A Remembrance: Trail Feet Sometimes Get Blisters

A friend inspires, challenges, comforts, gives guidance, assures you and at the same time holds you accountable. They believe in you and care about you and because they do, you do everything you can to be there for them. In all of this, there is something you share. You have it in common, to achieve more than you thought, experience it more completely, and know there are others to whom it matters.

My friend David Draughon, although he passed away in May 2010, is still a friend to me and of my friends (Greg and Luke). He compels us in ways to be better men. Because of his example we do what friends do. On June 12 and 13, 2011 we backpacked to the summit of Rocky Top in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Cades Cove to scatter his ashes at a summit referred to as “Rocky Top.” We began our pilgrimage of sorts on a sunny afternoon. We took the summit by way of the Anthony Creek Trail, the Bote Mountain Trail and the Appalachian Trail. We spent the night in Spence Field shelter on the anniversary of his memorial service and on Monday, June 13, hiked from the shelter to Rocky Top. We finished our task when we returned to the cove late Monday afternoon.

It was David’s wish that we do this. (It may not have been this specific place where he wanted his ashes scattered; all he wanted was that they be scattered somewhere on the Appalachian Trail). Maybe it was his way to ensure that his hiking buddies would be held together to do at least one last thing. He probably knew we needed the exercise. I am sure he knew we needed to see the flame azalea, Mountain Laurel, and blackberry buds. He knew we needed to hear water tumble over the rocks in a creek, see a toad, and sleep on some hard shelter floor and see another awesome, staggering vista. He knew we needed blistered feet and sore, aching calves. These serve as adrenaline to this group of intrepid walkers. They also serve as both the excuse and reason for a long-enduring friendship. We cherish the memories of both.

To David we say, “We were honored to know you. You blessed our lives. You made us better men. We thank God for giving you to us. We pray you will rest comfortably atop Rocky Top. As you might have wanted, the view is great in all directions.”

Readers, see for yourselves. Enjoy the hike. For the “3 amigos,” it kicked our butts. Our blisters were our badges. For this we say, “Thank you, David.”

Proverbs 27:17 – People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron. (GNT)

Ecclesiastes 12.7 – Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us. (GNT)

Ecclesiastes 7.14 – God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next. (GNT)

Psalm 104 – God’s creation, the darkness and light, moon, mountains, springs, rivers, trees, grass, birds, and wild animals are all from God. Praise God for His creation.

Part 4 – Now the Cravats

Ten or more years of data are needed to calculate a frequency analysis determining recurrence intervals. The more historical data the better; a hydrologist will have more faith in an analysis of a river with 30 years of record than one based on 10 years of record.

Also, recurrence intervals at a given location can change, particularly if there are significant upstream operational changes to an impoundment or flow diversion (if one exists) or surrounding land development (rural to urban land uses) resulting in increased paved or impervious surfaces where water runs off and becomes streamflow rather than being absorbed into the soil.

It is also possible that a precipitation event and streamflow event may not correlate. This can be due to the extent of a rainfall event in a watershed. Rainfall may be measured at one point within a watershed and because rainfall is intensely localized and not uniform throughout a basin, the anticipated streamflow may not occur. Similarly, rainfall amounts throughout a basin can differ greatly from the rainfall amount measured at one or two locations because they simply did not receive the same amount of precipitation.


Several factors can independently influence the cause-and-effect relation between rainfall and streamflow.

Finally, another factor affecting the cause-and-effect relationship between rainfall and streamflow is soil saturation before the storm event (antecedent precipitation). Existing conditions prior to a storm event can influence the amount of stormwater runoff into a stream. Dry soils allow greater infiltration of rainfall and reduce the amount of runoff entering the stream. Conversely, soil that is already wet from previous rains has a lower capacity for infiltration, allowing more runoff to enter the stream.

