June 15, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Well, actually I’m reporting from the swimming hole out in the county. A lake swimming hole. A beautiful place to swim and now that school is officially out – Yay!! – I can go swimming there with a couple of girls from church. Their grandparents own a house alongside the …
A Cat Like Lucinda
June 8, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Do you like cats? I like dogs better. But you know that if you’ve read those books about Hollyhill. I wanted a dog so much I said a dog prayer and the Lord let me find a dog over in the woods and bring it home. I named him Zebedee, …
Memorial Day in Hollyhill & More of Bailey’s Bug
May 30, 1966 Jocie Brooke reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. This picture wasn’t taken in Hollyhill, but you knew that. It’s a picture Dad showed me of a cemetery in France to help me think about what Memorial Day really means. It’s not just picnics and the local swimming pool opening for the summer and school being out. Memorial Day is …
Tests are the Price You Pay to Get out of School
May 23, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. School is almost out! Yay!! I really do like school, but I’m always really, really glad when summer comes calling. We have about one more week. Five and one-half day to be exact. We have tests and more tests. You have to take tests or summer can’t come. But nothing …
A Blind Man Healed with Mud
May 17, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky, the town where not much ever happens. Sigh. Dad says I should be glad not much happens in our hometown. Wes says I need to pay attention and see that things are happening all around me. And Zella says I need to quit making so much happen and stay out …
Good Mothers Don’t Grow on Trees
May 10, 1965 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky on the day after Mother’s Day. Everybody always makes such a big deal out of Mother’s Day. I guess that’s good. Most mothers need a day when they are a big deal. But I don’t much like Mother’s Day. You see, not everybody has a good mother. I didn’t. …
Lucky Debonair Wins the Derby
May 3, 1965 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky where even though we’re churchgoers who don’t believe in gambling, we watch the Kentucky Derby. Even Aunt Love. I’m not sure, but I think maybe Aunt Love would put a bet down on a horse if she got half a chance. Just in the Derby, mind you. But still, that …
Yum! Banana Croquettes!
April 25, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. It’s Monday. A quiet day at school. All the teachers wanted to talk about was finals and that we better study. I do study. Or at least I will before the tests. Didn’t have much time for studying this weekend. We had a dinner at church Sunday. That meant I …
The Legend of the Dogwood
April 20, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. I like April. Do you like April? You can count how much more there is of school by weeks instead of months. You can forget about coats most of the time. You can see everything turn green. You can play out in the rain because sometimes it just showers down …
Sunrise in Hollyhill
April 13, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Not a lot to report today. Well, Dad says every day holds its own special blessings. Didn’t the sun come up today, he’ll ask me. If I say of course it did, he’ll tell me that some things shouldn’t be taken for granted. That the sunrise every morning is blessing. …