The following was dictated on a Mac computer by Phil Scovell using the voice recognition software for the Macintosh. Yes, it takes getting used to. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

End of note.


```````````````	One of the most enjoyable, and certainly the safest, time I ever had was going to my grandpa and grandma's home in Kansas.  Their house was large, comfortable, and I felt totally safe there.  There was also always something to do. I never got bored. I asked grandma one day if she had any toys for kids. She led me to a closet. Wow! There was a big box of toys; lots of toys. Grandma instructed I could have the toys to play with anytime I wanted but she had one rule.” What was that?” I asked. She said, “Whoever gets the toys out, has to put them all back.”  Hi quickly agreed and pulled the box from the closet.  There was a strip of sand near the edge of grandma's property. It was perfect for children playing cars. my little sister and I played in the sand for  hours.  The cars seem kind of old but that really didn't matter because they were grandmas toys and that made them special.  I never fail to put the box back with all the toys at the end of each day. Awakening each day was even fun.  I could smell the coffee, toast, and pancakes coming from the kitchen and I could hear my mom and dads voices as they talk quietly with my mom's parents. Wow, that was a big concept to comprehend; They were my moms parents?  My grandparents also had a very large yard.  The only problem was, it was also very dead. No matter how much they watered it, it never seemed to turn green. My yard at home was very thick and very tall and very very green. Grandpa’s hardly ever turn green and was very dry like straw. Grandma’s flower garden, in the front yard, hardly ever bloom, or at least, that is how it seemed to me as a little boy. My grandparents also had a chicken coop in the backyard with about 20 laying hens.  It was so much fun going out every day with grandpa to gather the warm chicken eggs which we took back to the house and grandma cook for breakfast. Grandpa work part-time for a veterinarian. He took me one day to a grazing pasture with many horses for which he was responsible.  Grandpa always brought the horses special treats such as apples. We walked around together petting the friendly animals. Then I saw something unusual. I pointed and said grandpa look. one of the horses, knowing that grandpa brought treats, had stuck his entire head threw the driver's side open window. he was looking for  what he knew had to be there.  Grandpa started yelling in running over to the car telling the horse to get his head out of the window. the horse  backed away. Grandpa retrieved the sack of apples, and we passed them out; making sure each horse had one.  They sure liked them, too.  By far, the most enjoyable memory I have of my grandfather, is when we spent the afternoon together; just the two of us. I was 15 years old at the time. Grandmother had passed away a few years earlier. I was spending two weeks of the summer vacation with my uncle. He lived in Wichita Kansas, just a few miles down the road from my grandpas small town. uncle Fred drop me off at grandpa's and said he would return later in the day. Grandfather and I said and talk for many hours. I learn more about him in one day than I had in my  entire life.  He told me about his farming days, when he worked for the road crew to build bridges and roads, and many other related stories. The thing that was so amazing to me was that he did not talk to me as a little boy; he talked to me as an adult. This was a brand-new relationship with my grandfather I never experienced before. I felt his spiritual strength and his love for the Lord and his love for me as one of his grandchildren. In the evening, my grandfather took me to the grocery store. We gather things to make supper. Returning home he made our little supper and we said and continue talking about things we discussed during the day. Grandfather was a great man of God and he loved Jesus with all his heart. Talking about the Bible in scripture verses was a part of my grandfather's everyday conversation. He was an old frail man now but to me he was a spiritual giant and he still is a giant in my mind.  I experienced that   bonding I never knew was possible with my grandfather. It made me  proud to be one of his grandsons. There was something holy about that afternoon with my grandfather but to this day I have been unable to describe it in words. It Is one of the fondest memories I have in my library of childhood memories which I returned to and visit often.

Phil.