Memorial Day Thanks

Yep... That's my Pawpaw.  Yep... Serving this great country of ours.  But this isn't solely about him.  It's about all our service men and women who have given the most precious thing they could for us.  It's easy to forget what Memorial Day is about.  We all love cookouts, the beach, and a million other Southern things.  However, we should make it a priority to remember all our grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters, and other family that have served and sacrificed so we don't have to.  We as Southern Hooks have a proud history of serving in the military going way back to the... the war between the blue and the GRAY!  A tradition of serving others at great cost.  No where in the world will you find such pride as we have in our military.

So we at Southern Hooks would like to give a silent moment of prayer and remembrance for those that have paid the ultimate price while serving our Great Nation.

Stay Southern.  Stay Proud.

-JD

Happy Mother's Day

Hey Hooks, its that time again!  Time to celebrate that one day for your Mom!  Thought I'd put up a list of great gifts and some not great gifts.  Here goes.

1.  Take Mom out to eat a wonderful all you can eat fried catfish lunch.  DO NOT take her all the the catfish YOU can eat and ask her to fry them.

2.  Mom loves flowers.  Take a bunch you've picked.  DO NOT pick them from her prized flower bed she has worked on for years.

3.  How about cleaning the house for her.  DO NOT ask her to come over and clean yours after church.

4.  Get her a spa day.  Mom loves manis and pedis.  DO NOT buy her some fingernail polish from WalMart and sling them at her saying, "Looking a little faded there, Mom."

5.  Mom might like a nice set of good smelling soaps and lotions from Bath and Body Works or some girlie store.  DO NOT buy her a tub of GOJO from the local auto parts store and leave it on the kitchen sink.

6.  Have your little Hooks make her a card in their own handwriting with little things written by them.  DO NOT have them scribble something on the back of the church bulletin.

7.  Take Mom out 4 wheeler riding.  Mom likes mud too.  She is a Southern Hook after all.  DO NOT ask her to push you when you get rutted out and spray mud in her face.

8.  Pay for Mom to get her hair fixed.  You know colored and cut.  DO NOT toss her a box of Loreal hair dye you found in the 1/2 half bin and say, "Roots are showing there, Mom."

9.  Take some old pictures of your family and put them in a nice frame and hang it on Mom's wall.  DO NOT collage pictures from your phone and throw them up on Instagram or Facebook.

10.  Just give Mom a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and say proudly, "Mom thank you for everything you've ever done for me.  I love you."  DO NOT end this heart felt sentiment with, "What's for lunch?"

Happy Mother's day, Mom.  I love and miss you.

Stay Southern, Hooks.

-JD

The Roots of a Southern Hook

As I've stated before, we are Southern Hooks because we are "hooked" on the Southern Life and our families are the ones who "hook" us.  I thought I'd take a minute and introduce my Southern Hook grandparents.  Everyone meet D B and Sarah Massey, and yes that's a little JD in Pawpaw's arms.  You may now snicker.

I owe so much of my "Hooks" nature to them.  You see, Pawpaw was the first person to ever put a little Zebco 33 in my hand and Mamaw gave me my first bite of fried catfish.  We would spend summers camping in the "trailer" on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and weekends at some of the beautiful parks around the South. We went through shrimp for bait and shrimp for supper.  Pawpaw and I decimated Vienna sausages and potted meat eating lunch on the banks of the river or a lake tucked back somewhere.  Sunday after-church lunch was fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  Pawpaw and I would spend afternoons in his downstairs wood shop building bookshelves and furniture that never turned out exactly right, but Mamaw would praise our craftsmanship none the less.  Firefly catching, picking figs and collecting pecans (all from the backyard) were a priority!  And I learned to pray from them both.  A deep reverence and respect for God and the wonderful world he has created for us was instilled deep in my heart thanks to their guidance.  I was getting a grounding in the Southern lifestyle.  I've carried those lessons and more throughout my life.

Both have passed into a much better place now.  However, I can still hear their words in my heart.  On the cool evenings fishing I can hear Pawpaw whisper to me, "Throw over there.  I saw a swirl."  I walk into the kitchen and can smell Mamaw's turnips and cornbread cooking and my mouth instantly waters.  The lessons permeate my life.  I do my best to pass these lessons on to my own little Hooks now.  I can look in their eyes and hear their words and I am instantly that little Hook seeing and hearing the same thing.

Take a minute and thank those who have ingrained the Southern Lifestyle in your heart and soul.  Listen to their words. Cherish the moments with them.  Most importantly...pass it on.

Stay Southern, Hooks.

- JD