Bill Lee

I have been working really hard on my next book for the last few days. This one is going to be about education including sections about some of the teachers I had when I was a student, several stories and memories about my teaching and coaching days and then a whole lot about the years as a principal and district level administrator.

I hope to have it ready to publish by the end of the summer, maybe before if I can get editing completed and a few pictures collected that I am trying to get together.  Also been working really hard writing some of the material and editing earlier writings cleaning up grammar, usage, typos, etc.  Re-reading some of these makes me feel it is going to be a great read with lots of funny stories, some really sad ones of not so good days and some others about things said and done by kids that are hilarious. Also a few tales about things some teachers did and some really funny stories about a few of the things said by them to me, to other teachers and students.

Still deciding on a title but probably something like Real Life Educational Stories by a Dirt Road Educator  or maybe Memories of A Lifetime at School by a Dirt Road Educator.

Something like this to be in keeping with the Dirt Road theme of the first book and a couple of others planned about more dirt road stories and memories of life, observations, memories and tales of growing up and living around here.   Even have picked up some possible stories from other folks who have told me tales about their own growing up around here that may be used. I can’t even begin to tell folks how many people have told me how much the stories in my first book reminded them of their own raising and have wanted to share some of these memories with me.

Anyway, working on the new book and hope to have completed soon. And, some of you should not be surprised if your story ends up as one of the essays or chapters in the book. Just a fair warning!   Will try to change the names in most cases to protect the guilty.

Mike, Anna, Garrett and me went to see the great group Alabama in concert last night in Orange Beach/Gulf Shores, AL. It was a great show from the best group in the history of country music. (My opinion but would not get many arguments on this from lots of folks.) Had great seats and could sing along with almost every song as I have been a fan of the group since their first album in the 1980’s. Decided to go see them after reading of some health issues which their great guitar and fiddle player, Jeff Cook is experiencing having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a little over a  year ago. He was able to come on stage last night for a couple of songs but is not able to perform on a regular basis. Our prayers are with him in this battle. But, super glad we got to see them again and to hear them sing many of their great hits from over the years along with a few  new songs from an album they have put out a few months back. I am posting a couple of photos from the evening including one of the group and one of Jeff Cook singing the great Merle Haggard song  “Working Man Blues.” Glad I got to spend the evening with Mike, Anna, and Garrett at this event.

Alabama in Concert – Orange Beach, AL

Jeff Cook Singing Working Man Blues

Bill, Mike, Anna, Garrett enjoying the Alabama concert.

On Wednesday, I posted a writing of some memories about pocket knives that belonged to my Pa, my dad and a very good friend of mine who passed away suddenly over a year ago. The memories were about the knives and how much they mean to me as a memory of the people to whom the knives belonged. But, in response to the blog post, I got a reply from a former student of mine who gave me an unexpected and deeply moving blessing.

In the reply, he made some comments about his own memories of pocket knives that belonged to his grand dad and some of the things that his grand dad had taught him when using a knife and how precious these memories are to him. He talked of his grand dad peeling sugar cane for him and taking him hunting, fishing and teaching him about life. He recalled things his grand dad had done for him and how these things had helped him to become a man.

Then, he went into a remembrance from a very hard and difficult time in his life (and the life of his family) when his brother had been tragically killed in an automobile accident years ago.  At the time, I was the principal at Holmes County High and had gone to visit the family to express my condolences to them in their loss. Let me just say, the times in which we lost a student to unexpected and untimely deaths were the absolute worst times as a principal because I wanted so badly to be able to help alleviate the pain of the parents and other family members during these times but had no ability to do so other than just be there.

Anyway, this young man expressed to me how much he appreciated my being there for his family and him personally during their loss and thanked me in a most kind and touching way by recalling what I had done, what I had said and the advice I had given him during that time. He even recalled I had given him a small, silver cross and telling him of how the Lord was the only answer in the difficult times of life.

If you would like to read his entire response, it is in the comments of the blog from that day. It made my day and I will treasure his response for as long as I have my right mind.

In the business of  education, we often do not get to see the fruits of our labor and  have to just keep on keeping on, believing what we are doing will make a difference in the lives of the students with whom we have contact without benefit of seeing these results.

But yesterday, I got an unexpected gift from a young man and it was a great feeling to know that I made a difference to him. Thank you Tony for the gift.

This post about a pocket knife  that belong to my Pa (grandfather) and about another pocket knife that belonged to my dad is a memory of some simple things in life that mean a great deal to me and covers over 50 years in time. It is also about another pocket knife that will also mean a great deal to me for a different reason. Maybe the two memories mean so much to me for the same exact reason.

