MY HOSPITAL ROOMMATE........

I never expected to meet an unforgettable old man during my stay in the hospital. Mr. Carl Copeland was indeed a person I want soon forget. He was 96 1/2 years old and proud of each year of his life. He was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. A small man in stature with a keen mind at his advance age. I should be so lucky to have his amazing memory.
The old man could get up from the bed to go to the bathroom on his own. He never rang for a nurse during my three days in the room with him. He always praised the nurses with their efforts. He brought a smile to my face as I listened to him telling his doctor his thoughts on why the doctor put him in the hospital. " Doctor you told me you were going to do great wonders for me this time in the hospital and I haven't seen you in two days." The doctor made some kind of excuse as to why he hadn't seen him in two days. The old man wasn't buying into the excuse and let the doctor have a piece of his mind. He agreed to stay two more days and give the doctor another chance to help his condition.
The old man was on a water restriction diet of 1,200. On the second night of my stay he had reached the limits of his water intake. He tried ever nurse, aide that came into his room for more water only to say you can't have anymore tonight. All the rest of the night the old man was on a mission to find water. He was caught twice in the hall and put back to bed each time. He lost one of his house shoes and almost torn the curtains down between us trying to locate it. He was caught in the bathroom with his head under the sink faucet drinking water by the nurse. She said, " I'm going to get YOU!! To which he replied, " Well someone needs to get ME!!" The nurse finally gave him a half a cup of ice chips when she got him back into bed. He sounded like a horse eating corn chewing on the ice for about 30 minutes. I didn't get much sleep on the second night but it was worth the experience of Mr. Copeland's water mission. I believe the GOD has already blessed this man with 96 1/2 years of life.

NEVER TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED...............

We never know what life has to offer each day when we wake. Will the day be good to us or will some thing happen unexpected? Mon. April 20th was starting out great for me. Cleaning up in my shop from working on building my 1952 Chevy Hot Rod truck. And then it happened!!! Severe chest pains that bent me double and ran down into my left arm. I slowly made it to the house and told my wife, " I think I'm having a heart attack." I decided to lie down on the bed to see if the pain would ease while my wife got me an aspirin and some water. My wife sensed that I needed to go to the hospital and began getting both of us ready to go.
To make a long story shorter of three days in the hospital with many test on my heart nothing was found to cause the pain I had. I believe I pulled a muscle around my heart when I moved some heavy concrete blocks early Mon. morning. The events of the 20th gave me a new meaning of LIFE. I thank GOD for each day!!

Jasper Newton Daniel..................

This American folk hero was born in 1850 in a small town in rural Lynchburg,Tennessee. He was one of 13 children born too the Daniel family. His family was of Welsh descent and they were farmers in Moore County, Tennessee. At a young age his father hired Jasper out to a Lutheran Minister named Rev. Dan Call who ran a dry goods store in Lynchburg. During those hard times many merchants had a number of sideline business to fall back on, they just couldn't made ends met on one business. Rev. Call also was a brew master and made a Tennessee whiskey at a small stream near Louis. Jasper worked with Rev. Call making his whiskey which he sold at his dry goods store. Jasper was a quick learner and very capable young man at whiskey making even at a young age. A Camp Meeting by a lady evangelist who gave a fire and brimstone message called for Rev. Call to either give up his Ministry or Whiskey. The good Rev. choose to give up the demon Whiskey and sold the business to his 13 year old employee who was becoming known as Jack. Yes, Jack Daniel!!
The war between the states was happening in 1861 but Jack's young age kept him out of the war. Jack's started out as a one man {boy} operation but he soon was able to hire some help. At age 16 he registered with the government as the youngest distillery owner in the United States. His method of whiskey making spread far and wide and his reputation was in the making. With his early profits he purchased a piece of property in Lynchburg that had a big limestone cave with an everlasting clear spring which Jack used to blend his whiskey.
In 1904 Jack rode a train to the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri and entered his Tennessee Whiskey into completion against 20 other whiskeys from all over the world. The little man all 5 foot 2 inches, his Tennessee Whiskey was awarded the World Fair Gold Metal. I bet this made Jack feel about 10 feet tall!! This little man from a little town in Tennessee took home the Metal for the best whiskey in the world. They must have partied for days in Lynchburg upon Jack's return. Now JACK DANIEL'S WHISKEY became world famous.
Jack took a liking to his nephew, Lem Motlow, and became Lem's mentor. Jack never married but was known to date several ladies in the area. One morning in 1906 Jack went to the distillery early to open his safe. He couldn't get the combination to work or forgot the correct numbers, after several tries he became upset with the safe and gave it a Big Hard Kick!! He injured his big toe with the kick. He never received treatment from a doctor and the infection would spread through out his body. Jack died as a result of kicking the safe with gangrene in 1911 and is buried in the Lynchburg Cemetery with two chairs on each side of his grave. It is said these chairs are for the ladies he dated while alive. Before his death he deeded the business over to his nephew, Lem Motlow who led the company into a growing business until Prohibition. During prohibition Motlow founded a mule trading business in Lynchburg which became the biggest mule trading center in the South. Motlow sold an entire warehouse full of whiskey to a business man just before Prohibition started and when the businessman came to pick up his buy all he found was the empty barrels. Noted gangster Al Capone mobsters had drained all the barrels at the bottom and made off with all the whiskey. Motlow made good on his deal with the businessman and the whiskey was a favorite for those people in the North during prohibition.
WOULD SOMEONE GET ME A PEPSI!!!!

SIMPLE TIMES................

Our lives today are in a hectic state of rush, rush. Some times I wish times were simple like the days of pioneers. A time when work was hard but never a need to rush. There was always another day to complete a task. People helped one another with their crops and barn building. Although times were hard pioneers survived with help from their fellow man. These photos of how simple times were back in the 1800's should take us back into how life must have been.