So, in case you thought hydrologists have it all down tightly, many factors need to be carefully weighed when it comes to predicting a flood event. The issue is not whether a flood will occur; that appears certain. The issue for us is “when” will the next flood occur?

You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. - Deuteronomy 16.12

“Rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5.45

The Ever-So-Dry FEMA Lexicon of Flood Zones Unless You Are Flooded

Part 3

In my last post I mentioned the National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA Flood Maps. This post will try and summarize what they are all about so that if you check on a piece of property and find it in a SFHA (Special Flood Hazard Area) you can figure out what it means. Here’s the “dump.”

Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM)
Flood zones are geographic areas that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has identified and established according to levels of flood risk. The areas are depicted on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM). The various zones within the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reflect the severity or type of flooding in the area.

One of these areas is the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), which is defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 1-percent-annual-chance flood is also referred to as the "base flood."

SFHA areas are further subdivided and labeled as Zone A, Zone AO, Zone AH, etc.

Areas between the 100-year (or “base flood”) and 500-year (or 0.2-percent-annaul-chance) flood boundaries are defined as "moderate flood hazard areas." “Moderate flood hazard areas,” labeled Zone B or Zone X (shown as lightly shaded) are also shown on the FIRM. The FIRM also refers to these areas as “Other Flood Areas.” Also, it is possible that structures in these zones can be flooded by severe, concentrated rainfall coupled with inadequate local drainage systems. Local stormwater drainage systems are not normally considered in a community's FIS. The failure of a local drainage system can create areas of higher flood risk within these rate zones.

The areas of “minimal flood hazard,” which are the areas outside the SFHA and higher than the elevation of the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood, are labeled Zone C or Zone X. Areas above the 500-year flood level are referred to as "minimal flood hazard areas."

Historically, about one-third of all claims paid by the NFIP are for flood damage in areas identified as having "moderate" and "minimal" risk of flood. Flooding in these is often the result of inadequate local drainage that are very small drainage areas generally not identified on FIRMS.

Below are more detailed descriptions for the various generally outlined flood hazard areas noted above. There are many more zones. I’ve only included the ones that help to define flooding on South Carothers Road.

FEMA’s Legend (in part)
Zones Deemed “Moderate to Low Risk Areas”Zones B and X (Lightly Shaded Areas) – Areas of moderate flood hazard, usually the area between the 100-year and 500-year floods.

Zone B are also used to designate base floodplains of lesser hazards, such as areas protected by levees from 100-year flood, or shallow flooding areas with average depths of less than one foot or drainage areas less than 1 square mile.

Zone X are areas within the 500-year floodplain and have a 0.2% annual chance flood; areas of 1% annual chance flood with average depths of less than 1 foot or with drainage areas less than 1 square mile; and areas protected by levees from 1% annual chance flood.

Zones C and X (Unshaded Areas) – An area of minimal flood hazard, usually depicted on FIRMs as above the 500-year flood level. Zone C may have ponding and local drainage problems that has not warranted a detailed study. Zone X is the area determined to be outside the 500-year flood and protected by levee from 100-year flood.

Zones Deemed “High Risk Areas”
In communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), flood insurance is available to all property owners and renters in designated flood zones. Parcels in “High Risk Areas” are required to purchase flood insurance. Flood insurance is also available to those in other zones not deemed “High Risk,” but it is not required by regulation.

Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) Subject to Inundation by the 1% Annual Chance Flood (Darkly Shaded Areas)
Areas of land in the floodplain subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year have been designated as Zone A on Flood Hazard Boundary Maps (FHBM) and further divided into Zones A, AO, AH, A1-30, AE or A99 on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).

The 1% annual chance flood (100-year flood), also known as the “base flood,” is the flood that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The Special Flood Hazard Area is the area subject to flooding by the 1% annual chance flood. Areas of Special Flood Hazard include Zone A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V and VE. The Base Flood Elevation is the water-surface elevation of the 1% annual chance flood.

Zone A (Darkly Shaded Areas) - No Base Flood Elevation has been determined. These are areas with a 1% annual chance of flooding and a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30-year mortgage. Because detailed analyses are not performed for such areas; no depths or base flood elevations are shown.

Zone AE (Dark Shaded Areas) - Base Flood Elevations have been determined. AE Zones are used on new format FIRMs instead of A1-A30 Zones.

Zone AM (Dark Shaded Areas) – Flood depths of 1 to 3 feet (usually areas of ponding). Base Flood Elevations determined.

Zone AO (dark shaded areas) – Flood depths of 1 to 3 feet (usually sheet flow on sloping terrain) average depths determined. For areas of alluvial fan flooding, velocities also determined.

Hatching in Zones A and AE (Hatching within the Darkly Shaded Areas) - These are “Floodway Areas” within the 100-year floodplain. The Floodway is the channel of a stream plus any adjacent floodplain areas that must be kept free of encroachment so that 1% annual chance flood can be carried without substantial increases in flood height.

Additional Map Notes:
The 0.2% annual chance flood hazard is contained in the culvert under S. Carothers Road. The letters (H-M) within the hexagons indicate cross section lines.

Flood Recurrence Intervals
For those of you interested in statistics and the subject of flood recurrence intervals and the probabilities of occurrences or “chance,” I will probably, ineptly describe the subject of flood recurrence here. It’s the stuff behind lotteries, drawing an ace of spades in poker, lightening strikes to individuals, meteorites hitting a patch of land and miracles. Alas, here goes an explanation.

To begin with, the notion that a storm or a river cresting at a certain stage is a 100-year event is a misinterpretation of the term. Instead, the term "100-year flood" should be viewed as a hydrologic flood event having a “100-year recurrence interval.” What this means is that, using historical rainfall and stream stage data the probability of a certain river reaching a given stage is once in 100 years. Another way of saying it is that it is a flood that has 1 percent chance of happening in any given year. It is a statistical calculation relative to the probability of an occurrence. For rainfall, recurrence intervals are based on both the magnitude and the duration of a rainfall event; for a streamflow event, recurrence intervals are based on quantity or the size of magnitude of an annual peak flow.

In my next post, I will give you a few cravats to this flood event saga.

In case you thought I would forget to include a Biblical reference, here it is:

“Rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5.45

Part 2 – The Statistics of the May 2010 Flood

Earlier, I recounted some of the events that accompanied me, my daughter and two of my grandchildren during the flood of May 2010 in Franklin. We didn’t lose our house, any of our vehicles, or suffer any losses.

Many homes and businesses in the area were not so fortunate. Included in this entry are a few photos (taken by the Tennessean) that show the extensiveness of the flood. Many, many people were affected. A co-worker and friend lives on a knob near the Harpeth River in Kingston Springs. His house was surrounded by flood waters and he could not leave his home for six days. He had no electricity or water service during that time. Currents were so strong around his house, access even by boat was impossible. Food and water had to be dropped to him and his wife by helicopter. He dealt with log-jambs and flood debris washed down the Harpeth River to his site. One year later, log debris is still there. Everyone knows someone who suffered some kind of loss, either a car or other vehicle, a flooded basement, or worst of all, their home. Many folks did not have flood insurance and the problem of flooding went well beyond the 100-year flood. It is this fact that the flood went beyond the 100-year flood that plagues many people. What can we learn from these statistics and what might guide us in the future?

I’ve included a graphic depiction of precipitation over the two-day event (See precipitation charts and maps.). It is an official weather station record. Actual accumulative rain south of Nashville was reportedly greater. Many unofficial gages reported a rainfall of 17-18 inches over the two days. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) reported precipitation to be a 1000-year event. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood mapping shows the Watson Branch-Carothers Road area where flooding covered the road to be in the 500-plus floodplain. The distance from the pavement down to Watson Branch is normally 10 feet. (See photos of the box culvert and Watson Branch in late June.)

