Rich: High heels and dresses

Several years ago, I was returning from a speaking engagement at the historic Greenbrier Hotel, flying from Roanoke on a small Delta jet into the Atlanta airport.

Rich: Rondarosa’s new boss

She wasn’t hired to be a boss. She wasn’t even hired. She was bought.It all started because I decided that our miniature donkey from Jerusalem needed a friend. There she was, a tiny thing, standing between two big horses that kept pushing her around — and she took it.Poor Sweet Tea.

Rich: Easter 2025

When Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, crowds met him, solemnly, as he smiled not. He was not to be crowned King, as they thought, for he knew he was riding toward his death. One that would be torturous in length and cruelty.

Rich: The church

Any church is just a building. It’s the people and, for me, the memories that make it special.I grew up in a tiny country church where each person knew each other and knew their kin.

Rich: The Belgian lace

Merri Grace was one of my best college friends. Together, we went everywhere.She lived on campus, but I was too poor for such grandeur. I lived at home and drove to school. It was much like high school except we could skip class without our mothers being notified.Merri Grace was the boss.

Rich: The old hat

In my hands, I held the battered straw hat, holes torn in a couple of places. For a solid block of time, I studied it, having taken it down from the fireplace mantle.I choked up. It probably cost no more than a quarter, yet Oscar Cannon, no doubt, wore it for half a century or more.

Rich: A friend named Walt

Perhaps I’ll never forget the lilting sound of his beautiful Southern accent.I hope not. Right now, it’s ringing in my ears, forcing tears into my eyes. Walt Ehmer was one of the best friends I ever had. He possessed a quick wit that couldn’t be outrun.

Rich: Kris Kristofferson

A friend and I were discussing which version of the movie “A Star Is Born” was our favorite.It has been remade four times — each one terrific — and is based on the original 1932 film, “What Price Hollywood?

Rich: When schools close

At an invitation-only reception before my speaking engagement, Tink and I were surrounded by lovely people who came one at a time for introductions and then to talk about our work, either individually or separately.

Rich: The worst date ever

Several years before I married a wonderful creature named John Tinker, I had the worst date of my life in Louisville, Kentucky.Ironically, a runner-up for that honor happened years earlier in Lexington, Kentucky, during the weekend of THE Derby.