Rich: Too funny to be true

This story sounds too remarkable to be true. You may doubt its veracity.But trust me: the truth it is.It began decades ago. Some stories happen quickly, but the most remarkable ones unfold over the years.This is one of those stories.

Rich: The colors of war

There is a multi-awarded country song, written by Jamey Johnson and Bill Anderson, with a line about two soldiers in World War II in a black-and-white photo: “You can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered; You should have seen it in color.

Rich: When a landmark died

Perhaps, it is the older we get, the more it hurts.Or perhaps it is the more sentimental we get, the more it hurts.Growing up, we rarely ate out. We were rural country people, so my parents counted pennies to have enough for taxes, electricity, and the few groceries we bought.

Rich: The mother who was but wasn’t

She loved me so much.Often, she’d tell stories of my childhood and always begin with, “You were the cutest little thing I've ever seen.”Her favorite story to tell happened when I was three. “Your Mama always dressed you like a little doll. I ain’t never saw nothin’ like it.

Rich: High heels and dresses

Several years ago, I was returning from a speaking engagement at the historic Greenbrier Hotel, flying from Roanoke on a small Delta jet into the Atlanta airport.

Rich: Rondarosa’s new boss

She wasn’t hired to be a boss. She wasn’t even hired. She was bought.It all started because I decided that our miniature donkey from Jerusalem needed a friend. There she was, a tiny thing, standing between two big horses that kept pushing her around — and she took it.Poor Sweet Tea.

Rich: Easter 2025

When Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, crowds met him, solemnly, as he smiled not. He was not to be crowned King, as they thought, for he knew he was riding toward his death. One that would be torturous in length and cruelty.

Rich: The church

Any church is just a building. It’s the people and, for me, the memories that make it special.I grew up in a tiny country church where each person knew each other and knew their kin.

Rich: The Belgian lace

Merri Grace was one of my best college friends. Together, we went everywhere.She lived on campus, but I was too poor for such grandeur. I lived at home and drove to school. It was much like high school except we could skip class without our mothers being notified.Merri Grace was the boss.

Rich: The old hat

In my hands, I held the battered straw hat, holes torn in a couple of places. For a solid block of time, I studied it, having taken it down from the fireplace mantle.I choked up. It probably cost no more than a quarter, yet Oscar Cannon, no doubt, wore it for half a century or more.