You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. Deuteronomy 16.12

“Rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5.45

A Franklin Flood Experience (on the Anniversary of the May 2010 Flood)

In May of last year, the City of Franklin, where I live, experienced severe flooding. We remember this as the “May 2010 Flood” or the “2010 Nashville Flood.”

At any rate, flooding was regionally significant and impacted many residents within the region directly and significantly. Many homes, businesses and vehicles were inundated. The memory of the event is still fresh for many families. Losses were direct, swift and hard.

The flood impacted many more indirectly, and less significantly. To them the impacts continue because of hardships to the lives of friends, co-workers, and relatives. It simply takes a long time for to put life back together after an event of such magnitude. In fact, many continue to repair damaged homes and replace furniture and lost belongings. Many homes were not insured against flooding. Those not directly impacted continue to give assistance to those who did suffer huge losses. It has taken considerable energy, physically and emotional to deal with all of it.

The event, which occurred on May 1 and May 2, 2010, is described in short by many as a 14-inch plus rain event. In Nashville it may have been a bit less, in Franklin, some folks with gauges measured 17 or 18 inches over the two-day period.

So, what does a 1000-year flood look like? It depends on where you live and what you were doing at the time it occurred. For me it kept us away from where I live. Leeanne, Analayne, Leighton and I went to Spring Hill, Tennessee on Saturday, May 1, 2010 to visit my parents, who live in a facility there. Saundria was out-of-town. Of course the weather was horrible that morning. It was raining, but it had been forecasted. At the facility where my parents are living, the tornado sirens sounded and they huddled us into a long hallway, brought out blankets and a guitar and began to sing songs. Some residents complained about having to stay in the hall. One or two, and you might know that one of them is related to me, refused to move from his big, comfortable chair, just because tornados don’t scare them anymore. Besides, as this one resident who is kin said to me, “My time has come.” He meant it; he was and continues to be “ready to go.”


Well, after the tornado warnings expired, Leeanne, Analayne, Leighton and I got back in our car and drove north on I-65 back to Franklin. We exited at State Highway 96 and were on our way down South Carothers Road when we discovered that Watson Branch was overflowing unto the road making it impassable. We knew it was impassable because a Jeep Cherokee was stalled and the water was nearly up to its headlights. Just beyond and parallel to South Carothers Road the water was now overflowing onto the Interstate, a sight I have never seen at that location. We had just driven up the Interstate 3 or 4 minutes earlier. A police officer had come upon the situation and was now turning Interstate traffic around.

I’ve included two photos showing the jeep and water flowing across the Interstate.


Because we could not get home via Carothers, we returned to Highway 96, headed east and turned south on Arno Road, attempting to get to Carothers Road south of the flood blockage through Cedarmont Estates. That failed because of water flowing over several other roads, and so we tried another route, going further south on Arno Road to cross over at another location. Nothing was passable. We must have spent an hour or longer looking for a road or street that would take us to Carothers south of the flooding at Carrington on South Carothers. Every road that might take us to where we wanted to go was flooded.

Because we could not get home, Leeanne, Analayne, Leighton and I decided to eat at Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, a favorite place for all of us. Analayne loves their salsa. During our meal we talked about checking into a hotel for the night and how we had never seen that kind of water before. After our early dinner at Garcia’s we drove back to the Highway 96 and Carothers area to find a motel room. There are numerous motels in the area. Three or 4 cars passed us as we drove south on South Carothers and so we drove further down Carothers to realize the water had receded, the road was passable and a motel was not needed. It was a simple “flash flood” and Watson Branch had both flooded and retreated within a few hours. We could get home. Once home we stayed there glued to television coverage and the phone. Facebook gave us a lot of information also.

