Hello Breaux,

Hello Breaux,

Nice of you to mention me in the edition of the 18th. I did not read it until the 25th. My wife had a serious heart attack on the 17th, so I was a little busy. Jeannie is OK. She had three stents placed and is home recovering nicely. She is a four foot, eleven inch go-getter and is having to learn to slow down.

I do live on a lake, but not the big one and not near Conroe. I live in Ace, Texas, seven miles north of Romayor and about 17 miles north of Livingston. Today Ace only has a post office, two churches and a cemetery. Sometime in the past there was a port on the Trinity River near here.

We live in Taylor Lake Estates, a cluster of homes around about a 200 acre lake. I walk out the backdoor, go about 50 feet and fish off a dock. I'm overhauling a somewhat classic boat, a Coleman Crawdad. It's a small plastic jon boat. Most boats here are similar to mine, powered by trolling motors. Taylor Lake is not a bass mecca, but we do OK. I'm slowed down and fish with ultra light stuff and my favorite, fly rods.

West Orange is well represented here. After we moved here I discovered David Heard, WOHS Class of 1960. I was in the WOHS Class of 1963. David married Sherry Bollman from his high school class last year. What are the chances of three of us ending up on the west edge of the Big Thicket?

I like it up here, but I miss Orange. I keep up with all things Orange by reading the Record, Ginger Broome's Orange County website and the local obits. Sadly I see more in the obits than I would prefer to see. Thought occurred to me that I have been reading OVN and the Record for over 50 years. For a while living in Vidor I had a subscription to OVN and received my copy by mail. Remember those days?

The day after Thanksgiving last year(2023), I took a fall in the bathroom, like most old geezers, and shattered the bone in my left shoulder. I had a total shoulder replacement early last December. I'm still not fully recovered. I've got nerve damage in my left hand that has my fingers numb. As a result of that I've got moss draping off my monitor and fungus growing on the keyboard, not been able to write much.

I've been glad to see the good things happening around Orange. What gives me the most warm fuzzy feeling is what the folks at Orange Community Players are doing with the old movie theater. OCP is a great group of dedicated people that are a treasure that Orange should cherish. Wish we had a similar organization in Livingston.

Along with you, I wish I knew "Sharon's" last name, I probably knew her. She mentioned Tommy Hubbard. He lives near Washington D.C. and goes by "John" now, his first name. His parents are both deceased. I went in the store several years ago and though it is different inside it still has mostly the same smell and feel.

I will always be grateful for the day I staggered into the Record office in Bridge City and gave Al Droche an envelope with some samples of my writing and a few pictures. (By the way, Mayo Leblanc used to call Al,"Cock-A-Roach" in the refinery) Roy gave me the opportunity to start writing that lasted nearly 18 years for five different publications and one website. I met some good people and had some great experiences. I often think about good times in the Record office, especially when Roy and I would talk about old people, places, and things.

Thanks for all the good times, you are never long out of my thoughts. Tell all the gang hello for me and if you ever get up this way give me a hollar.........

Mike