“Don’t ever dim your Light to make others feel more comfortable. You weren’t made to shrink—you were made to shine.” ~ Ebony Townsend
blooms
Every year, the blooms of the red bud trees drop and cover the sidewalks and driveways. The constant rain over the last four days has sped the process along this year, so more blooms are on the ground than usual. Meanwhile, I got to talk to my Uncle Darrell today, who told me about a paper he wrote as an undergrad at Lee’s Junior College in Jackson, Kentucky, on Uncle John Shell. Darrell got his information from one of Shell’s grandsons with whom he attended college. I’d never heard this story, but it goes something like this: Uncle John Shell was purported to be the oldest man until he died in 1922 at 134. He was from Leslie County, Kentucky. General Lee denied him entry into the Confederate Army because he was 74 at the time he tried to enlist. He was disappointed after riding horseback all that way to Virginia. He had 14 children with his first wife (she lived to be 122). When he died in 1922, his oldest child was 99, and his youngest was seven (by his second wife, who gave birth at 45). His log house in Leslie County is listed on the National Register, and boy, what a beautiful setting for a home. You can read more about Uncle John below. Hope ya’ll got your ark built. Another day of rain and we’re all gonna need it.
flood
13 Jul 1922, Thu The Sentinel-News (Shelbyville, Kentucky) Newspapers.com
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