These hands.....

 Through the many years we have spent together, mostly shoulder to shoulder and, yes.... sometimes back to back....the moments that make my heart smile are the moments where her fingers met mine to form the DNA heart we both own.

We couldn't be any more different in a million different ways....but the heart is always the same. These hands were created to "fit together" to form that heart we've held each other through in difficult chapters of our lives.....wiped the salty tears of Joy and Sadness from each other's faces and replaced with a kiss.

Debbie has walked many roads with me.....infertility, death, and conflict, just to name a few, but she has also walked the road of restoration, joy, and compassion with me many MORE times.

So today....as my sister turns another year older, I want to thank God for these hands that belong to Debbie Calloway Rusk.....they are hard-working, GIVING and loving.....and they form a perfect heart of love with her sometimes difficult and opinionated baby sister, Liz.

I Love You Sissie

IF THIS WORN LEATHER HAT COULD TALK.....

 IF THIS WORN LEATHER HAT COULD TALK....It would tell you a million stories about....

• Fishing for crappy in its favorite boat, “Keepin’ It Cool”, on its favorite lake, Lake Cypress Springs in East Texas with his son.....

• The many days it spent at UTSW.......

• The times it was run over by an 800-pound wheelchair...

• How it rode shotgun in a 40’ diesel motorhome and a burgundy Goldwing Trike while seeing this beautiful country....

• How it proudly celebrated his brother Doug, the Briskaterian

• How it was worn by Bella and Brie’s Grandpa each time they saw him....

• How it traveled each year to the top of Pikes Peak on a motorcycle trike....

• How it rested on the head of its sleeping owner in the electronics department of Wal-Mart after he mistakenly took his nighttime pills in the morning....

• How it persevered through hot summers and protected through the cold winters... 

• And....how it quietly attended the funeral of its owner in his wheelchair.

Although the head it covered and protected for many years has gone on to a better place, the worn leather hat still lives.....in our home.....framed and seen every day as a reminder of the friend it was to a man who endured great obstacles.

You will never be forgotten, Chuck.  We Love You.

Happy Birthday!