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“Part of the problem with the word 'disabilities' is that it immediately suggests an inability to see or hear or walk or do other things that many of us take for granted. But what of people who can't feel? Or talk about their feelings? Or manage their feelings in constructive ways? What of people who aren't able to form close and strong relationships? And people who cannot find fulfillment in their lives, or those who have lost hope, who live in disappointment and bitterness and find in life no joy, no love? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities.” 
― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember

"Learning makes a man fit company for himself."

Thomas Fuller (link for other quotations by Fuller)

English clergyman & historian (1608 - 1661)

Quotation recommended by my brother-in-law David F.

Click below to read Wikipedia article about T. Fuller...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Fuller

To Grandpa and Grandma Pickens of Keener Sand and Clay in Kerr, Ohio, and their 5 wonderful offspring and children.

To my son and daughter Ben and Elise, and their children Annabel, Olive, Ari, Eva.  Remember your roots in Appalachia and that you have all left Kerr alive and well.

While the Pickens family was not in coal mining, they were in clay mining, and we grew up in Kerr every summer for my entire youth.  You have both been to Ohio, and should try and remember the past.  It is in your blood too.

Click below to hear Patty Loveless sing this song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqDVObM1kxc

Lyrics, "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"

In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
You will never leave Harlan alive

Oh, my granddad's dad walked down
Katahrins Mountain
And he asked Tillie Helton to be his bride
Said, won't you walk with me out of the mouth
Of this holler
Or we'll never leave Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away

No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains
Till a man from the Northeast arrived
Waving hundred dollar bills he said I'll pay ya for your minerals
But he never left Harlan alive

Granny sold out cheap and they moved out west
Of Pineville
To a farm where big Richland River winds
I bet they danced them a jig, laughed and sang a new song
Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive

But the times got hard and tobacco wasn't selling
And ole granddad knew what he'd do to survive
He went and dug for Harlan coal
And sent the money back to granny
But he never left Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave

In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
You will never leave Harlan alive

Written by Darrell Scott • Copyright © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management US, LLC

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!  To all the mothers I have known, thank you.  

Elise,  I hope all your dreams have come true.  Love, Dad

Click below to hear Kathy Mattea sing this song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWyFW1siCwQ

Lyrics, "Standing Knee Deep in a River (Dying of Thirst)"

Friends I could count on I could count on 1 hand with a left over finger or two. I took them for granted, let them all slip away, now where they are I wish I knew.

They roll by just like water & I guess we never learn, go through life parched and empty standing knee deep in a river, dying of thirst.

Sometimes I remember the good people I’ve known, some I’ve forgotten I suppose. One or two still linger, oh I wonder now why I ever let them go.

They roll by just like water & I guess we never learn, go through life parched and empty standing knee deep in a river, dying of thirst.

So the side walk is crowded the city goes by, I just rushed through another day & a world full of strangers turn their eyes to me, but I just look the other way.

They roll by just like water & I guess we never learn, go through life parched and empty standing knee deep in a river, dying of thirst.

Go through life parched and empty, standing knee deep in a river dying of thirst

Written by Bucky Jones, Dickey Lee, Bob Mcdill • Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

Please click below to hear Kathy Mattea sing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ElCpHuiWkA

Lyrics, "Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses"

Charlie's got a gold watch
Don't seem like a whole lot
After thirty years of drivin'
Up and down the interstate
But Charlie's had a good life
And Charlie's got a good wife
And after tonight she'll no longer
Be countin' the days 

Eighteen wheels and a dozen roses
Ten more miles on his four day run
A few more songs on the all night radio
And he'll spend the rest if his life
With the one that he loves 

They'll buy a Winnebago
Set out to find America
Do a lotta catchin' up
A little at a time 

With pieces of the old dream
They're gonna light the old flame
Doin' what they please
Leavin every other reason behind 

Eighteen wheels and a dozen roses
Ten more miles on his four day run
A few more songs on the all night radio
And he'll spend the rest if his life
With the one that he loves 

Eighteen wheels and a dozen roses
Ten more miles on his four day run
A few more songs on the all night radio
And he'll spend the rest if his life
With the one that he loves

Written by Gene Nelson, Paul Nelson • Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc