Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Foreword Dale Cramer xii
Prologue 1
Reflections from Route 2006 3
Look at Your Children and See Immortality 5
Give Me a Car and Watch Me Drive 7
Dance, Everyone, Dance 9
The Roles Have Changed 11
Dog Gone 13
Every Face a Memory 15
Happiness Is Just 17
Some Promises Can't Be Kept 19
The Best Book Festival Ever 21
Just in Case 23
Fear Itself 25
Goodbye Was Long Ago 27
Truth Be Told 29
What's Faith Got to Do With It? 31
Living in a Black and White World 33
On the Radio 35
When I Grow Up 37
One Upmanship 39
I Never Sang for My Father 41
Out of the Mouths of Babes 43
Old Fashioned 45
Life Is a Vacation 47
In Praise of Red-Headed Girls 49
God Bless America 51
Stop and Smell the Roses 53
When Is a Vacation Not a Vacation? 55
True Caring Makes for Good Care 57
Cell-O 59
Preparing for the Future 61
The Critic as Actor 63
Letters from Holland Street 66
Expectation vs. Anticipation 68
One Day at a Time 70
Biloxi-Blue but Not Defeated 72
Lonesome Town 74
Get Rid of the Blues with Jeans 76
Safe Alone 78
Give Me the Simple Life 80
Sweet Charity 82
Giving Thanks 84
My New Best Friend 86
Long Lasting Love 88
R-E-S-P-E-C-T 90
Christmas 92
It's Over 94
Reflections from Route 2007 97
I've Found My Face 99
Talk Is Cheap 101
Foolish Fears 103
Idol Chatter 105
My Country 'Tis of Thee 107
Voices from the Past 109
A Trip to ABAC 111
Book People Are Special People 113
Durham 116
Missing Persons 118
What Is Celebrity? 120
Bless the Beasts and the Children 122
Making a Mountain out of a Big Hill 124
The Joy of Living 126
Someone to Watch Over Me 128
Online Dancing 130
Simply Southern 132
Hello Outdoors 134
A Gift from God 136
Like a Hole in the Head 138
A Trip to Memory 140
The Greatest Generation 142
A Week at the Beach 144
The Time Is Right, I Mean Ripe 146
You Are What You Car 148
My Mother the Car 150
The Great Outdoors 152
The Circle of Life 154
He's Flying the Plane 156
Now Is the Time 158
Who Killed the Cat? 160
An Angry Young Man 162
What Happened to Privacy? 164
All's Well That Ends Well 166
A Happy Birthday 168
The Accidental Author 170
Grieve Well, Heal Well 173
You Gotta, Gotta Have Friends 175
Fathers and Sons 177
It's Dangerous to Be Sick 179
Nature or Nurture 181
Dumpster Dating 183
One Door Shutting 185
Off to the Beach 187
And Then There Were Three 189
Travels with Jackie 191
My Uncle Frank 193
The Night after Christmas 196
Reflections from Route 2008 199
Be Aggressive 201
The More We Get Together 203
See Ya, St. John 205
Is the Building the Church? 207
You've Got to Have Sleep 209
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? 211
My Buddy 213
The Art of Isolation Via E-Mails 215
Dream Big 217
A Reviewer's Life 219
Where Is the Cavalry? 221
Rumors of My Death 223
Talent Scouts 225
Father of a Preacherman 227
Like Father, Like Son etc. … 229
Shout to the Lord 231
A Weekend in the Country 233
Can You Hear Me Now? 235
Just Lock Me in the Car Again 237
Exercise Will Kill You 239
Try a Little Harder, Be a Little Better 241
The Way We Read 243
Walking Tall 245
The Write Stuff 247
Beat the Clock 249
Lonely Hearts 251
The Security of Sameness 253
The Dahlonega Literary Festival 255
My Friend Karen 257
Carry Me Back 259
About Facebook 261
Tomorrow 263
Highs and Lows 265
Magic Moments 267
Is That a Backlash I Hear? 269
What Happened to the Sting? 271
Nobody's Perfect 273
The Memory Keeper 275
The Georgia and Jackie Show 277
Guilt by Association 279
Is Honesty the Best Policy? 281
Love What's There 283
A Very Thankful Day 285
Season of Hope 287
Car Faith 289
Quiet Desperation 291
Yes, Santa Claus, There Is a Virginia 293
The Ballad of Bambo 295
Epilogue 298
