Tales from Southern Trails

  Growing up in Wright Florida was the best! One of my best friends growing up along Hurlburt Road was Danny Blackman. For the longest time Danny and I explored all the trails leading off of Hurlburt Road. We always found a new trail to follow into a different area of the woods. Most of the time we were just exploring and to find what we could along the trail. Most of the time is was leaves, mushrooms and an occassional form of wildlife. Such as a bird or possibly a deer if we were lucky. The best was just being out exploring and having a friend with you!  As I think back on our life in this beautiful corner of the world, one of the treasures was living right next door to our Uncle Red and Aunt Virgie. Our homes were always open to one another regardless of the time of day. The cousins were always going in and out of each others houses looking for one another. Red and Virgie had about ten acres and our home had two acres, so we had plenty of room to roam around and find interes

John Hobson "Hop" Howard   Born June 23, 1921 in Goshen Alabama. I don't know much about my dad's early life. He grew up in Goshen. In his youth he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He and his friends used to head to the woods and river after school and on the weekends. Dad did relate a story about traveling with Uncle Howard Frank and Aunt Lillis. They traveled in a car from the south up the eastern seaboard to New Jersey and New York. When dad spoke about this trip it seemed to bring happy memories! A Purple Heart recipient, Dad had returned from World War II with injuries from a buzz bomb exploding near him in England. Dad never talked about his experiences in the war much, so there is little known specifically about his time overseas.  John Hobson Howard, known by most as “Hop”, age 89, slipped into Paradise peacefully at his home with all his children by his side on Tuesday, November 9, 2010. He was born June 23, 1921 in Goshen, Alabama to Harry and

 There's a strange sort of feeling not many talk of It's not really a hurting pain And it's not really a feeling of relief It's the kind that's hard to explain. It's just a feeling of emptiness That's been there for such a longtime You never even noticed it until it was too late And one of the least expected of things you'd find. It's a just that's like a feather in your throat. Not much to complain about, but enough to be there And you never knew that it was growing Or changing your heart into something that doesn't care. When you finally know what it is You find it hard to believ and wonder how it got here Not realizing it was taking away precious moments Of your time, Breaking apart the work of several years. And when it comes to justifying the reasons, You can't figure out what to say or who to blame. Only that it's a lot of things, not something evident Or something that you call by any name.   All you know to say is that you'

 I've wondered a lot, How we figure into One anothers lives. What it is That  makes us So special that We take the chances That we take so freely. Regardless of the pain That seeing each other Can bring into our lives. Regardless of how little the Amount of time we spend together Only caring that we spend it together.

 Here I am sitting in the middle of a life  I never dreamed I would be knowing  This soon, this early in my journey  Not knowing quite how I got here. Me, the person so bound & determined To do things my heart desired & showed me. The person who was going to the mountains Me, the person who was going to do this or that. But never this, not so soon, not now. It hurts to know you've lost yourself When you found someone you fell in love with. And it hurts letting your dreams slip away. Just like a balloon straying from your fingers Slipping so gently you don't realize it Until its gone and sailing across the blue sky Just out of your grasp, fading so quickly.   And how do I find my dreams again? Are they going to float above the clouds Like the lost balloon or will I be able  To grasp them once more out the blue.    If I only knew why that I lost them Then maybe I could start again To live a life that   means something to me Something more than just being here. Susie - Feb