Happy Birthday, Curtis C. Martin!

                

60 years ago, a man was born into this world.  He has known me, loved me, and cared for me longer than any other man living.  He is the closest biological relative that I have.  We shared a room for the first years of our lives.  He taught me many things – how to defend myself, how to skin a squirrel and clean a fish, that green garden snakes won’t bite – hard, and that The Man From Uncle was the coolest show ever produced.  He let me know if he thought I was being too cliquey, was wearing too much make-up, or had stayed out too late the night before.   He has been my champion, double dated with me, and taken care of my car breakdowns.  There is so much more, but I should tell you, if you haven’t guessed – he is my brother, Curtis C. Martin.

All of my greatest memories include him.  Though I don’t remember it, he has been my protector from the beginning.  Mom tells of a time when she was outside taking the laundry off of the clothesline and she had left me asleep in the middle of the big high bed.  Apparently I awakened and began to cry.  Two year old Curt didn’t like that one bit.  His plan to take me to Mom by pulling me off the bed by my legs was foiled at the last moment when Mom entered the room.  He was a great adventurer.  There was no lack of excitement in our little house as children.  One of my earliest memories was that of the great tadpole debacle.  Our mother has always kept a ship-shape house.  We lived in a small home with hardwood floors throughout.  She polished those floors until you could see your reflection in them.  Curt loved anything and everything that creepeths upon the earth.  He had gone down to the local ditch and caught himself the most delightful gallon jar full of little tadpoles.  The jar was literally black with them.  Being a little guy and not quite as strong as perhaps he believed himself to be, he had brought them in to his room, perhaps to keep them as pets, and thus – the debacle.  That jar slipped right out of his hands and hit those beautiful hardwood floors, bursting into little glass pieces with black tadpoles dancing around as though they were in a ballroom.  Mom ran to see the commotion and found little Curt in the middle of all that water and glass, crying and picking up his precious tadpoles.  She couldn’t be mad.

Curt is two years my senior and I missed all of the first year fun that was had by his coming.  He was the third child and the only boy.  He was pretty important, I imagine.  He was considered pure perfection by everyone who was waiting on the only hope for saving Benjamin Franklin Martin’s name and passing it along to another generation.  Mom saved the day by insisting he be named for his dad, and Curtis Clifton Martin stuck.  He was born with a hemangioma, over his eye.  At that time, doctors insisted upon draining them and so a series of shots into the mass of blood vessels was undertaken.  It wasn’t long until another problem was discovered.  Curt had a tumor entangled with his salivary gland that was growing and had to be removed.  This was a trickier problem.  There was no micro or laser surgery in those days and there were many nerves involved that would be in danger of being nicked or cut.  The risky surgery did, indeed, produce a difficult outcome.  A nerve had been clipped which would leave half of this little boy’s face paralyzed for life.  It was most noticeable by the slack of his mouth when he cried or smiled, leaving it crooked.  He also was unable to completely close the eyelid on that side of his face.  Now let’s get back to me.  Because I came two years after, I never did really know anything else.  His face was very normal to me.  It wasn’t until a neighbor boy mocked him that I even knew there was something different.  These traits are some of the things that make him a local town “character”, as he likes to call himself today.

Curt went to school – without me!  He was in our Aunt Bessie’s first grade class.  His room was in a very old school house building (I think in the basement).  Mom and I would drive to school and pick him up every day.  I loved his school friends.  One day some of them came over to our house.  I must have been a little older then, because Mom wasn’t home for a little while.  I had a sugar egg with a scene inside that Aunt Bessie had given me after Easter (probably a gift from one of her students).  I was showing the boys my egg and I don’t know exactly what happened, but I think a big boy sat on it somehow.  Suddenly it became so funny and we began to stomp it.  We ground that sugar egg to a pulp – yes, right on the same masterfully waxed hardwood floors that the tadpoles had been upon – until there was nothing left.  It was for some reason, hilarious fun and I’m sure Mom was mad. 

Curt’s ace in the hole was letting me sleep on his shoulder during church.  We would sit close to the front with all of the old ladies while Dad sang in the choir and Mom worked in the nursery.  I’m pretty sure that is where he gained angel status from those little old ladies.  One even gave him a quarter once in a while.  Well played, brother – well played.

We spent hours outside every day.  There was quite a North End gang of neighborhood kids who fought, laughed and tattled on one another.  Curt and his buddies were always bringing in a fish, snake, or toad of some kind.  Once we had a spreading adder in a box cage in our back yard.  Dad made a back yard “goldfish pond” when the aquarium became tiresome in the house. 

There are a couple of “incidents” that involve my brother’s lack of good judgment.  At six years old, he was supposed to mow the grass.  Mom went outside to find him and his bicycle gone.  She grabbed me and threw me into the car and off we went.  I’m not sure how she knew where to look, but we went to the Highway Department to get Dad.  Curt was found riding his bicycle toward Crowley’s Ridge just passed Johnny’s Drive Inn.  His bicycle was put in the car and he lamely explained that he was “…going to Uncle Roy’s to get himself a dog.” (Uncle Roy lived at Highland, AR).  He got a whooping for that – and it was talked about for years.  However, he did get a dog – a beagle named Bennett.  We weren’t very good dog owners and so poor Bennett was stuck in the back yard trotting around the outside path that he had made day in and day out. 

Curt was there begging me to not do it when I shot myself in the nose with a dart gun at close range and had my first in a long line of bloody noses.  He was there when I went low for a basketball and split my head open on the car license plate and had to get stitches.  And he was there when I danced upon the slick soapy car we were washing begging me to stop before I fell, hitting my head and breaking the stiches open.  We played in the ditch when it rained and shared the front sidewalk with skateboards, skates, bicycles and hopscotch.  We played kick ball in the front yard and spot light with the neighborhood kids (until he got too big for us and went up the street to play with bigger boys and stay out later).  We jumped the Sycamore tree when it was a sapling until it bent over and then climbed it to the sky when it grew taller than any around.  We watched clouds and stars from a quilt in the yard when it was too hot to stay in our un-air-conditioned house.  We played marbles in our long hallway and fought over the best spot in front of the wall heater as we watched Popeye, Fog Horn-Leg Horn, and Johnny Quest when it was cold outside.  We stayed up late together and he loved nothing better than scaring me to death by watching Savod and the vampire shows that followed.

The second incident, of which I previously spoke, happened when I was about 12.  Curt didn’t show up for school.  That was unheard of.  He had ditched school and it almost went viral (would have if that was even a thing then).  The police were called, his best fiend got out of school to go down on the creek and look for him, and Wednesday Night services at the First Baptist Church were called off.  Dad was out of town and he was called home.  Our older sister, Jo, was away at college and she came with him.  My friends and I got on our bicycles and went into the “woods” to look for him  - but we got scared because we thought we found a hobo’s campsite, so we left.  The whole small town was in an uproar.  At about 9:00 pm, he came home.  Then…Dad talked to him, Jo talked to him, and his best friend talked to him and Mom cried.  THEN…he got a whooping.  He had neglected to do some “important” schoolwork and that was that.  The teacher let him make it up, the sister helped since she was home.  And things went back to normal.  Mom always said that he was the easiest child to raise, being the only boy.  He was a good boy.  Really.

Curt has always had an artistic eye.  He has a talent with paint and with clay.  He would make these little critters out of clay and put them on a shelf in his room.  They were so life-like.  One day Mom was dusting said shelf, when she picked up one of them to dust under.  She was quite surprised and rattled to discover it was real!  It was dead and dried up, but a real lizard.  You never knew what you might find in his room.

One day I had been at a friend’s house and came home to a slightly misplaced poster on my wall.  It didn’t take long to discover the hole in my Bulldog red wall that he had put there the night before.  Mom always explained that he just had a lot of pent up energy.  I don’t know.  All I know is that he pounded my wall when he wasn’t even mad at anyone or anything and I had to live with a poster off-center to cover the evidence.  And really, Mom wasn’t mad.

As teenagers, we became friends.  We were a part of the first Youth Group at our church.  Curt could drive and he was good to me.  I don’t know if that was because he liked me – or if it was because he liked my cute friends.  Our first Youth Minister and Curt had a special bond.  Curt allowed me to go over to their house with him and we would play games and listen to music into the wee hours of the night.  We would stay out past our local 11:00 pm “curfew” but we were never caught.  It was all in good fun and no harm done. 

We received tickets to the Cotton Bowl for Christmas one year.  Curt had a red Volkswagen Bug by then.  We went to Dallas, where our sister lived, and stayed with her.  We made the whole trip on about $13.00.  Gas wasn’t very expensive and we ate gas station food the whole way.  We didn’t stop very much and we had a blast.  Unfortunately, in Dallas we had to pick up one of Curt’s married friends who had a kid, and I got shifted to the back seat with the kid for the ride home.  But the trip and our frugal ways live in infamy.

Curt was a hard worker – and did so from early teen years on.  He worked at Chester’s Chops and Chicken to make a little extra money.  He also worked at the Daily Press, changing paper rolls at night, I think.  He took my friends and me a lot of places.  We would drive all over the county on gravel roads.  Just when I thought we were completely lost, he would know how to get home.  He always said that Dad told him every county gravel road leads somewhere – just keep driving.  When I turned 16 we only had one car – the family car – and he was generous with me, often letting me have his turn because he would be working or would hang out with his girlfriend. 

Many nights we would wind up at our house with our friends - both his and mine.  We would play Spades, drink cokes, watch Roller Derby and hang out with Mom and Dad.  We also liked the Midnight Special and Soul Train back in the day before music videos.  I have very good memories as a teenager with him.

He played football and so he was a friend with my friends who also played football.  He took every opportunity to gig me about it that he had.  He would tell me about locker room talk, as if he had really embarrassed me.  I would be mortified and he would just laugh.  He knew how to push my buttons, for sure.

One summer, our Youth Group played softball together all summer long.  We would go to the little pick up lot behind the cemetery and play and hang out.  As everyone did, we would get into our cars and drive the loop, looking for other people.  We had a little game we played called, “Rat Racing”.  Rat Racing involved two vehicles that had spied one another and engaged in “racing” and “chasing” one another around town.  The car I was in was the car behind and we were pursuing Curt and his friend. Sometimes Rat Racing involved some dangerous scenarios – like running a red light at the last minute or driving too fast for a curve.  We had played and tired of it.  Curt and his friend were out of sight and we had given up.  We were quite panicked when we rounded the corner and Curt’s car (our family car) was in the ditch and an eighteen-wheeler was sideways.  Curt had been making a turn into a sub-division and the big truck clipped him.  It was very scary.  The car was badly damaged and the boys had been thrown around be no one was hurt. 

My sophomore year and his senior year in High School, we had a flash flood that overtook our school.  I had a visiting friend (odd, but true) and we were dismissed due to rising waters.  It was crazy.  They just let us go.  By that time, they were bringing in Army trucks and fishing boats and anything they could to get us out, but with no real order.  Quickly, Curt found my friend and me.  He took charge and I knew we would be ok.  He found a boat for us to get into and some local men gathered around it to hold it steady.  We sunk.  The dangerous waters were rushing and full of undercurrents and sticks and even snakes.  Curt told us to lock arms and hold tight seeing that we were going to have to walk through the chest high muddy water to safety.  Sometimes a big brother can be valuable – and he certainly was that day.

We double dated, made fun of one another, got stuck on a sandy beach and rescued by a drunken man.  We rarely said “I love you, “ but I know at least once I said, “I hate you, “ but I didn’t mean it. 

When Curt was a freshman at ASU – his first attempt at college – he was approached by a State Representative to help the ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) with a sting operation.  Minors were buying liquor easily and it seemed to be readily accessible to any who wanted it.  Curt knew this to be true because some young people, with whom he was close, were doing so.  He was known to have a pretty squeaky clean reputation and they thought he would be the perfect plant.  He did as he was asked and the ABC taped his buy.  The liquor store was fined and in trouble.  The whole thing went to court.  Many of my classmates were so mad at their source being cut off and mad at him for being the reason.  I’m sure my brother was called names and maybe even threatened.  I do know he had to go to court and those who had engaged him threw him under the bus.  Yet, this is another reason, I find him to be superior to other brothers.  He was sure and steady and unwavering in his convictions – and is yet today.

Sometime around that time Curt began to preach.  He was called upon to deliver the message at several little local churches and I would be invited to go, too.  He felt a strong call into the ministry, but didn’t really know at that time what that would look like. 

He was 19 and I was 17 when we made our move to Batesville.  He was working at Banquet Foods and preparing to go to Ouachita in the fall and I was going into my senior year in High School.  We both had someone special that we would be moving away from.  I was quite devastated.  He and I drove together to our new home, with Mom and Dad going before us.  We pulled into our new driveway and I looked at him and said, “It sucks”.  He laughed and at that moment I was so glad to have him there with me.

As summer turned to fall that year, I was starting a new school my last year.  Curt was also starting a new school – his first year.  He did the most amazing thing that I still can’t get over.  He gave me his car to drive!  He went to college with no car and gave me his car to drive.  He thought that I needed it more than he did and truth is – he just loved me that much.  He wanted me to be able to go to lunch with other people and not have to stay on campus.  He wanted me to be able to get around my new town and knew he wouldn’t be there with me.  It was the most selfless act that a 19-year-old brother could do.  I will never forget that he did that for me.  AND I wrecked it…but later he wrecked it (and another and another and another – whew boy!)

We both wound up at Ouachita one year together.  He was dating someone new and so was I.  It was a lonely year for me and he didn’t have a strong love for campus politics.  He didn’t appreciate the campus social clubs and was known somewhat of a rebel.  Once again, he worked hard.  He had a job in the cafeteria to make extra money and to pay for school.  I found myself eating alone many times at dinner after a hard day in the music lab.  It was Halloween, no doubt.  As I entered the cafeteria, a green humped back man dragging a chain growled and grabbed me, throwing me over his shoulder and twirling me around.  The wide-eyed students who were waiting in line scattered and screamed.  He shook his chains and rattled them at the others as he put me down.  I guess I didn’t say anything and didn’t look shocked.  I remember a guy asking me why I wasn’t scared.  I don’t know if I answered but in my head I rolled my eyes and said,  “That is my brother.”

We made it to adulthood together and were both in relationships with intention of marriage.  The next year he stood in front of Mickey and me and married us to one another.  We have raised children together, spent almost every holiday together, mourned together, and now we live next door to one another.  As adults he has kept my children, helped me with broken-down vehicles, been my champion when people have wronged me, shared life with me, helped my adult children when they needed help, gifted my grandchildren with toys and fun, taken care of not only Mom’s yard and her needs but also mine and Mickey’s.  I do love him.  I love that a few years ago he began saying that every time he hung up the phone – not just to me, but also to anyone he loves.  There is no doubt – he loves me.  I thank God for sparing his life and bringing him through a rough year a few ago.  He broke his leg and it was a long hard healing process and then he battled cancer.  I know no better husband, dad or grandfather.  And I certainly know no better brother!

Happy Birthday…and many more!

Bob

I wrote this piece a couple of months ago, but hesitated to publish it.  I'm not sure why.  Bob was more than a brother-in-law to me...he was my sibling.  I spent so few years in my family before he became a part, that I could know him as nothing else - a brother.  I really miss him now.  I missed him at Christmas when his family came from Texas and he wasn't here, too.  It was my purpose to tell his story from my view.  I probably didn't do him justice and might have a poor memory about some of the details (but I was very young when he entered into my life).  Anyway - it is meant to be a written reflection of an empty space that is around our table, as well as a celebration honoring the life of one that I loved.


When I was six years old, I peeked out of the front window when my oldest sister's date brought her home and watched him kiss her goodnight.  I proceeded to run through the house shouting with a sing-song rhythm, "Bob kissed Alice, Bod kissed Alice..."  That is my first memory of him - Robert Charles Jones, my brother-in-law.  And he never let me forget it!

When I was nine years old, Bob became a part of my family.  He faced challenges with us almost immediately.  Bob was an only child of privilege whose parents had grown up as only children, for the most part.  It must have been quite a shock to his system to be integrated into large middle income family life, such as he found in us.  The years proved only the best and we learned to embrace each other in love.

Bob's parents, whom we quickly learned to love as well, were so very different to our family.  His dad, who was known as Abie, was orphaned at an early age and lived with extended family after the death of his parents.  I think he actually had a sibling or two, but the death separated them.  His relationship with them, for the most part, was nonexistent.  He was a business man who eventually owned his own pharmacy, however never attended pharmacy school.  He was successful and provided well for his small family.  He was quite rotund and smoked a cigar.  He was actually very personable and kind.  During the 1960's there was still an active local KKK in our small town.  It was said that he identified men by the shoes they were wearing under their sheets and "outed" them by saying hello to them, using their name.  I remember him as being a jolly man.  Kack, Bob's mother, was an intriguing person, too.  Her mother, Mrs. Crutchfield, lived on Court Street in a very large, old house.  She was very lonely in her reclining years and didn't have a lot of contact with people.  She and Kack had a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship.  Mrs. Crutchfield would call my mother weekly and mom would spend time on the phone with her.  She was an eccentric old woman who just needed a friend and my mother was willing to fill some time for her on the phone.  I think Kack really did appreciate mom befriending her mother in this way.  Kack was a socialite.  She and her friends spent time together doing such things as playing cards, hosting social gatherings, and driving charitable events.  Her home was very well appointed and her demeanor was one of propriety.  I'm sure she was somewhat overwhelmed by our lack of finese and our casual lifestyle, but if so, we never knew it.  We found her to be a gracious and kind woman.  Kack learned to love us and we loved her in return.  In her last years, she spend Christmas with us, and we were so happy to have her around our Christmas tree.  She was family.

Bob brought a very new element into our family when he married my sister.  He was definitely a beloved family character.  He was handsome and dashing.  He drove a baby blue convertible.  He was a swimmer and served as a life guard at our local pool.  He was a Ham radio operator.  He loved anything electronic.  He was very intelligent and very well spoken.  Manners and appearances were very important to him.  He had very specific preferences and when he found something that he liked, he was loyal to the product, the style, or the idea from that point on.  I would not call him flexible and change was slow, but he did enjoy new innovations.  Family became his number one priority.  He loved deeply and passionately.  He strived to take care of his family by providing well for them.  He worked hard and many hours.  His jobs were stressful which took somewhat of a toll on him.  He became somewhat reclusive and retreated to his Ham radio "shack" often at the end of the day.  When guests were in his home, however, he enjoyed bringing them into this room he called his "shack" and sharing his knowledge and expertise as a Ham radio operator.  He would invite guests to speak to someone on the other side of the world, which at that time was quite a novelty.  Everything in his shack was meticulously maintained.  Having learned morris code as a part of his radio licensing, he was interested in objects of communication and began a collection of old teletype machines used by the railroads.  In his early years, Bob was a scuba diver.  As his children were born, he saw it as something that was too dangerous and costly to pursue, but in his later years he took up the hobby once again.  He and Alice traveled the world together, snorkeling and diving.  He also prided himself on his underwater photography skills and captured under water scenes that he loved to share.  Photography was another thing that was not a big part of our family until Bob showed up at our family functions with the latest and newest camera.  He took 8mm film at our family gatherings and we only have Christmas photos due to his self-appointment as family photographer.

Bob had his own style in which he comfortably lived - really his entire life.  He had a pair of penny loafer shoes that he had repeatedly resoled over the years.  On a casual day he could be seen in his high waisted Levi jeans with his blue jean jacket.  As soon as he could, after getting home from work, he would take off his daily worn, white button-up dress shirt and dark pants and put on his cover-all jump suit.  I don't know how many of these he actually owned, but I know that when he wore them, he was relaxing fully.  This is the way you would find him as he puttered around the house.

Electronics was a very important part of Bob's life.  He was geared for tinkering and figuring out how things worked.  Although he didn't love school, he had a brilliant mind and his experience carried him far in the electronic world as a career.  My mom had an old sewing machine.  She spent many hours sewing her three girls and herself a wardrobe.  Bob kept it running for her.  He would oil and wire and maintain it when he would visit.  I remember as a young child walking into the bathroom at their house.  Forget the "Clapper"!  Bob had the light wired to automatically come on when you passed through the door.  He had many little gadgets set up to make life easier in a quirky kind of way.  His really big project was building a Ham radio tower which held an antenna  in their back yard.  It was the tallest object for miles around.  He was often teased about airplanes having to be re-routed because of it's height.  He was fascinated by the digital world when technology changed so much of what we do.  He was never stuck, but was progressive in his field.

Bob was a "foodie".  He loved food.  But he had his own specific ideas of what was good.  He would stuff himself with things that he really liked, and then be sick from eating too much of a good thing.  He loved his Diet Cokes and chocolate chip cookies.  Mom would always make him banana cream pie - without the bananas - his favorite.  No one else ever got a even a small slice of his pie.  When I was visiting once, he made baked beans.  He wanted to teach me how to make them like he did.  He took a large can of pork-n-beans and rinsed them.  He added ketchup and a whole box of brown sugar to them.  That was about it.  He made candied baked beans - which were good, if you like a sugar rush!

Bob's "justice button" was pretty hot.  He was a man of integrity and he expected no less from everyone else.  He expected to get what he paid for.  He might carry an empty can of coke around for weeks which had come out of the machine that way, until he discovered a way to return it and get his money back.  Once I was with him when he pulled into a gas station and filled up with gas.  I was mortified when he drove off without paying and said to the attendant, "I'll pay for the gas when you fix my car!" When he saw the shock and awe on my face, it humored him and he explained that he had asked them to fix a problem but it had not really been fixed.  I kept looking around for the police to catch up with us. I didn't know for a long time that the station was one where he traded consistently and they knew him well.

Safety was of utmost importance to Bob.  A few years ago he told me about his experiences as a life guard and saving the life of a child who was drowning.  He considered the job to be of utmost importance and took it very seriously.  He went on to explain to me how you always look for the person who isn't saying anything - the one who is silently drowning.  He said that a drowning person slips away instead of flailing their arms and screaming.  He wanted me to be sure and know what to look for while watching my grandchildren swim.  One of the last things he took care of for us was to install new smoke detectors, a couple of door bells and make sure our electric box was brought up to code.

His family was the most important thing to him.  He sat me down once when I was a teenager and made sure that I understood how much he loved my sister.  I never did really know why we had that particular conversation, but it always stuck with me.  He was so proud of his boys and their families.  He knew he had passed the torch well.  He made every effort to let us all know how much he loved us.  Bob's favorite years were spent as a grandfather to his four grandchildren.  There was really nothing he wouldn't do for them.  They were his pride and joy and he loved all of his time with them whether joking with them, watching plays they created, going to baseball or soccer games, or fishing.
His time was full and well spent with them.

Bob appointed himself personal guardian over Mom during the last weeks and days of Dad's life.  The rest of us were busy taking care of Dad's needs and sitting with him at the hospital.  Bob took on the responsibility of seeing that Mom had a driver and company during those difficult days.  His help with her freed us, his children, up to care for him and ourselves more effectively.  He would have had it no other way.

During those weeks, he also became our champion - or rather, God's champion.  He took it upon himself to speak to people that he encountered while out and about in Batesville, about Compass Church.  He would boldly ask people if they went to church anywhere and then proceed to tell them about Compass.  He even had occasion to defend Compass a time or two, which he did unashamedly. Compass Church was really out of Bob's comfort zone, having been raised by a father who was Church of Christ and a mother who was Southern Baptist.  On top of that, he had attended the Catholic Private School as a youngster.  He was fairly steeped in tradition and made no apologies for that.  Instead, he would just explain to whomever he was talking that though the church was not not his preferred style, he knew that God was at work there.  He understood that Compass would not be for everyone but loved that it had been planted to reach people the traditional church could not reach.
During those last weeks of Dad's life, I saw more love for Jesus displayed by Bob than I had ever seen in all of his years.

Little did we know that at that very time, Bob was carrying around a destroyer inside his own body that would too soon take his life.  After Dad went to Heaven in February, he and my sister went home, planning to return in a few weeks.  April came too quickly that year.  He fought for his life with courage and strength.  We were saddened to know that Bob would lose that fight before we could see him again.

This past week makes two years that he is gone.  Our family circle is broken for the time, but he left a legacy of Godly devotion, positive thought and a life-time of loving that we still carry.  We miss him and Dad but they are not forgotten.  One day, and not so very long, we will be together in Heaven and never be separated again.

Unshakable God - A Review of Kelly Parks' new CD

UNSHAKABLE GOD!

Ahhh…quiet!  And finally time to sit and listen!  I pulled up “Unshakable God”, my preview copy of Kelly Parks’ new album, sat down with a cup of coffee, and tapped out the play button.  I’ve had it for several days, but with the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving and people all around, I could only mildly enjoy it as background music.  I needed to hear it – the words, the intent, the melodies and harmonies, the instruments – my girl’s attempt at communicating what lies deep within and only comes spewing out in the form of an album every few years.  So then, here it is!

Although my reviews could be considered slightly biased and tainted due to the fact that I’m her mother, as her number one fan, I beg you to bear with me.

First of all, I must say this of the album – this is her very best work.  Her writing skills have been honed and her collaboration with others has paid off.  She is in her prime vocally.  She is strong and yet controlled and her voice is that of an angel!  OK – well, it is most excellent!

The lead song, “Unshakable God”, wasn’t the first one chosen.  As she and her producer worked together on the album, it became clear that the lead song had to be this one.  Although pictures had been taken and graphics already set for another song, the change was made.  It was the right decision.  “Unshakable God, unbreakable Promise Keeper”…this song is about the faithfulness of our Father.  It comes from the depths of experience with “our rock, undeniable anchor in the storm”.  It is an upbeat reminder of who He is.

“Momma It’s Beautiful” – get out your hankies!  Little Caleb Clifton was born to this 30-something momma after two older boys 15 months apart and then a string of foster children.  This song tugs at the heartstrings about the journey of a little boy who found a beautiful shell which caught his eye, then had his hands on the wheel of a 4X4 – his first vehicle, and finally “I’m gonna bring her home, she sparkles like the sun…” You get the idea!

No matter where we have been in our lives, His love beacons us to “let it go” and be aware that our “river runs to You.”  “Carve my path until I reach the end” is a comforting line that serves as a reminder that he is the One to whom our rivers run in “My River Runs to You”.

“The Word of God Will Rise” is a powerful song and strong reminder that no matter what our society does or says, God’s Word and Scripture are secure.  Nothing can “bring it down, bury it deep in the ground…” because “it will rise, up from the ashes…no one can silence”.  This is the song that will shore up uncertainties of your faith in a world where truth is being maligned and undermined.  It brings hope and courage to our weary souls.

In this album you discover Kelly’s versatility and eclectic style of writing and performing.  “What I Don’t Wanna Hear” hits home about keeping one another accountable in love.  It is an easy coffee shop type setting song where two friends meet and do life together.  Perfect for today’s young people in a community-based relationship.  It could easily be used in any setting.

This raw song with a bluesy raspy sound delights me!  “Excuse Me, Excuses” In it she calls out the excuses “living in my head for way too long.”  Excuses are referred to as “a con man”.  “Excuse me, but you don’t get to boss me around…”  “You choked out my chances…”  “…opportunity knocks today.”  Fun and flirty with a message of redemption and redirecting life! 

I called Kelly to get the scoop on this song.  It is an emotionally riveting song for me.  Kelly gets inspiration from several sources when she writes but usually there is a word, a story, a phrase that sticks with her to form lyrics around.  This song was born from the word of a mother whose child had gone to Heaven, following his funeral.  Kelly had sung at several funerals with especially difficult situations and “In a Moment” came from feelings and thoughts surrounding that hard season.  She also said that some of it was put together during the last days of my dad’s life and that of her uncle, who passed in the same year.  “In a Moment” is a nod to the difficulties of life and death, however is meant to be a message of ultimate hope.  Again, get your Kleenex box out!

“Throwing Rocks”, again showcasing her versatility, you will enjoy this fun, upbeat trumpet-filled parody of a pack of rocks representing burdens, which have been carried far too long.  “I’m throwing rocks with all my might…skipping twice…sink to the bottom of the lake” – just a few lines that are a peek into Kelly’s past, having spent a lot of time throwing rocks with her boys and skipping rocks with her dad!

It is a song about getting free from all those worrisome things that we pick up and carry, when just unloading them brings sweet release!

“His Hands” was written as a tribute to those hard working men who live among us.  Often they are viewed as cold or reclusive because of their quiet nature or inability to communicate effectively verbally or emotionally.  The song challenges us “to get at the story that lies at the heart of this man, you gotta’ look at his hands.”  The original idea of the song came from Kelly’s brother-in-law’s reference to his own daddy’s hands at his dad’s funeral. 

Our first baby girl was Kelly’s foster daughter.  We fell in love with this little chubby faced precious girl who quickly endeared herself to us.  The time came for her to leave our family and Kelly and Aaron both learned what it was to experience love and loss.  “Balm to My Broken Soul” was penned as a response to the grief and healing that Kelly experienced during the days following.  She found solace in God’s Word as it healed and soothed her deepest hurts.  It is a simple rendition with guitar and vocals that finish out the album perfectly.

SO – GO BUY IT!!  It will soon be on iTunes for a quick upload!  Contact Kelly (or me) directly for a packaged hard copy of the CD (the best way to support her ministry).  iTunes will be $10, copy from Kelly is $12 and if you want a hard copy shipped - $15.50, I believe.