Category: Betty Thomason Owens

Higher Learning

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens

Hello, Thursday Morning readers! As I’m writing this, a squirrel is staring at me. I seem to be an object of great interest. This means the squirrels have gleaned what they like from the birdfeeder, leaving only what they don’t like. So, they sent this one to place an order for a refill. 🙂

We’re never too old to learn new things. In fact, it’s good for our mental stability to continue to pursue knowledge and build ourselves up. Today, I’d like to share a few things that may help “feed” and fortify you for the days ahead.

Just like you need to strengthen your core physically with exercise, you also need to strengthen your core spiritually. — Anne Graham Lotz

Number one on my list is the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. We had to cancel the in-person conference usually held in beautiful Elizabethtown, Kentucky. It is now available—in its full length—as an online conference. Yes, that is the right price! Only $20.20, and if you can’t watch it live, you’ll have access to the conference later.

You’ll find all the information you need right here: Write the Vision 2020

Please note that there is also a Teen Track available (taught by my friend Crystal Caudill):

So You Want to Be An Author? A Workshop for the Next Generation | Fiction​

This 3-hour interactive workshop geared for teenagers will introduce the basics of writing for the publishing world. In the first session, participants will learn about guidelines for genres, common terminology, and the three rules which must never be broken. During the second session, participants will examine the three-act structure and develop a loose three-act outline. Participants will leave with a handful of resources to help them grow and the tools necessary to write a story fit for publishing.

Do you like devotionals? Here are two brand new good ones, written by friends of mine—

Glimpses of God – a summer devotional for women, by Shirley Crowder & Harriet Michael

Creator God made the world in which we live. He placed the moon and stars in the sky, the rivers and oceans on the earth. He also created seasons throughout the year. Each season is defined by specific features and attributes that are common.

As Christ-followers we experience spiritual seasons. Though these seasons do not come in order like seasons in nature, each spiritual season we experience is defined by certain features also.

This devotional is focused on summer—both calendar and spiritual. Our spiritual summer is a time of growth, hard work, and relaxation as we nurture and care for the new things that were planted in our spiritual spring and allow them to ripen or mature.

Adventures in Fatherhood – A Devotional, by Carlton Hughes and Holland Webb

Adventure along with two dads in a devotional journey full of wisdom and warning.

Being a great father is not for the weak of heart! It’s an adventure every step of the way. Whether you’re fixing boo-boos and changing diapers, or coaching soccer and carpooling teenagers, you’ll find spiritual insight and practical advice in this devotional by Carlton Hughes and Holland Webb. The authors blend personal experiences with humor and spiritual application to encourage you, dad, to do your best for God and for your family.

Ellie Claire’s devotionals offer short inspirational readings, paired with inspiring quotes and Scripture verses to encourage your heart.

See you next week for another chapter of my family history!

Which Path Are You?

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens5 Comments

Hello, Thursday Morning readers. I usually mention the weather here, but honestly, I’m getting pretty tired of it. It’s mid-May and winter paid a visit. So, here we are shivering in our sweatshirts and heavy socks.

Maybe it’s the unpredictable weather that has me longing for a getaway.

Being shut-in for a few weeks can make you long for the great outdoors. We missed our vacation this year and travel is still restricted, so I’m looking at photos of places I’d love to go. I love leisurely walks. Honestly, it doesn’t matter whether it’s on the beach, or in a park. A scene like this one invites me in.

But then, there’s this–I want to go there, too.

Ah, Lake Cumberland—this is where we went last year.

I’ve been here, too. I’d love to go back for another look.

How to choose?

What’s your favorite vacation destination?

All in the Brew

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens2 Comments

Hello, Thursday Morning readers! Once again, the weather has given us a big surprise. After an absolutely beautiful non-Derby Day, winter has returned to the Ohio Valley. Is anyone else underwhelmed?

There is a bright side, however. The cooler temps mean I can have another cup of coffee. I’ve received a second shipment of my favorite local beans, so it’s gonna be good!

This has been a week of exits for me. I resigned one of my jobs, effective end of June, and a multi-author blog I’d co-created and co-developed, is slated to close at the end of May.

