Opinions

Furious Houston canes his accuser

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“Was the late secretary of war removed in consequence of his attempt fraudulently to give to Gov. Houston the contract for the Indian rations?” an Ohio congressman asked on the floor of the U.S.

Photo shoot with Jesus

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The items I had with me were a camera, where I snapped family photos and candid shots of the day as inmates met with their families and enjoyed hours with each other, which included pizza, games, handholding, eye contact, sitting at a table together, and continuous memory-making moments. One inmate stood with his wife for a candid embrace, asking their 20-something son to move aside for that shot, and I grabbed the young man’s arm.

Let me tell you all about it

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Dear My Journal. I know at the beginning of the year I promised I would write to you more than I did last year, but as you can tell, I’ve been a bit lax. You know how it is. Life happens, and at the end of the day, you feel more like falling asleep than jotting down what you had for breakfast or how many times in a row you sneezed due to all that darn pollen in the air.

The last days of Sam Houston

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Speaking in public for the last time on Mar. 18, 1863, Sam Houston told the citizens of the town that bore his name, “The welfare and glory of Texas will be the uppermost thought while the spark of life remains in this breast.”

Don’t step on my blue suede shoes

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“Well, it’s one for the money, two for the show, Three to get ready now go, cat, go But don’t you, step on my blue suede shoes.” — Rock and roll standard written and recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955. It was a hit song for Perkins in 1955 and for Elvis Presley in 1956. -----I never noticed how many songs have been written about shoes until I wrote about them last week. Shoes, that is.

When I can’t breathe!

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In the heart of East Texas where I live, where the pine trees whisper secrets about what could have been and the sun casts a golden hue, I encountered a homeless man whose untold story of loss tugged at my heart. His eyes reflected a deepness of sorrow and loss as he shared with me in a moment of vulnerability, “I can’t breathe today; I stopped living when he died.”