The Most Incredible Summer of 1981

Me in my 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport Car

I've been thinking about summertime lately especially since it's the middle of June and it's starting to get really hot outside.

Gordon, Dicky Dees and Me at the beach

I am 54 years-old now and mind always goes back 35 years ago to the summer of 1981 when I was 19 years-old. I had the most incredible carefree summer that I ever experienced in my lifetime when I look back. I suppose that we have all had one of those summer in our lives I suspect when we reflect on our lives. It was the summer before my senior year of high school at Hernando High School in Hernando, Miss. I am going to give you rundown on what I did that summer by bullet points. At the time, I was living at my father's lake house in Eudora, Miss., 15 miles west of Hernando. My older brother, Gordon, who was an electrical contractor who lived in Memphis. However, we were best friends then and we did a lot of things together in those days. He had money and I didn't have much. He was really good to me. So here it is:

*Drove to Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., with Gordon and two of our friends. We stayed in the Beachcomber Motel in Jacksonville Beach and the Betty Boop Inn in Myrtle Beach. I'm sure neither motel exist anymore. We swam in the pools, the ocean and hung out at the beach bars for about a week.

Me, Dicky and Gordon at the beach

*Rode to Knoxville, Tenn., with Gordon and two other friends . We stayed at their apartment and went to the Smokey Mountains and climbed the Chimney Tops, swam in spring water holes and walked the mountain trails. It was the first time that Gordon and I had ever been to Smokey Mountains or Knoxville. We were gone for about a week. Then Gordon and I flew back to Memphis via Delta airlines and we had a layover in Atlanta. I was the first time that we had ever flown too.

The Beachcomber Motel

*Gordon and I went to Paris, Tenn., with a friend from Horn Lake, Miss., and stayed at his dad's cabin by the Tennessee River where his dad grew up in the old family home. We stayed there for about a week. We grilled out, fished and drank a lot of beer.

"Leroy," my car at the beach

*Gordon and I went to Greer's Ferry Lake in Arkansas with two other friends from Memphis and stayed at one of the friend's lake house for a weekend. We went water skiing, fishing and grilled out steaks and drank lots of beer.

Me and "Dutchenss" at the lake house

*Gordon and I went to Heber Springs, Ark., with two friends from Memphis, stayed in a cabin, rode mopeds and jumped off the rock cliffs at Greer's Ferry Lake. We also went to Blanchard Springs Caverns on the way home.

*During the second half of the summer, I went to Shreveport, La., to stay with my sister and brother-in-law where I worked at a Burger King for about month or so for some extra money.

The lake house in Eudora, Miss.

*In addition to traveling and going places, I went to concerts, movies, grilled out, smoked BBQ, swam and fished at my dad's lake house and played with my brother's German Shepherd dogs whenever I had a chance.

Graduating Class of 1982 at HHS

So when August of 1981 arrived, I was ready for the new school year. I was fit, tan and I had new school clothes. I was very well relaxed and focused. With the help of a lot of friends at school, I was elected Senior Class-Co President that fall and had one of the greatest school year's of my life before heading off to college at Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., in the fall.. How could I ever forget all those once in a lifetime experiences thanks to my brother, Gordon, and good friends at Hernando High School? I still thank my brother and all in my high school friends in my heart when I look back on that time in 1981, the most incredible summer of my whole life!

The Murder Of A Seven Year-Old Girl In Scottsville, Ky., And ISISTerrorists in Paris, France, Dominate The World-Wide News This Past Week

     Evil is lurking in the shadows of darkness even in the hills and valleys of a small town in Southcentral Kentucky.

     However, we never know when something incredible evil is going to strike and we as Americans these days are always hoping and praying that it does not happen to us.  Because after all, most of us are hardworking, taxpaying citizens of our cities, counties and states across the country.  I think most Americans feel like they are safe in this country to a certain degree.  Or least we hope so. But in the age of social media, most of us who are always connected to Facebook, Twitter and whatever else internet site is out there and we have developed a habit of venting.  We have become accustomed to expressing our opinions and views regarding of what's happening on a global, national or local level.  We are living in an age where a constant hit of dopamine to our brains has become an everyday occurrence on multi-levels while on our smart phones, iPads and desktop computers. We have become addicted to the "likes" of approval from our peers from these sites too. But sometimes we have Facebook friends who differ with us in our opinions which is okay, because after all there in a thing called, "Freedom of Speech" in America.  That's the way we like it and that's the way we want to keep it, right?

    But this past week was another one of those weeks, where the battle of opinions and the expression of views was a like an on-going 24 hour town hall debate that never stopped.  Millions of Facebook users including me had opinions and we expressed our views about ISIS in the world and the murders of the concert goers in Paris last Friday night. Also it was the war of words against the Syrian refugees between the liberals and the conservatives and the Obama administration for wanting to continue to allow Syrian refugees to keep coming in to America.  The voters of America got into action and started calling their congressmen's and senator's local offices to express their opinion against allowing these potential terrorists to come into our country.  A bill was passed in our government within a week and states across America banned them all together.

        Also, here in Southcentral Kentucky we were all exposed to the unthinkable, horrible news of the little girl who went missing at a little league football game at the high school in Scottsville, Ky., and her murdered body was found approximately 25 minutes later lying next to a creek in a wooded area next to the stadium. Fear struck the hearts and minds of  the small town residents with a population of 4,200 just southeast 25 miles of Bowling Green, Ky.  The murder of Gabbie Doolin has not only affected the residents of Southcentral Kentucky but the whole world it seems.  The kidnapping, rape, sodomy and murder of Gabbie according to Kentucky State Police (KSP) made world-wide news being portrayed on CNN, CBS, NBC, FOX and thousands of other news outlets which include local, state,  national and global media including People Magazine.http://www.people.com/article/timothy-madden-arrested-rape-kidnapping-murder-Gabbi-doolin

      Fortunately, thanks to the extremely difficult and hard work of the Kentucky State Police and local authorities, they were able to make an arrest of the suspect.  His name is Timothy Madden, 38 years-old, father of five and an unemployed construction worker who also went to high school with Gabbi's father. According to sources, Madden was at the football game last Saturday night and even sat close to the family in the stands. Madden maintains that he is innocent but KSP say that they have DNA evidence that connects him to the crime scene and Gabbi's little body.  If Madden is guilty of this unspeakable murder, we certainly hope that justice will be served to the extreme.  However, some people seem to still wonder if they have the right man.  I suppose that will be up to a jury to determine.

     As a Americans, we must be vigilant.  Nowadays we live in a different world.  It's not like used to be in the 60's, 70's and even the 80's somewhat. We have to watch our backs and protects ourselves against any potential terrorists by vetting the refugees coming to our country. And we most definitely must watch our children always and protect them against child predators and sexual monsters.  We must always keep tabs on them and who they are with.  Keep the evil of darkness on your doorstep outside.  Protect yourself, your homes and families with a spirit of God, love, light and even a legal and registered gun if you have one.