Uncle Bill

This picture was take around 1961.

The earliest memories I have of Uncle Bill were from the time he was going to College to become a Chiropractor. Uncle Bill would come to our house and spend the summers and stay in the little room off the kitchen. Mom and Daddy would have discussion on how to help Uncle Bill during his stays with us. Helping her brother made mom very happy

I remember him building his first office in Edinburg. It was across the street from his last office in Edinburg. I remember going over there with Daddy and him and them building the different rooms. Uncle Bill would put quarters on the floor for me to find . . . I thought that I was rich. A quarter was a lot back then. Funny how the little things like that stick with a kid.

I remember all the Thanksgivings at Uncle Bills and Aunt Jan’s house in Edinburg. I thought that the house was huge and they had that little pool table. I think they called it Bumper pool. All of us spent hours playing pool. There were a whole lot of years of fun.

Uncle Bill used to come over to the house, Daddy would get the kitchen chairs out, line them up, and then Uncle Bill would adjust us, and then Daddy would adjust Uncle Bill. There were adjustments that Uncle Bill taught Daddy. I always thought that watching Daddy adjust Uncle Bill was neat.

I remember mom always being concerned about Uncle Bill. She did love her brother very much.

I remember going over to Uncle Bills office and reading his medical book. It was then that I understood how difficult it was to become a Chiropractor. I really didn’t understand that Uncle Bill had to know what a medical Doctor knew about the body.

During my senior year in high school, I had a friend that was having some medical issues and did not want to go to his mom and day about it. I recommended that he call Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill got him to talk to his parents and also took care of his medical issue. It was a minor issue, but a major thing for a teenager. I remember him telling me how understanding Uncle Bill was and that he was surprised that Uncle Bill knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix the problem.

A couple of years ago, Vicky and I stopped to eat in Bloomington. The waitress asked where we were from, we said Sherman, but I had to tell her that I grew up in God’s Country (Edinburg). She said that she grew up in Stonington and that her whole family used to go to Edinburg to see Doc Durham . . . I told her that Doc Durham was my Uncle. She then told us this story. When she was young, her mom had a baby boy and the boy was not doing well after the delivery and was not expected to live. The Doctors had given up . . . but her mom asked if they could have Uncle Bill come and see the baby. Surprisingly, the Doctors and Hospital said yes. She does not know what Uncle Bill did, but he came in, worked on the little boy and left. Almost immediately the baby got better and survived. Years later her bother again got sick. Doctors had given up hope. Her mom again asked Uncle Bill to come to the hospital and again the young man got better and was doing fine. An amazing story. Think of the thousands of stories that people could share about Uncle Bill and how he helped them during extreme difficulties.

I have more to write about Uncle Bill, but that will come with a later Blog.

YES, I'M AN AMERICAN

I saw this and liked it.. I changed it a little....
I am an American.
I am a Christian and believe in God.
I believe in American products.
I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family.
I believe that owning a gun doesn't make you a killer, it makes you a smart American.
I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac, do it in English.
I believe you have the right to pray to your God when and where you want to.
My heroes are my dad, Ronald Reagan, Rush, Hannity and O’Reilly, because they stand for what makes America great.
I don't hate the rich. I don't pity the poor.
I'm proud that 'God' is written on my money.
I believe that it takes two parents to raise a child.
I believe that we should support our troops.
I believe that we need to pray for our government.

I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.. I have no problem with legal unions.

I believe in the the American flag
I Believe that we need God back in our Country.
WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!

The State Fair

I went to my first Illinois State fair in 1952, when I was just two months old. My mom said that I enjoyed the fair. I must of, I have been to the fair every year since that first one.

My earliest memories of the fair are from the late 1950's. Each year my mom and my three sisters would go to my Aunt Alma Rees’s house on Elliott Ave in Springfield. We would meet our other aunts and cousins (Reeses, Hopwoods, Durhams) for a day at the fair. I remember going to each of my older cousins and them all giving me a dollar to spend at the fair. I had a lot of cousins and they were the greatest. We would all go to the fair when it opened and spend the morning having a great time. At noon everyone would met for lunch. My mom and aunts would bring a picnic lunch that included fried chicken, potato salad and all the trimming. They would feed us on the hill by where the Ethnic Village is now. We did this for years and I will always remember how much fun I had at the fair and the special times I got to spend with my mom, sisters, cousins and aunts. Each year that I am at the fair is different, but always enjoyable. I can’t imagine missing a fair.

