In a recent conversation with a former member of the U. S. Military, “an ex-GI,” we talked about some levels of conduct while in uniform, especially when handling classified information. I thought of this story that I shared four years ago. HE DIDN’T DO IT In 1962 I was assigned to the Directorate of Information […]
He Sang from the Heart | Annie
During a brief visit to Valdosta Georgia last month, habit steered me to the address of the house where I was born. I sat at a distance far enough to create a panorama of where family, good neighbors and friends helped me to begin my memories. Most of the buildings have changed, but the geography […]
Santa Wore a Cowboy Hat
Each December, as I travel through airports, I’m reminded of one special day that happened a long time ago. Santa Wore a Cowboy Hat After waiting in line for a long time, I was still at least a dozen positions from the airline counter. It was two days before Christmas in the late 1970s, and […]
The Pledge
Last month I shared with you how, in 1962, I secured a passport in one day to return from England. This month I will share with you how I got there three years before. The Pledge During a critical period of my Air Force career, I served as a Ward Master at Wilford Hall Hospital, […]
Mother wit
Mother wit They had no letters behind their names. In fact, many of them had too little formal education to understand what BS, MA, or PhD meant. They had probably never met anyone who claimed those honors and had not read their scholarly works. Yet the adults of my neighborhood claimed special credentials for instructing […]
You Need a Passport to Take the Off Ramp
You Need a Passport to Take the Off Ramp During one period of my military service, I supervised a team who travelled each month from London to every American Air Force base in England. Part of our mission was to disseminate information to promote Air Force mission preparedness, which also included family participation and comfort. […]
Her Word
Since May 2015 I have shared a Story of the Month. In March 2020 I shared the story of Miss Ida Mae. I share her story again. Her Word Someone wrote my name and telephone number on the back of the receipt at the supermarket in South Central Los Angeles and gave it to Miss […]
An Elder Among Us
Expressing Independence Independence – free of the control of another, the right of self-determination. The yearning to be free and independent is never exhausted, and expressions of that desire never fade. I witnessed this craving from … An Elder Among Us This was a military hospital, so everyone understood there would be military rules. The […]
Gestures
We communicate by a variety of signs and signals, sometimes our message is offered in the form of a gesture. Gestures Last month I rode in a funeral procession on a highway in South Georgia. Oncoming drivers pulled their vehicles to the shoulder and stopped. Police escorts blocked the entrances of traffic from side streets. […]
They Knowed Some Things | Mutual Promises
So much of what I learned as a child in Valdosta Georgia was taught by relatives and neighbors whose formal education was meager. But they were not without knowledge… They Knowed Some Things Old folks in my neighborhood knowed a lot of things, and under the proper circumstances they would let you know what they […]
The Shoe Box | The Reach of Grandmama’s Hand
Stories and memories of my grandmother always amuse, comfort, and give repeat lessons that still guide me. Sometime since May 2015 as I presented these monthly offerings, I have shared two of them. As I pondered which one I should repeat this month, the answer was simple – both. The Shoe Box Growing up in […]
Gussie
During the decade1940 – 1950, it was common for as many as 175 members to assemble in Valdosta Georgia for the Annual Alexander Fourth of July Picnic. Whatever activity was planned, the time to begin was when one special lady arrived. She made no outward attempt to be recognized, but everybody felt her special presence. […]
A Little Help from Monday through Sunday
A Little Help from Monday through Sunday Love has a number of addresses and simply wanders from place to place where it is needed to give warmth and comfort. Every child should have at least one adult who understands his or her motives, dreams, fears, apparitions, likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses — one’s personality. I […]
Don’t Touch That Sugar! | The Sounds and the Music
Two more ladies who nourished my early development and taste Don’t Touch That Sugar! Three doors and about a hundred yards dash from my home was where Miss Mamie lived. Her house was always busy. I liked visiting her and her three young adult daughters, whom I knew as “Monk”, Iona, and Eula Mae. As […]
She Told Me Who I Am | Hello Honey | Betty
She Told Me Who I Am On a typical summer day in Valdosta, hot and humid, Fannie and I sat on her front porch chatting about things of our lives together that began 52 years earlier. She was my aunt, but she, my mother Katherine, and another aunt, Ella, preferred to be addressed by their […]
Marking Time (A Tribute to My Mother)
Since May 2015, I’ve had much fun sharing more than 80 episodes of my very varied life. Currently, as I’m finishing the last chapters of another book that highlight a particular 15 year period, I’ve also considered publishing in one volume, including audio version, all of the Stories of the Month. This was the first. […]
Fast Balls and Other Objects
Last month, as I watch tennis matches at the U. S. Open, I was struck by the speed of the serves, one player’s range was 120 – 140 mph, and I remembered another incident involving a baseball pitcher who had a fast ball and an Air Force colonel who liked to watch him pitch. Fast […]
A Guy Named Joe
My years are many, and because my memories are many times more, sometimes a present-day event will trigger pleasant reminders of long-ago special people, places, and things. In a recent conversation with my friend, he mentioned foods his Italian American mother cooked in their home, and I remembered — A Guy Named Joe In August […]
Our First Lady
Last month, the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune, representing the State of Florida, was unveiled in the National Statuary Hall in the U. S. Capitol. Each state is invited to display two of their distinguished citizens. Her statue is the first African American in that special collection. Mrs. Bethune often travelled from Daytona Beach, Florida, […]
The Rebirth
Continuing the odyssey as told in Forks in the Road Before leaving Lackland AFB in 1958 I spent time reviewing how I spent some significant days there. It was where I came as a 17-year-old Colored boy from Valdosta, Georgia, the deep South, seeking manhood in a setting so alien from the racially segregated environment […]
The Pledge.
