The older the child, the bigger the stack

In anticipation of the visit of two of my three sons, I am cleaning out desk drawers and gathering up all the memorabilia from over the years relating to each one.

I notice that my oldest son has much more stuff in his stack. Hey folks, I didn't really lose interest over the years - it's just that, once I had five kids, I was too busy to take pictures and save report cards.

I saved only the good ones, of course.

As for pictures, I have several posed commercial photographs, and one was used as a model for a magazine advertisement my husband drew, in the days when hand-illustrated ads were used, instead of computer-aided photography.

With our large family, my husband usually always had home-grown models of nearly any age available. Here's one from the Saturday Evening Post, showing my knee and my 14- year-old son hoisting a can of Yuengling Beer. Of course neither of us ever drank a beer. Anyway, when the actual artwork of the ad appeared, only our poses remained, and no one knew the difference.

Oh, here's a photo with three of us standing next to a piano. One of them is my niece, so it was taken before we finally had our own daughter.

I'll have to fill a separate box for each of them. Here's one of my two youngest, so it's my own girl, who arrived just in time. Please boys, don't argue.

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Every day we read in our newspaper or see on local TV reports concerning the increasing number of automobile accidents. In addition to those statistics there is also the fact of the number of drivers and their passengers who are not bothering to wear their seat belts. Do you remember to fasten your seatbelt every time, no matter how short the distance, or do you think, "I'm just running over to the store, why bother?"

Statistics show that three out of four crashes involving fatalities occur within 25 miles of the person's home. Do you think it takes too long or is too complicated to fasten the belt? It takes and average of three seconds, the same time takes to sign your name, turn on a television or put out a light.

Do you think it is better to ride without a seatbelt and be 'thrown clear' of your car in a serious collision? Wrong - dead wrong! Four out of five people who are ejected from a car die.

Add to the above the medical costs, insurance costs and the points against your driving record, and you will realize that 'buckling up' is the smart way to go.

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Ladies, here's an opportunity to look ahead, and buy a chance to win a silver, 2007 Corvette from the Pensacola Catholic Charities fund raiser. This is the top prize among many that will be raffled off on October 27th. The price per ticket is $100 (better save your pennies, girls.)

Wouldn't it be great to win a car like that for your husband, and show you still think of him as the same snappy dude you married so long ago? Call B. Potts at 435-3570 or P. Rogers at 435-3566 to buy a ticket.

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Here are some amusing definitions:

Life insurance: a policy that keeps you poor so you can die rich.

Diplomacy: The art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock.

See you next week!