Everything I know about WAR I learned from my dad

My dad fought in WWII, he was a medic with the Second Armor Division and was involved with every major campaign in Africa, Italy, Sicily and Europe. Daddy talked about the war a lot, said young men needed to know what it was really like. He said it was horrible. Working as a medic during battles, then in the field hospitals afterwards, he personally saw hundreds of young American and German men die. He saw thousands that had been killed. Daddy told me that once he saw the remains of 600 to 800 Germans that had been killed in battle. He said that they used bulldozers to bury the men. He said that they would bring the prisoners into the field hospital to get fixed up and then, if they did not have time to take them to rear, the guards shot the Prisoners. This made my dad very mad... My dad had the rare opportunity to talk to many German prisoners and was amazed at how many spoke fluent English and had been educated in the United States. On several occasions he worked with German Medics to help retrieve wounded Germans and they would help him with the wondered Americans. My dad told me these simple truths about war and I think they still apply. War is sometimes necessary; Solders need the support of the folks back home; War is about sacrifices and suffering; There is a difference between killing and murder; There are no plans after the fighting starts; Know your enemy; Politicians and reporters cause many deaths; Civilians get killed; friends die. My dad had the opportunity to go on to medical school after the War, but he didn’t. He told me that he couldn’t take any more suffering, he had seen a lifetime of suffering during the War. He worked as a coal miner until he died and they called him Doc Cox (that is another story).

Mom and The Elctions

Mom worked the elections for many years. Her hard work directly lead to me getting my state job and my promotion into programming... A couple of years after I had started at the Secretary of States Office a group of us were talking about how we got our jobs.. Well I said that I got mine because I got an "A" on the exam.... What I didn't know was that one of the guys in the group was a Personnel person that had been put into Computer Operations temporally.. We had no idea that he was directly linked to the Secretary of State. The next night I come in and the Personnel guy (computer operator) has a copy of my employment application and points to a name at the bottom, the name was a Democratic Precinct Committeeman from Edinburg... He asked if I knew him and I said yes... he told me he called the person and he said he had OK'd my job as a favor to Mom and Dad. I had no idea. Several years later, I was talking to mom and told her that I was frustrated that I could not get into programming... I had qualified for a programming title, got an "A" and they still would not move me. Mom said that I should call Pete Sapetti and tell him. I called him on a Monday, he talked to me like he knew me all my life, said I would hear something soon. Went to work Wednesday and they told me that I would be starting in Programming on Friday.. So after months and months of frustration, one call to mom and then Pete got me what I had been working towards for almost three years. Overall, some would say that maybe that was not a good thing... Well it's just how things worked back in and in 1979. Computers has been very good to me...

Why I know Daddy is in Heaven

Back in the fall of 1982 when daddy was in the hospital for the last time, Vicky and I were concerned about his salvation. I can't remember who suggested it, but my money is on Vicky.. We asked the Pastor of Bunn Park Christian Church, Pastor Eric, to go see Daddy to talk to him about salvation. Well. I was not prepared for what Pastor Eric told us.. First he said that we had nothing to worry about, Daddy was saved as a young man and that Daddy was going to be with the Lord. I never knew of my dad to go to Church, or talk about his relationship with Jesus. He did tell me one time that you did not have to go to church to know god. I just didn't know what he was talking about. Pastor Eric went on to tell us that when Daddy was in the war and he had young men that he knew were going to die that he would share Jesus with them and lead them to the Lord. Pastor Eric said that daddy told him how he believed that all should come to Jesus and that he felt responsible to tell these young men that they would going to die and go to hell unless they received Jesus as their savor. Based on this Godly man's account of his conversation with my dad, I know that daddy is in heaven with the men that he lead to the Lord.

Dylan's Baseball Game

Dylan's game was cancelled last night.. Just to much rain. Dylan is a great baseball player... Just like his dad. Tony and Jennifer's dad are the coaches. Dylan is determined to do a good job and he has that "Look" of someone that knows what they are doing. I was talking to daddy one time about how good Tony was at baseball and sports and he told me that you have that inter drive or you don't. Daddy was great at sports and said that he had that inter drive to do the best that he could at his sports. I think that Dylan has that inter drive and we will see him do great things in baseball. Hopefully we will be able to have more games next week.

Politics and the Cox Family

I was thinking about my mom and dad this morning... What great Americans they were. Mom worked the elections for years upon years, and daddy talked about the politicians... when I say that mom worked the elections, I mean she did everything. You hear about the rolls, well mom took care of the rolls, adding new voters and taking off the rolls people that moved. These were actual rolls of paper. She also hand counted the votes after the elections and delivered the votes to Taylorville to the court house after the elections. Mom was very dedicated and loved doing this important work. Daddy would talk to me while we were hunting and fishing about elected officials, judges and other important people. Daddy would tell me how some laws were written to benefit organized crime and how his dad (William) was very involved with Washington and the Republican party. Both Mom and Daddy knew the importance of supporting our political system by being involved.

Dylan Play Baseball