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Blog Entry 82 of 82 Baseball,football,the Grateful Dead,Jesus and me
Could be politics, religion, music, sports, family life or anything in-between and outside the lines. (I refuse to say "outside the box," even if my chosen line means exactly the same thing) Chronologically, I'm 40. The consensus among those who know me best puts me somewhere between 10 and 13 in terms of maturity. I love listening to Jimmy Buffett, the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and all acts Country (except the Dixie Chicks who offended my long-held,closed-minded view of decent behavior) I have deep, strong beliefs in all things I believe in and sometimes in things I don't. I pride myself in my contradictory nature even though it is a sign of weakness to change one's mind. I have been known to waver more than John Kerry talking about national defense, though I remain steadfast in my beliefs. I am prepared to argue to the death on one issue and one issue alone; Dickey Betts should be allowed back in the Allman Brothers. On this, there is no compromise. I believe in compromise in all other areas so long as the compromise includes everything that I want or believe in. In all seriousness, I am a lucky man, blessed with a wonderful family and an uncanny ability to not care about anything if the situation requires such. I believe that minds are like parachutes in that they have been known to fail their user, albeit with a slightly lower fatality rate. So that's me, or at least that's kind of me. I mean, I felt that way right before I didn't.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~billsblog

Carolina on my mind

Contributed by: Bill Prather   on 8/21/2008

. . . I'm gone . . . say nice things about me . . .

. . . Going to Carolina in my mind . . .

James Taylor


Carolina weighs heavily on my mind these days.

"In my mind I'm going to Carolina."

Several times a day, Jenny and I see ourselves selling the house and moving the family to Raleigh to be closer to Dad and Mom.

Mom currently lives in the "memory ward" of a local assisted living facility. Meanwhile, Dad frets daily about how often he gets to see her. Nevermind that Mom refers to her husband of nearly sixty years as "My Dad." Dad dutifully shows up whenever he can, bearing the gift of Breyers ice cream (from Snoopy's; $1 a scoop). I've seen Mom enjoy her treat, then minutes later look at Dad and say, "You didn't bring me any ice cream." Alzheimer's sucks.

Yet, there he is, day in and day out, looking out for his bride. Sixty years later, he still dotes on her.

I took my family to see their grandparents in Raleigh because it was important. Perhaps it was most important to me. My daughter, Delaney had barely healed from recent surgery before she was whisked to the airport to fly east.

We went because you just never know. You never know when you might miss that "last chance." When my National Guard unit was deployed unexpectedly, I thought that my "last chance" had passed.

A sudden surgery for Delaney and we had another chance. Funny how things turn out. Off we went to Raleigh, North Carolina.

We went because we didn't know. We didn't know when our "last chance" might pass us by. We went because Jennifer, my lovely (and oh-so-patient) wife understood. For years she's put with my pining for the East Coast. She put up with it because she knew (long before I did) that it isn't the place that I miss. It's the people . . . the memories. Family.

My family is a Maryland family. We love our steamed blue crabs. And crabcakes. The Orioles. And the Colts. The BALTIMORE Colts. Above all else, we love each other.

That's why I'm going to Carolina in my mind . . .

Jenny and I were lucky enough to see James Taylor at Red Rocks recently. Two songs brought tears to my eyes."Carolina in my Mind" makes perfect sense. It was Taylor's interpretation of Carol King's "You've Got A Friend" that caught me off-guard.


When he played that song, I found myself suddenly choked-up. I looked at Jenny and she was crying. We haven't really discussed that moment and I'm sure we won't. I guess it's best if we don't try to explain it. But I know that even during that song, Carolina was on my mind.

If it's true that home is where the heart is, what do you do when your heart is broken in two?

Anyone want to buy a house in Arvada?


Say nice things about me,

I'm going to Carolina . . .













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Showing 1-6 of 6 comments
Submitted By: William Boucher
posted on 8/28/2008 @ 8:53:31 PM
Rated Blog Entry
God speed and God bless, whatever you decide.
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Submitted By: Sarah Paige
posted on 8/26/2008 @ 2:26:21 PM
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Hey, Bill - family counts most. If you need to go, happy trails!
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Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 8/23/2008 @ 6:50:06 AM
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Do what you need to do, Bill. (But we're supposed to meet for a beer, if you go to Carolina we need to meet for that bender first) mc
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Submitted By: Mike Keleman
posted on 8/22/2008 @ 1:10:52 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Go, life is too short.
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Submitted By: Gladys Mercier
posted on 8/21/2008 @ 8:20:17 PM
Rated Blog Entry
Sorry about your mom. That is an awful disease. Are you really going to move to Carolina?
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Submitted By: Tom Treloar
posted on 8/21/2008 @ 10:38:36 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Family can bring a lot of joy into someones life. On the other hand family can bring a lot of pain into someones life too.
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Showing 1-6 of 6 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Bill Prather

Arvada , CO

Bill Prather has posted 82 blog entries and 324 comments since joining on 7/15/2006. Bill Prather 's average blog rating is 4.49.
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