thornton", I replied. 

   Sally had worked for me after I took over the management of the family produce brokerage business my Dad had begun back in 1946. After my college days, and a stint in the finance office of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Mayre and I had moved back to Chattanooga to work.

   Sally's dad had gone to work for Wayne L. Bowman Co. when my dad retired.  Jim had been a representative for the Washington State Apple Commission in the Southeast. 

   As business continued to increase, Jim suggested we hire his son Van, to join the sales team, and the Bowman-Thornton connection gathered in a new employee. 

   I don't remember the dates, but Sally, Jim's daughter came along after finishing her college basketball career at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville. She was such a good addition to our team that several years later we hired Jim's other son, Paul, to the sales staff.

   That is the back story on the picture. 

   I had not seen Sally since the early 90s, when I sold the business to the Thornton family, and left to teach school at CSAS.

   I found this picture of the Bowman Company, taken in the 80s. 

   Sally is on the far right and I am on the far left. Others on the front row left to right were: Cindy Kelley, my wife Mayre, my dad Wayne, and Carolyn Brown, ..Back row Van Thornton, Jessie Broadnax, Curtis Carroll, Jim Thornton.

   It was a good reunion. Some catching up on family and their lives, plus the opportunity to play some Pickleball with a good athletic lady and friend. I look forward to more games with her as my partner. 

   She is Good...

   Yes, Pickleball at the BX is the place to be. 

   You just never know what might happen or who might show up.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

   My plan this morning was to write a short blog about a reunion I had last week with a former employee of mine. I had a couple of pictures I planned on using to review our past association, but I need to put that post aside for a couple of days to focus on some things I want to highlight now.

   Don't worry, I will get to the reunion, and also back to more tales from my childhood and growing up years. 

   But first, I need to talk about something that is much more important.

   When I first went on Facebook, they wanted a profile picture. My choice was:

   Some may not know, but this is a Sorry piece from the board game of the same name. It was a game played often as my kids grew up. They made me use the yellow piece for my "man" because he was broken, but I chose the green one for Fb. A "whole piece" seemed somehow more mature. But inside a lot of the time I was broken and, indeed, a "sorry piece of work".

   Some 1100+ blog posts ago, I chose the moniker "Pilgrim" to post under, because I felt myself a man on a journey. I still am, and will be until I die.

   If you are up for a challenge, go ahead and read all the posts, and you can see where I came from and how I have traveled.

   BUT FIRST:

   For the past several weeks, Carolyn and I have been following a new series relating to the life of Jesus called The Chosen. I challenge you to go to the App Store and download it for yourself. The whole series project will be comprised of 8 seasons. Two seasons have already been shot, and the 8 episodes of season one and three episodes of season two are available to watch now on the app. Using the app on your phone, you can project the episodes on your TV. New episodes are posted as they are finished. Episode 4 of Season 2 will be posted this coming Tuesday night.

   Now I have been in church since nursery days. I have heard the stories of Jesus and His Disciples, and seen pictures and even films of the events of His days. In The Chosen, Jesus, whom the Bible shows as wholly human and wholly divine, is portrayed in His earthly ministry in a humanistic fashion that is very believable and authentic.

   The disciples, too, are men just like us. They have been given a plausible back story, and follow The Master with all the attitudes and feelings that we might have if we had been there with them. 

   In short, the characters are believably real, and I see myself in them as I watch. When Jesus says to Matthew, "Follow Me", and to the paralytic, "Take up your bed and walk", he is looking at me and asking me to do the same. It is powerful.

   These stories and characters are not made up. It appears to me, as a layman, that they are from The Bible with the authority of Scripture. Others that I have asked say the same.

   If you have become bored with the same old, same old, or if you have been turned off by others Christian or not, it is time for a new look and a new perspective.

   I was challenged to "Look and See" and I did.

   You should also.

   Then you can answer the more important question:

   Not, "Who Do You Say That I (Don) Am?", 

   But, "Who Do You Say That He (Jesus) Is?"...

   Peter answered this second question "You are the Christ, Son of the Living God"

      and I echo his answer. 

      How about you?