The rain continued off-and-on over the evening and night and then on Sunday morning it came in buckets again. Worship services for my church were cancelled, simply because of what we had already witnessed on Saturday, flooded streets and impassable highways. Leeanne learned through Facebook that friends were being flooded. Entire subdivisions and neighborhoods along creeks and rivers were encountering high water. These included areas significantly beyond the 100-year flood. Other friends could not get out of subdivisions or cross town simply because major thoroughfares crossed streams and rivers that had overtopped bridges. A few friends and their families had to be evacuated by boat. It was devastating. The story was retold countless times throughout Franklin and Nashville. The flooding was a regional phenomenon.

Personally, flood damage consisted of an eroded drainage easement in our backyard that I’ve yet to address. Runoff went both under a six-foot wooden fence and between the fence planks. The water then ran hard for approximately 50-60 feet before entering a 24-inch culvert. The amount and velocity of runoff was so great that well-established grass could not maintain its hold. It didn’t help that moles have been active in the area. Rock is needed to correct that situation, even now.

My story is pretty un-dramatic compared to the accounts of others, but in recounting it to others, it is also common. Many people had a difficult time getting home or had to stay with friends or relatives a night or two before returning home. We are thankful for what was given to us.

Future blog entries (in commemoration of the event) will elaborate on other aspects of the flood.

You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. Deuteronomy 16.12

“Rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5.45

Where Am I?

I’ve gotten behind in telling you of my misadventures. We need to catch-up. What caused me to get behind is where I need to begin.


My parents are both living and until December 2009 they were living independently in their own house. Well, trying to live independently might be more accurate. It was very important to them to live life the way they wanted. Nor did they want to be a burden on anyone. The fact of the matter was they needed help just to cover the basics and they tried to cover over or hide most of their memory issues by living on fast food – breakfast, lunch and dinner, and concealing any other events that might prove they were incapable of doing it on their own. The fast food routine (consisting of McDonalds in the morning, and KFC, CiCi’s Pizza, or Arby’s in the afternoon) may have even begun as a measure to conceal problems. The pattern began after I found potatoes burning on the stove one evening and neither could smell or hear what was going on. By the way, we took meals in only to find them still in the refrigerator, days later. Who knows why? It could be they forgot them or that by eating them, they would be admitting they need help. Or maybe they just needed to “get out.”

Other things, like the less-than-routine bills not on bank draft were another problem. One might find an insurance refund in the garage under some stuff 4 months after the postmark date on the envelop, or realize a doctor’s bill was unpaid when I found a “final” statement even though the check register showed the bill had been paid. Someone might even ask, “What happened to the check?” His response was always, “We take care of what needs doing.”

Maybe I was also a bit complicit in their daily-life cover-up of inadequacies. Indeed, I had learned to avoid the few “Hot Button” topics, like giving up driving and moving into an assisted living facility. I also managed to give them their medications every evening after work so I knew they had taken them.


Then there were the household repairs that needed to be made. They didn’t want anything fixed. My dad would complain about the noise. He didn’t want repairmen in the house. It was hard to tell if they just didn’t want to pay anyone to do something, or the fact that he would have to get out of his chair to accommodate the repairmen. Did I say they just didn’t tell you about things that needed attention. It was hard to tell if it was unintentional or part of the cover-up.

So, even after all the concessions, they were not always agreeable and their attempts to not be a burden were becoming a real burden.

Then in December my mother went into the hospital with an infection. A day or two before she was to return home, my brother and I gave them a choice, move into an assisted living facility or agree to have home health care assistance. Not surprisingly my dad chose home health. Then someone ran into my dad’s SUV (ironically, he was not driving it) and it was “totaled.”

And so the story cycled to the issue of the car. It became his obsession. Simply, put, my brother and I could not let him get another car and so it appeared the world was conspiring against him as I had gone to all the car dealerships in the area and told them not to sell this man a car. They were all agreeable.

After two months our mother went into the hospital again and my dad went in shortly thereafter. At that point my brother and I moved them into an assisted. Several years ago they had given us power of attorney. We gave them no choice.