Organizations reward and shower favors on experience and seniority. Freshmen do the heavy lifting, while sophomores delight that they are no longer at the bottom. In the military, promotion is the reward which bestows what is expressed as RHIP – Rank Has Its Privilege’s. When I saw that in action I created my own letters, […]
Seeking One’s Color and One’s Kind
In 1951 most Americans were born, lived, died, and were buried in racially segregated communities. On Lackland Air Force Base the military structure, by necessity, demanded intermingling based on rank, gender, job assignment. Beyond the gates, however, both military and civilians sought their own color and their own kind. Seeking One’s Color and One’s Kind […]
The Blind Leading the Blind: Two Navigators
This story also appears in Forks in the Road but is retold here for continuity during the early years of military service. After the incident at the library, as told in the Story of the Month for December 2021, I rate the following experience as one of the most important in my early development. It […]
AN ELDER AMONG US
This story also appears in Forks in the Road but is included here for continuity during the early years of military service. AN ELDER AMONG US Everyone understood that in a military hospital there would be military rules. The first directive of the day for ambulatory patients was to rise at 0630. Within the next […]
FIRST ASSIGNMENT, FIRST FRIENDS
Due to updates of my directory some of you are first time or restored recipients of the Story of the Month. For all previous stories since May 2015, go to STORIES at www.jeatrilogy.com. If you want to unsubscribe from these monthly offerings, please state your preference in a return email to jeatba79@gmail.com. Continuing stories from […]
Where to Go and What to Do
This story was first presented in my second book, Forks in the Road. It is again presented here to fix the time and conditions during a significant period of my life, when and where I was hastily being conditioned to transition from childhood to manhood in the United States Air Force. Where to Go and […]
Post 24
Since July you have been receiving a form of serialized version of the book, Forks in the Road, a chronicle of my two-decades in the United States Air Force. This is a supplemental story that does not appear in Forks in the Road. SUPPLEMENTAL STORY From James Edward Alexander Post 24 On a big board […]
GOD AND THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
This story was presented as the Story of the Month for March 2020. It is again presented here to fix the time and conditions for one of the most dramatic episodes of my life. It is the experience that prompted me to take the fork in the road that guided me to this day. I did not travel alone. Swing […]
Another Orientation
Another story from Forks in the Road, my second book that captured some memories of an exciting career in the United States Air Force, 1951 – 1971. Another Orientation Almost immediately after basic training began, we received a series of orientations. The subject was always the same: We must learn to live and act as a team. Our schedule […]
First Hear, Then Lead
Continuing stories from Forks in the Road, that captured some memories of an exciting career in the United States Air Force, 1951 – 1971. First Hear, Then Lead Basic training was moving so fast that minutes, hours, and days seemed relevant only to those engaged in making us airmen. How and where they did it was according to […]
ANOTHER ADVENTURE ALONG A ROAD WELL TRAVELLED
ANOTHER ADVENTURE ALONG A ROAD WELL TRAVELLED Regardless of how the initial military training is designated by service, boot-camp or basic training, the purpose is to extinguish some civilian habits and to indoctrinate new norms that promote the military purpose of cohesion. This function is generally assigned to a non-commissioned officer, sergeant, or petty officer. When I entered the […]
Looking for a Place to Become a Man …
ADVENTURES ALONG A ROAD WELL TRAVELLED For the past two months I shared stories from the start of my exciting career in the United States Air Force. Then, something happened. The responses from readers multiplied, and they wanted to know more about how a 17 year old boy, left Valdosta Georgia to become a man. For many of the respondents it was […]
Open Wide — Everything
These two were originally presented in my second book, Forks in the Road, which shared memories of a career in the United States Air Force. They are repeated to show how my military service began, 70 years ago. Open Wide — Everything At precisely 5:00 a.m., June 22, 1951, the lights were turned on in […]
A Shaky Command
In his Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln used a score to measure a significant event: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” A score equals 20 years. On June 30, 2021, I will use […]
The Funeral
In the April 2021 story, Four Letter Words, I shared some guidance offered by Miss Lula Mae when I was age 11. When I left her home to continue delivering the newspapers, I passed St. Timothy A.M.E Church, where I spent most of my Sundays as a child. At age 16, I had a weekend […]
