family

My Family

This is a picture of my parents from about 20 years ago. They look so young. My dad has always looked younger than my mom. What is totally hilarious is that he is about three years older than my mom.

My dad graduated from high school in Ferris, Texas. My mom graduated from high school in Red Oak. Dad graduated from East Texas State University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Zoology and minor in Chemistry. Mom went to ETSU for one year, then got married and settled down. East Texas State University is now known as Texas A&M University-Commerce. ETSU was bought out in 1995 and the name of the university was changed in 1996.

Dad grew his moustache shortly after after I was born. The UPS man came to the door and asked him if his mother was home. He looked so young that the guy thought that Mom was his mother. I guess he finally decided that it was high time he started looking older. He has not shaved it off very often in the 20 years that he has had it. When he does shave it off, he also shaves off about 15 years of appearance. I'm glad that being well preserved runs through the family.

Here Mom and Dad are pictured in Orlando, Florida while they were on vacation. They are always taking trips since they can save money by not having my brothers and I with them.

This picture has some humor to it. The humorous part of this picture is that the lady sitting on the motorcycle was 96 years old. She was 94 at the time the picture was taken. It was taken at the Easter party at my grandparents house in Ferris. The motorcycle belongs to the man in the background which is Uncle John. Uncle John is Dad's older brother. And yes, the motorcycle is a Harley Davidson.

The elderly woman pictured on the motorcycle is my great grandmother. We called her Mamaw and she died recently. Mamaw sacrificed every year to give money to each member of the family as a Christmas gift. We all loved Mamaw and have learned alot from her. We will all miss Mamaw a great deal.

Mamaw and Uncle John

Clayton, Nolan Ryan, and Julianne

This is a picture of my two cousins, Clayton and Julianne. The man in the background is former Major League Baseball player Nolan Ryan.

Clayton plays on a 14 and under baseball team. Julianne is the bat girl for that team and their dad, my Uncle Ray, is the coach of that team.

Mom and Dad

This is a picture of my older brother (Michael) and I from 1980. My older brother is the one in the cowboy hat. I'm the one who looks like an old man in this picture.

My older brother taught me alot of things when I was really young. Now we are both adults. He moved out, but I still like to hang out with him.

As long as I could remember, Mike has wanted to be a police officer. He is on his way to achieving that dream because he works as a jailer now.

I looked like an old man when I was little because I didn't have any hair, I had no teeth, and I had to start wearing glasses when I was six months old.

This is a picture of my younger (little) brother, Matthew. He was like three or four years old when this picture was taken.

For the most part Matthew looks the same now as he did back then, but he now wears contact lenses because he has always hated glasses. He used to bury his glasses outside in the dirt and then it would get muddy and they would be hard to find.

I found a pair of glasses that he had buried one time in the mud when I was like 5 years old while playing in the back yard.

Matthew and I have been really close. We have done a lot together including getting run over by a car. Through it all Matthew has been a very good brother.

This is a picture of me and my grandfather (Papaw Tip). It was taken by my grandmother (Nana) just before we left their house in Ferris to go to Canton early one Saturday morning. I was in the sixth grade when this picture was taken.

The hat that I am wearing in this picture was especially made for me by a man in Dallas. My grandfather and grandmother had it made for me. It was an expensive hat because it is a 4X Beaver felt hat.

About four years ago my grandparents moved to another house that is just across the street from the one that this picture was shot in. I still have a lot of memories from the old house, but the new house is bigger and has more space for them.

My grandfather has taught me a lot about life. He taught me how to drive his pickup truck. I learned in the pasture after a fishing trip. He taught me how to fish and about sex and he taught to look out for other people and to be responsible for my own actions.

Me and Mike

Matthew

Me and Papaw Tip

Many of the conversations that I have with Papaw start with "Boy, when I was your age....." Then he would precede to tell me about what life was like when he was my age.

Mama's Family

This is a picture that was taken a few years ago at the Christmas get together. My grandparents are pictured in the front row in this picture. My mom and her two brothers and two sisters are in the back.

From left to right is John, Paula, Mom, Phyllis, and Junior (Junior's real name is Alfred Edwards, Jr, but we all call him Junior).

My mom is the oldest, followed by John, Paula, Phyllis, and then Junior.

Nana and Papaw Tip

This is a picture of my grandparents on the day of their 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Although, this picture was taken about 5 years ago, they still look the same. The house that they are pictured in is their old house. In October of 1997, they moved across the street to their current residence.

It is hard to imagine being with somebody for 50 years, but they have been together for over 55 years.

On the 50th anniversary, the family gave them a party and invited alot of their friends to come to it. We managed to plan this party in about 2 months. It started out small and then snowballed.

Grace A. Lewis Renfrow Offutt: March 18, 1906- January 12, 2003