I was the last baby boy born into the Lee family. As such, not to be bragging but just stating fact, I was  spoiled rotten by my Pa and was special to him. Since I was the baby, I had him all to myself for several years before I started school and we spent a lot of quality time together. He only had a few possessions that meant anything to him and he always told me he wanted me to have two of them. One of these was a simple gold ring that he had worn since he was a very young man and the other was his pocket knife.

About a year before he passed away, my hand had finally grown large enough that the ring he wore would fit my finger and he made me take the ring. I acted like I did not want to take it from him but really I was thrilled to have his ring on my finger. Though my fingers have long outgrown the ring, I still have it in a safe place and will one day pass it on to one of my grandsons.

My Pa’s health was very bad the last several months of his life and one day not long before he passed away as I was standing at his bedside, he tried to give me his knife. But, I told him he might still need it sometime and so I did not take it. When he passed away just a few days later, a relative went to his night stand and took the knife and I never saw it again.  This was very hard on me as I knew then and now that he wanted me to have the knife and I regret deeply not taking the knife when he tried to give it to me.

Like almost every many I knew growing up, my dad was also a pocket knife man. He was a Case man and carried a Case Trapper, 2 bladed knife with a yellow handle.He would have about 3 knives in service at any one time.  He usually had a relatively new one, in one pocket, the one he used the most in his front jeans pocket and one that was just about worn out with a thin blade that had been sharpened many, many times in his back pocket. All of these knives were razor sharp and would shave the hair on your arm smooth as a baby’s behind.

As happens to  many folks who are blessed with long lives, my dad had very poor health in the last few months of his life and ended up in the hospital several times and eventually in a nursing home. I was with him when he was admitted to the hospital for what would be the last time before passing away, I had his clothes and accessories in my possession when this happened. Wanting to make sure that all of his possessions were secure, I immediately took everything he had with him at the time of his admission, including the 3 pocket knives in his pants and carried them to my house. A few days later, after my dad passed away. and after his  funeral service, I gave one of these knives to my brother, one to a nephew and grandson of dad, and I kept one for myself. I was going to make sure that I did not lose my dad’s knives like I had my Pa’s.

I now have this knife, along with a few others that mean a lot to me in a small display case in my office or man cave that I look at each and every time I am in there.

Then today, I got a call from the wife, actually the widow now, of one of the best friends I ever had. This dear friend and I had worked together years ago in Calhoun county and were best friends during the years we worked together. We both loved the outdoors and we hunted and fished together often. In addition, we spent many days and nights together with our wives traveling, dining out, going to the beach and just visiting with each other. Even after I moved, we remained very close friends over the years. Tragically, he passed away at the age of 61 a little over a year ago. When he died, a piece of me died with him as it was like losing a brother.

Upon answering the phone and spending a few minutes just chatting and catching up, she told me the reason she called me and that was to tell me that she wanted me to have a couple of my friends pocket knives if I would like them.  Obviously I told her I would love to have them if she wanted me to have them.

These two knives will always, as long as I am alive and able to know what is going on, have an honored place in my small display case right by my dad’s knife and the others in the case.  I will look at them often and recall the love for my dad and my friend.

Though they may not be very valuable to anyone else, they will be priceless to me.

As I was riding by Memorial Field a few minutes ago, I saw that it was graduation night for Holmes County High School. Counting my own and those of my children, some nieces and nephews, and 15 years as the principal, I must have attended 20 or of these nights.

This night is always full of excitement for the graduates and their families as the seniors get ready to set off on new life experiences and adventures. They will toss their hats in the air and celebrate this new beginning with anticipation of the years ahead. In many respects they are like the baby birds of spring taking that first leap into the wild blue yonder, not really sure where their wings will take them but knowing they are ready to just go. Here is wishing good luck and happy trails to all of this year’s graduates.

On another quick note, I could not help but notice the clouds in the sky as I drove by the stadium and feeling a little touch of pain for principal Mickey Hudson and his senior sponsors. Will the rain hold off? Will it rain half way through the ceremony? Should we have moved it to the gym? What did the radar show at 2:00, at 4:00, at 6:00, at 30 minutes before the start of the ceremony?

All I can say is been there and done that several times. Moved some to the gym and it did not rain a drop in spite of best forecast from national weather service. Did not move some and had rain show up during the ceremony. Had times when there was not a cloud in the sky at 4:00 and rain drops as big as your thumb pouring down at 6:30.  One time I remember riding through town in the back of a pickup truck, holding on to the PA system and other items with rain so hard you could hardly see at about 7:00. Got my clothes soaking wet to the skin an did not have time to get home and get dry duds on. Did graduation while every stitch on me was soaking wet except my gown.

And without a doubt, in every one of these situations, some genius always thought “How can that school principal and the people who work there be so stupid? They should have done it in the other place.”

So, for Mr. Hudson and the rest of the staff ,the graduates and their families, I hope the rain holds off and the graduation ceremony is wonderful.