They are now living in an assisted living memory unit. It is new and smaller than most such facilities. There is a large fenced courtyard for them in which they can sit as well as help staff grow a few vegetables and flowers. Mom enjoys music and games every day. Her memory continues to decline rapidly. Pop enjoys one big reclining chair. After seven months they have adjusted to their new surroundings. The staff there is great. Children, grandchildren, two nieces and even great grandchildren have visited them. I’ve included a video clip of three of their great grandchildren entertaining them - two of them are “clogging.” Other photos are of them and their room. We don’t talk about the car or the house. It’s a good thing.




Pop does ask, “Where am I?” He does on every visit I make to see them. He may ask it several times. It appears to me that relationships (with people and places) remain important to know who we are and that we are secure.

Our remembrances of the past seem to help us all. What am I learning? I am working at being more flexible and agreeable to the notions that my children and grandchildren have about where I need to be and what I need to do. If I heed their advice and encouragement and they seek whatever wisdom I might have, perhaps all will go smoothly. Hopefully I can establish a pattern of it that will endure into my senior years. I suppose we call this communication.


Just as God sought to speak to Israel (Isaiah 1.18 says, “Come, let us reason together.”) I need to be continually open to His will and to what my children have to say.

Biblical References:

1 Timothy 5.1 says, “Engage with and encourage the elderly.”

Proverbs 12.15 – Wise men listen to counsel (even elderly men and women).

Ecclesiastes 12.1-8 – “Acknowledge God and establish a godly pattern of living before you are confronted with an endless run of trouble and physical problems, and you say, “Life isn’t worth living any more.” When you say, “Life is gloomy; my hands and legs are unsure and I’m prone to fall; my shoulders and back are no longer strong; my teeth are few; I no longer see well and I have a hard time hearing birds sing; I’m unable to sleep well; I’m afraid of falling; I’m crippled because I’ve had a stroke; I no longer have any sexual desire. All that awaits me is death. So it is that we all die and return to dust. So it is, those who mourn us yet live on. So it is that the sprit of God within us will return to Him.

2 Corinthians 4.16 – Do not give up becoming who you need to become, even though your body is falling apart and you are getting old and eventually will die.

1 Timothy 5.1-2 - Do not ignore or give older men a difficult time, but encourage them as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and with all propriety, the younger women as sisters.

The Disney Experience

In January the Keck clan spent a week in Florida. This included my son, daughter-in-law and their two children (Hadley and Shepherd) and my daughter, son-in-law and their two children (Analayne and Leighton). Most memorable were the three days at Disney World near Orlando. The weather was wonderful, pretty much the entire week, except for one night while storms passed through the area. The mornings were cool and the afternoons warm, a pleasant relief from Middle Tennessee this year, which has been cold and snowy. Aside from the weather at this time of year, Disney World is an impressive and absorbing environment. The land on which it stands was assembled in the late sixties with the Magic Kingdom built-out and opening in October 1971. It was the culmination of a dream by Walt Disney who died before the project was complete. The dream was to create a place for families to enjoy themselves. Disney was in the entertainment business. His animations and stories solidified, beginning with my generation, a unique American culture on which families now regularly build. He saw opportunities and he seized them.

What struck me about this adventure with four young children was my own history with Walt Disney. It has been a long journey, spanning 55 years. For me, it began in the mid-fifties on a small screen, black and white television. It began with a TV series beginning in the fall of 1954 referred to as “Disneyland.” Even though Disney had been at work during the thirties and forties doing full-length feature animations, they didn’t resonate with us baby-boomers until the mid-fifties. Through this portal we encountered Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Davy Crockett, Briar Rabbit (Song of the South), Dumbo, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The weekly, hour-length show was almost ceremonial as the family gathered around the TV to watch. It was about the same time Disney captivated us by also opening a place in California called “Disneyland.” It was a place of magic, because it was attractive and for most of us a bit “out-of-reach.” It included a castle, a roller coaster and live walking characters (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy) right out of his animated features.

