High points from El Camino Real

Folks along El Camino are continuing their mad rush to Christmas, but it seems like things are beginning to wind down a little. There is still lots to do, but I think most of the Christmas parades and programs are done. I’m going to give you this week’s six bits’ worth of news and then I’m going to call it quits until next year.
I read somewhere that the cost of the paper is about to go up to eight bits -- that’s a whole dollar for you folks that don’t know what a bit is.
When I started writing this column it cost a quarter and people griped about that. I’ll never have four quarters in my pocket for the newspaper box. I have enough trouble finding three.

Ray Penn had a bad accident on Sunday afternoon. He was standing by his old tractor when he started it and it was in gear. It ran over him and they had to fly him to Tyler to the hospital.
Those old tractors usually never start the first time you try them, so you can tell they are in gear. This time it cranked on the first bump.

Ray’s Uncle Joe Williamson kept everything Ray had running the whole time I lived over there by him, so I guess Uncle Joe did too good of a job working on Ray’s old tractor.
I have started my old tractors like that a million times. I’m going to think about what happened to Ray now every time I start my tractor.
Uncle Joe is gone, but by the grace of God, Ray is still with us. His pelvis is cracked in two places, but they thought it would mend on its own without surgery.

He’ll be in a wheelchair for Christmas, but he got to ride in a helicopter, and he knows his tractor is running good, so things could be worse.
Get well soon Ray, you are in our prayers!
I guess the best thing about the holidays is the promise of new life. Thanksgiving gets us to thinking about all the blessing we have and then Christmas comes with the promise of miracles and a new life.
This year I got to witness one of these miracles first hand. I got a text from my dear friend Dr. Deborah Burkett in early November that starts this story. When I first met Deborah I just referred to her as the “Quilt Lady.”
She was a lady writing a book about quilts titled, ‘Quilts and Their Stories’ and she was a great lover of history. Before I knew it, Deborah, Judge Bascom Bentley and I were all great friends working on history projects together. We lost Judge Bentley two years ago. In early November, Deborah sent me a text message with some really bad news.

She told me that she had been very sick and after some tests she was told that she had a mass on her liver that had spread to other organs in her body. She told me that she was getting her house in order and she would send me texts when she could. She wasn’t taking any phone calls or visits.
I know about all the emotions that go through you when you are told you have cancer, and it’s tough.

You can put up stone markers, write books, and do all sorts of stuff to preserve history, but when you are about to lose a dear friend all you can do is pray.
We sent back and forth for a few weeks and she gave me a list of things she needed me to do in regards to the Cherokee County Historical Commission and all the boxes of books she had written.
She put several of us to work with orders from her deathbed on moving books, making plans on what to do with a good portion of the history of Cherokee County, and restoring a WWI statue in Jacksonville.
We said “Yes ma’am,” and set to doing it. My heart ached every time I got still and thought about her. I just didn’t feel like I had it in me to lose another friend.
I’d send a text to see how she was feeling and she would send back another list of instructions with a short report on herself.
All her friends continued to pray and on Dec. 3, I got a text saying, “Great news, its not cancer, just a bad infection that is very treatable.”
My heart jumped up in my throat when I read it. Our friend is getting better everyday and will hopefully be home by Christmas.
Some might say that the doctors must have made a mistake, but I know a Christmas Miracle when I see one.
In Deborah’s book, ‘East Texas Piney Woods’ Spunky Women 1830s -1950s’, she writes about spirited individuals who made a difference. I think she is a great example of one of these women.
Deborah told me that three other very special ladies, Elizabeth McCutcheon, Dr. Mary Alice Bone, and her oncologist, Dr Ariel Lee helped her through the past two months.
A big thanks to everyone who lifted Deborah up in their prayers and showed their concern for her during this time. Answered prayers at Christmas time make us all sing louder and smile brighter.
Thank you, Lord, for healing our friend!

Patsy Dean has been under the weather, but she started perking up when her granddaughter, Stephani Boyd, came to stay with her for a few days. She called to tell me how much she enjoyed her visit and how much she hated to see her go.
I know just how she feels because that is the way I feel when my grandson goes home. Keep Patsy in your prayers for a speedy recovery.
Don’t worry about all the stuff that takes away from the reason for the season and the real joy of Christmas.
Hold your family extra tight and love them all you can. That is exactly how I plan to spend my holiday.
The next time you hear from me it’ll be a new year, but don’t worry it’ll be full of the same stuff I’ve been spreading for the past 22.
I’ll see ya next year!
Merry Christmas to all the great people that I’ve come to know over the years writing this column, you have been a wonderful blessing in my life.