Meeting people, making connections and seeing the positive

         I’m always looking for an opportunity to visit with others. 
      That was the case on Saturday as I walked around the Montezuma American Legion Car Show taking photos and talking with and interviewing vehicle owners.
       While there, I noticed a fellow using his cell phone on a hand-held device filming the cars and trucks at the show.
        Curious, I introduced myself and asked what he was doing.
       He said his name was Jeff Brewster from Knoxville and he enjoys attending car shows around the state and making videos for his YouTube channel, Corn Rows and Car Shows.
       “I come to these shows because I love the old cars and love talking to everybody,” said Brewster. “I love to hear the old car stories.”
        He currently has 66 videos on his YouTube channel from car shows this year and last.
        We talked more and I mentioned I was from Oklahoma.
        “I am too,” he said.
         I said that I grew up in Tulsa and he said he grew up around the Oklahoma City area.
        “I attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa,” I told him.
        “My mom attend Will Rogers and graduated in 1953,” he told me.
       He said his family has a piece of marble from a window seal at the school that has been made into a small table.
         Of course that peaked my interest, as I mentioned I would like to see it. 
       We exchanged phone numbers and I mentioned next time I was going to be in the Knoxville area, I would give him a call in hopes of seeing this piece from my Oklahoma upbringing.
     You just never know when and where you will meet someone with a connection to your family or upbringing.
        My dad was a master at finding those connections and I believe I have inherited some of those skills that have benefited me greatly in my life and as a community journalist.
        Debbie and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary on Sept. 25. Instead of buying each other a gift, we got a new puppy, a Border Collie / Great Pyrenees mix, from Mark and Rosemarie Adams of Missouri.
Our new puppy, Daisy Mae, is three months old and is three quarter Border Collie and one quarter Great Pyrenees.
        Our new puppy joins Boomer, a dog we got from the Adams’ two years ago. Boomer is three-quarters Great Pyrenees and one-quarter Border Collie.
        I met Rosemarie at a community photography workshop in 2003 in Louisiana, Mo., on the banks of the Mississippi River, just south of Hannibal.
      She was working for a local newspaper in her hometown northwest of Columbia and attended the workshop to hone her photography skills.
        We stayed in touch through the years and while Debbie and I were at a book event in the Quad Cities area in June 2023, I saw a Facebook post from Rosemarie looking for homes for a litter of five pups. I showed the post to Debbie and we both knew that one of the pups would soon be ours.
          We picked a male and named him Boomer and hadn’t even met him.
        I reached out to Rosemarie and we met our new puppy on Labor Day weekend that year. Fast forward two years and we welcomed home Daisy Mae.
         Boomer is such a loving, caring and protective dog.
        Debbie is slowly introducing Daisy Mae to Boomer and we believe that they will complement each other in the coming days and weeks.
       I believe that Debbie and I complement each other and together we are doing great things and being difference makers in this world. I thank God every day for her and for all of life’s experiences we enjoy together.
         You can be a difference maker in the lives of others as well.
          Some J.O. tips include:
          Finding the positive in life’s experiences and challenges,
          Doing good to others,
          Going the extra mile even when it is not appreciated,
          Giving more than you take,
          Turning off the negative and focusing on the positive,
           And learning that no matter what you have on your plate, it is OK to take a nap every day.
           Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.