Though goodbyes are coming in on both fronts, I’m at peace. I trust in God’s timing for everything. He knows what lies ahead and He is never taken by surprise. Don’t you love that? I suppose that’s the reason for my peace.

And just in case you’re wondering, I live in the Louisville area, so the first Saturday in May is BIG. Except for this year. The Derby has been postponed. So, we had a non-Derby Day for only the second time in history.

Getting back to my work downgrade, what will I do with all those spare hours? Writers can always use more time. In fact, there’s no such thing as “spare time” for the writer. Each empty moment is an opportunity for either writing or thinking about writing.

A story is always brewing in my mind. Even the not so empty moments can be filled with stories. I often work through story elements as I garden, or while I walk.

Right now, I’m working on a suspense novel. The main characters are vying for my attention throughout the day. I was about a third of the way through this one when I realized the timing was off. So, I had to go back and rework many of the scenes to blend them together.

It was as if I’d written them all separately as free-standing stories. I’m not sure how that happened, except that I’d been extremely busy and was trying to fit writing moments into my day.

My lead male character is Jake Bradley, a struggling reporter. He stumbles on what he believes will be his best story yet, but there are many roadblocks. I like Jake. He’s a country boy at heart, but he has ambition.

Since it was Friday morning, I’d expected more activity at police headquarters, where I had that ten o’clock meeting with Detective Scott. The boss had insisted I turn over any information I’d dug up on those two goons in the black LTD.

“That girl’s life could be in danger,” he’d said.

I ran a comb through my unruly locks before I headed inside. I was no dummy, but I figured if they wanted her, they’d had their shot. I grimaced. Maybe that was a bad choice of words.

In appearance, Jake looks a little like a young Tom Wopat (circa Dukes of Hazzard). He tends to swagger and drives a muscle car. Fun!

I’m looking forward to writing this story, so having more time to write is definitely a good thing. Will it be any good? It’s kind of like brewing the perfect pot of coffee.

Sometimes it’s the beans, and sometimes it’s all in the brew.

Family History

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens, family

Last week, I wrote about a 1939 Packnett family reunion in New Mexico. My mother’s mother, Audrie Packnett Christy, was about twenty-six years old at the time.

My grandpa wasn’t with them but his family, the Christys, also have western roots.

Hello, Thursday Morning readers. Quarantine may have grounded us for a while, but it can’t keep us down. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my family during this time. I have pioneers and cowboys in my bloodline. They had to be tough and sometimes, well…it showed.

Grandpa Christy’s mother was a Younger. Her parents are pictured here. This is Alexander and Prilda Younger. I reckon they were farmers, or maybe ranchers from the looks of them. Great-great-grandpa Younger never went anywhere without that hat. Somewhere, I have a photo of a more youthful Alexander, in the same style hat.

This cute couple ended up living in a travel trailer, parked in their grandson’s yard in Amarillo, Texas. I wish I could’ve known them. Oh, what questions I’d ask them!

Alexander hailed from the Missouri Territory. His daddy was a Union sympathizer during the Civil War. I’ll bet he was a popular guy, huh? He looked a lot like one of the Duck Dynasty guys, with a long beard that hung to his belt.

Junior married and headed West to claim his own land. Maybe this is why I loved those Janette Oke books so much.

The Christy Family, 1937

Years later, their daughter, Minnie Younger, would marry Great-Grandpa Christy. Those two had four sons. Grandpa was the middle child because the eldest two were twins. The twins spent their lives working for the railroad in Amarillo, Texas. Grandpa married Audrie Packnett. They left Oklahoma during the dustbowl days, seeking greener pastures.

There are so many stories in these old photos. I’m sure much of their life was ordinary but we know ordinary lives include magical days. There’ll be hard days, too, when the wells of hope dry up like those dusty fields of the thirties.

Looking at these familiar faces gives me a profound sense of peace. I have a good, strong heritage. Folks who weren’t afraid to work hard. Mom is the youngest in these two photos. She’s 86 now. When I think of all the places she’s been, what she endured after these sweet days of her childhood—the breakup of her parents’ marriage, her mother’s death when Mom was only 22—my heart fills with gratitude.

Mom & Me

She raised me to ride the waves of hardship, knowing that difficulties come to everyone, but what you do during and after the tough times, that is what defines a person. Those hard times make the good times all the sweeter.