I went to another softball game to see one of my grand daughters play tonight. As I currently have 4 grand daughters playing various levels of softball with 2 in a T-ball league, 1 in a coach pitch league and 1 in the 11 and 12 age division, I have no trouble finding a game to attend on one of several nights during the week. These grands are playing in 2 different town leagues and therefore, I have the opportunity to travel to several different games and towns to watch these games. Like tonight, I had the choice to see games in 2 places so I chose the one closest to home and am planning to see the others play a couple of nights from now

Going to these games over the last few years, I am amazed at the numbers of parents who are all in when it comes to their children playing ball. They have them in leagues at the local level and many also have their children playing “travel ball” all over the southeast on the weekends in softball for girls and baseball for boys. Some of these parents with both boys and girls of the age to play these sports have a son (or sons) and a daughter (or daughters) playing on different travel teams which requires one or both parents to be on the road each weekend going to some tournament or other with their children.  Knowing this and seeing the time spent in this endeavor, I guess I am glad that my own daughters never really expressed a desire to play softball though I did get to travel with them plenty enough when they were cheerleaders in school.

This also caused me to think back to my own childhood when things were so much different in the entire world than today. Our little league experiences consisted of 4 teams in the little community of Bonifay who played each other about 4 times during the season for a total of 12 games during the months of June and July when school was out. At the end of the season, the team with the best overall record was declared the champs and we went on about our business of being kids. Not too sure that this may not still be a good idea for the kids and the parents today.

Still trying to learn how to add, modify information on some of my pages. I did add a few more pictures to that tab on the home page along with learning how to add captions to photos.  So, that is pretty cool and will be adding more photos related to the book that I did not include in it when published because of the cost.  Trying to find out how to a add writings to some of my pages that are different than a blog like the excerpts from my books to add to that page.

On a more personal note, school will be out in 1 week and hard to believe that I will be completing my 41rst year in the education business. Seems like a few weeks ago I was just starting my career in late January of 1976 at Pace High School in Santa Rosa county when that school only had about 400 students in it. It probably has 1600 or more students now.

I replaced a teacher because the students had made it so hard on him that he quit right after the Christmas break. It was a class for lower achieving students (may have been a special education class) and I spent the rest of that year trying to get the class under control and doing a lot of hands on work with them. We helped to build sidewalks, plant grass around the buildings, re-grass the football field and working in a green house growing vegetable plants for sale to the local folks. It was a good thing I had been raised on a farm and knew how to work with tools like shovels, hoes, and rakes and had a pretty good understanding of growing plants.

During this semester way back in 1976, another coach and me caught a couple of kids down in the greenhouse during lunch time smoking some marijuana. Can still remember when we got the evidence, it was 3 joints in bright yellow, orange and green rolling papers. Got the evidence from a girl who had been passed the joints by her boyfriend and when he looked back and saw that I had them in my hand, he hit the door in the front hall of the school, ran all the way through the hall to the other end of the hall, ran out the door and ran into the woods. He took off like Moody’s goose and was gone! Was pretty funny how fast he left the area. Was the first of many times in these 41 years of catching students with some type of contraband.

Continuing to work on the new web site and slowly learning to navigate the site and add elements to the pages. Still experimenting with adding pages, images, and labels to identify the pictures or people in them. Looks like the best way to learn is to just try over and over again until I find the right key strokes. Somewhat frustrating but making progress.

Hello everyone. I am just getting started with a new website in which I will be posting blogs, excerpts from some of the essays in my current book “Dirt Roads Leave Ruts in Your Soul” and a few selections from my next book that I am currently working on about my many years in education including memories  from when I was a student, teacher and coach, and lots of stories about the 30 plus years I have been an administrator.  I hope to have the book completed by the end of the summer of 2017 and have it published by the early fall.

I am very excited about this upcoming book as it will contain many essays including a lot of very funny and entertaining stories about things that happened at school, several essays about great teachers I had as a student and/or worked with as a principal, and memories of my years of teaching and coaching and some of the students who made an impact on me.

The last part of the book will be many remembrances of my 22 years as a principal and a few from my 12 years as a district level administrator in which I will share many stories that made these years some of the best of my life. In this section, I will share some of the memories that made these days great and will also share some of the most challenging days a person can encounter.

These memories will be shared through the eyes of a principal in which I will try to show the readers that the job of being a school leader requires a person to be willing to be on board for the whole ride – the good days and the bad days, the celebrations of victories won and the heartbreak of battles lost, memories of triumph and tragedy.

If I learned only one thing in my years as a school principal it was this – You better be ready each and every day for the routine day to turn into something extraordinary in a matter of a moment. And, when these things happen, you can’t pass the buck to someone else – you better be ready for the whole show because sometimes there is no intermission.