Four Letter Words
Four Letter Words In my 11th year I was a paperboy in Valdosta for the Atlanta Daily World Newspaper. On Friday night, a weekend version of that publication was printed in Atlanta, then put aboard the Southern Railway train for delivery to communities along the southbound route through Macon. In the early morning it arrived […]
The D-E-S-K
On January 21, 2020,I was asked to share some highlights of my life with approximately 250 middle and high school students, teachers, and parents at a prestigious preparatory school at Hilton Head, SC. As I began the eight-mile drive to the appointment I had not selected a subject or approach. Upon entering the school […]
The Neighborhood
The Neighborhood Neighborhoods are frequently defined by specific boundaries – streets, railroad tracks, waterways, buildings; things that give the impression of permanence to enhance the place where memories are formed. For six years my neighborhood was the asphalt strip in Los Angeles that stretched from U.S. Highway 101, south on Highway I-405. My neighbors were […]
The Sounds and the Music | Perfect Is Good Enough
Many of us modified our behavior in 2020 by electronically introducing ourselves to strangers and reaffirming our longer relationships, as we sought new ways for dealing with isolation and restrictive agenda. During one idea sharing conversation, I disclosed that music adds brightness to my days, as I loudly sing rock ‘n’ roll, blues, and C […]
The Shoe Box
During this period of confinement, I sometimes reflect on some lessons that brought me to this day. As the year 2020 season of heightened travel begins, I’m reminded of two observations – in any season of travel, in another era, and charges from my grandmother: “You can’t change everything you dislike overnight, but keep on […]
Midnight Requisitioning
In a recent conversation with an ex-GI, he used a phrase that set us laughing and remembering other experiences common to those who served in the armed forces. I informed him that the experience he referenced was presented in my third book, I Wish You Had Been There. I also promised to share it again […]
The Errant Custodian
During this period of isolation, or careful interaction, I’ve been concentrating on my attributes, those that I’ve been able to measure since childhood, and what I learned from my weaknesses. It is my weaknesses that are giving me such entertainment, for since childhood, I’ve not been able to upgrade some foibles. Some examples: At about […]
Listen but Shut Up
For the past two months I have shared some highlight of my life with, or about, my grandmother, Mrs. Mariah Gaines Alexander, (Mama). The following story first appeared in my third book, I Wish You Had Been There, and later appeared as the Story of the Month, January 2017. Listen but Shut Up When the […]
The Reach of Grandmama’s Hand
Last month I shared the story of the Alexander annual picnic that highlighted my grandmother, titled, “Mama said, Shall We Gather at the River.” I encourage your responses to this monthly offering, and in July, more readers responded to “Mama” than almost any other story. Therefore, here is another story about the lady who started […]
MAMA SAID “SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER”
So many of the routines we performed a year ago will be forever altered or discontinued. Since 1939, members of the Alexander and Gaines families gathered for a family reunion. This year the routine was postponed. Because I attended the first reunion and have recited the history at subsequent gatherings, I simply did not want […]
HE DIDN’T DO IT
HE DIDN’T DO IT In 1962 I was assigned to the Directorate of Information at Dow Air Force Base, Bangor, Maine. I was the public spokesperson for the commanding officer, and supervised publication of the weekly newspaper. Another special duty was supervising the writing of the monthly operational history of a base of the Strategic […]
Marking Time
Marking Time(A Tribute to My Mother) For Mother’s Day 2015, I wrote a tribute to my late mother and I shared it as the first Story of the Month. A tribute to mothers everywhere and anytime is appropriate. Mother’s Day 2020 is May 10. This month I repeat the original Story of the Month. To […]
Honey Do
Before my wife Toian died in 2016, she asked that the grand piano in our home be available, “… to someone who will be thrilled to use the instrument that gave me so much joy.” I promised to honor that plea. During the week, March 9 -14, 2020, the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra presented the […]
Her Word
Self- isolation is resulting in no trips to the $ store or to thrift shops to donate items from another phase of ‘downsizing.’ And so, I review memories of some people, places and things in a wonderful life. I introduce to you, Miss Ida Mae. Her Word Someone wrote my name and telephone number on […]
God and the Library of Congress
Stories of the past two months featured events during a significant period of my life — 20 years of active duty in the U. S. Air Force. Those stories appear in my book titled, Forks in the Road. This month I share the experience that prompted me to take the fork in the road that […]