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you’re staying strong and healthy.

And if anyone out there knows what Great-great-grandma Prilda’s name means, I’d love to know. I couldn’t find any information. I’ve never heard of anyone else with that name.

Reunion in New Mexico

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens

The week before the quarantine, I visited Mom’s new apartment. It’s smaller than her former one, so she wanted me to take her collection of photos. She was afraid something would happen and they would be accidentally thrown away.

I happily agreed, but that was before I knew there were four boxes of photos. Four large boxes. There are numerous albums, shoeboxes stuffed with photo envelopes, and letters from family all over the nation labeled, “photos enclosed.” There is even a sleeve of slides (try saying that aloud three times) and a reel of film from the fifties.

*Sigh*

Hello, Thursday Morning readers! I am so happy you’re here. I hope you’ll join me for a cup of coffee, or your preferred morning beverage.

If we’re friends on Facebook, you’ve probably already seen some of the pictures I found in Mom’s collection.

My mom has a very interesting family who managed to spread out all over the American West. I feel very blessed to have known them, though I didn’t get to see them in person all that often. When I was a child, we tended to pass through on the way somewhere. We’d plan our trips with a night in Amarillo with the twin uncles, a night in El Paso at Aunt Goldie’s, a stopover in Blythe, California at Grandma Cain’s (my great grandmother), before arriving in L.A. to visit Grandpa.

Mom’s sister lived in Oregon and then Idaho. Their half-brother lives in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho, and they have cousins in Seattle, Washington, Butte, Montana, East Texas, and who knows where else.

Carolyn (child in front) sent Mom these photos.

So, when I discovered the 1939 Packnett family reunion photos from the ranch they called “The Canyon” in New Mexico, well, I practically jumped up and down. These beautiful black-and-white photos document a rare (for them) family get-together long before I was born.

I had always heard about the ranch and Mom’s “cowboy cousins,” but I’d never seen these photos because we didn’t have them until they were sent to Mom by the little girl in this shot.

Marvin, Evelyn Brobak, & Ruford

I look at these faces, most of them so familiar to me, and I’m in a sort of awe. I haven’t seen them in years, yet I can almost hear their joyful voices.

Mom’s family kept in touch and visited when we lived in Southern California. The man on the left in this photo (my Great-Uncle Marvin) married the young woman next to him, and they later settled in Seattle.

My Great-Uncle Ruford on the right, moved around a lot. He used to write letters to my mom. She called him “Uncle Rufie.”

The Packnett Ladies

My grandmother is back left in this photo of all the Packnett women. She died when I was two, so I don’t remember her. But I feel as though I know her. She was one of the first to hold me when I was born. And somehow, I know I loved her.

Years later, I would stand beside her grave in Seattle, Washington, surprised by tears and the unexpected emotion of that moment. Seeing her beautiful face in these photos gives light to her existence and helps me know her better.

Great Grandma Packnett (back right in above photo) later became Grandma Cain when she remarried. We visited her house in Blythe (CA). I remember her house, and that they had grapevines in their backyard.

The lovely lady on the right was my Aunt Goldie. She and her husband lived in El Paso, Texas. Their daughter, Carolyn, is the one who later sent the pictures. We visited them often over the years.

The woman front left is Aunt Edris. I don’t really remember her.

My Great-Uncles! The guy in the middle is Goldie’s husband, Dick.
The five siblings with their mother and Goldie’s daughter, Carolyn.
My Mom at 6 y.o. – Front Right

The photos below are my grandmother. I think she must have had a lovely visit with her family before she returned to Seattle with her daughters (Grandpa stayed behind, probably working).

Is it odd or strange to love people you never really knew that well? There’s a strong bond within me to the folks in these photos, though I grew up thousands of miles away from most of them. Mom kept that alive through her lifelong communications with them. Communication she shared with her children so, when we came to this point, we’d know them and love them as she did.

That’s an important point to make in our present circumstances. Though distance and protective measures keep us parted, we need to keep the lines of communication open so that our children’s future will include their extended family. I can’t imagine my life being as rich if I hadn’t known or known of this wonderful family.

To be continued…