Shortly after “Disneyland” (the show) began its run in the fall of 1955, Disney hooked us boomers with another show featuring serial stories and a special club song. It included a group of energetic kids and called itself “The Mickey Mouse Club.” The serial story I best remember was officially known as, “Spin and Marty.” I just remember it as being about a couple of boys, a little older than I, at the time spending time at the Triple-R Ranch.

Add to these creditable products, the periodic movies Disney produced (Parent Trap, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the World, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Absent Minded Professor (Flubber) and Swiss Family Robinson and it was inevitable that Disney World would manifest itself somewhere in Florida.

My first visit to Disney World was in December 1971. My father-in-law had died the previous January and my mother-in-law needed an alternative to a “traditional Christmas.” Because my grandparents were spending the winter in Kissimmee, we all went to Disney World. It turned out to be a wonderful time for everyone. I can still recall my grandmother’s astonishment when at the conclusion of a ghost-house ride a bodiless, eerie voice called out to her and said, “Come back soon, Madge.” Did I mention that her given name was “Madge?”

Since that initial visit, we’ve been to Disney World several times. In December 1985, when our own children were 8 and 10 years old, our family spent another Christmas there with friends, Greg and Marcia. On that trip Chad and Leeanne tried, without success to drown my friend Greg in a hotel pool. It also began their addiction to all things Disney. By then, EPCOT had been added (in 1982) and we spent a day there. EPCOT was a “World’s Fair” kind of experience. In 1989 Hollywood Studies opened, and in 1998 Animal Kingdom.

Notice in the accompanying photos most of us in front of the resort where we stayed. It is a Disney Resort focusing on the 50s, 60s and seventies called “Pop Century.” At the restaurant serving this “motel” style facility, Elvis and other early rock and roll musicians were played. It was my heritage. Other photos show my grandchildren embracing stuffed animals, specifically: Crush (“Finding Nemo”), Baby Dumbo, Lady (“Lady and the Tramp”) and Pluto.

The family experiences related to Disney remind me of scripture. There are examples in the Bible when godly people failed to properly connect with their children and their children appeared to lose their way. There are examples when one child is “favored” over others and they had a second-class type of citizenship. There are admonitions to tell children stories conveying heritage and values. Scripture also makes the point we are to value children because they have great value to God. So I guess the point is, we are to be relationally relevant to children. It is important to simply play with them, to enjoy what they enjoy. Biblically, both Timothy and Paul had ancestors that made deposits to their lives.

Disney might have put it this way, “Families need to enjoy time together.” I think what Disney has done has been to create places and tell stories where family can spend time together and then talk about what they have seen and done. We had a wonderful shared experience. Hopefully we have added to relationships in which our children and grandchildren will thrive. Maybe my photos will help everyone remember what we saw and did.

Scripture:
Deuteronomy 6.7 – As you go, teach your children that God is good.
Deuteronomy 6. 20 – When your son or daughter asks you, you can say what the Lord has done for you.
Psalm 78.4 – Tell the next generation what God has done, His power and wonders.
Psalm 79.13 – God’s people will praise Him and from generation to generation they will recount it.
Psalm 145.4 – One generation will commend God’s works to another.
Proverbs 10.1 – A wise son makes a father glad.
Ecclesiastes 11.9 – Enjoy your youth within God’s boundaries.
Mark 3.25 – A house that is divided withers.

Luke 9.48 – And Jesus said to them, “Whoever respects a child because they love me receives me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

Ephesians 6.1-4 – Children, obey your parents, for this is right. Similarly, fathers should not provoke their children to anger.
2 Timothy 1.3-5 – Paul said, “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors. Similarly, I am reminded of your faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother and your mother.”

2 John 1.4 – I rejoice to find some of your children walking in the truth.