Thanks for your comments on my Blog. I guess in some ways, i am a bit more sensitive to his side of it, in that, i lost my dad this past November who died at 82 while in prison. And i have a young nephew currently in prison. Both clearly deserved to be there for the things they did and the bad choices they made. But while my dad did come to recognize his mistakes and was trying to make amends,my nephew will likely spend more time than he was sentenced to due to his bucking the system in there.… Continue

I have a friend who was recently dismissed from his fire dept for being on parole. His Chief knew from the start, of his past trouble, a felony conviction from over twenty years ago. This man did do time, over 20 years. and had completely turned his life around for the good. but was still on parole. that was the reason his Chief gave for letting him go, saying "it did not look good..." This man served with honor, courage, and distinction as a firefighter, and was never late, never a problem,… Continue

A woman was going about her household tasks when she noticed her young son reading the Bible aloud to the cat. How sweet she thought to herself. a short time later, she heard a terrible noise outside and went out to investigate. Arriving on the back porch, she found her son trying to stuff the cat into a bucket of water much to the cat's disapproval.... "Johnny! what are you doing?" she asked. "I'm baptising Muffin" he replied. "But cats don't like water" she said. "Then he shouldn't have… Continue

"Life Can Be Funny Sometimes..."



A man is homeless, unemployed, feeling depressed & Hopeless. He's out walking and sees a comedy club and decides to go in, figuring the jokes and the couple of drinks he can buy with the last ten dollars in his pocket might cheer him up a little. As he enters the club, he sees a sign that reads: "Open mike night for amatures 7-9pm nightly." After watching several comedians on stage, he thinks, "Hey! I can do that!" And decides to give it a try. He… Continue

"An Editorial Comment By: B.A. Ellis..."



Upon careful review of the newspaper last evening, I noted that there were no less than twenty obituaries listed therein. That in and of it's self is of no reason to be a major concern to me, in that, I knew none of these persons who were listed there as having died. What does concern me though, is that I am beginning to sense a pattern developing, A pattern that I find to be quite a bit distirbing in the grand scheme of things! When one stops… Continue

"It Must Have Been Angels"



Well, it must of been angels, whispering, softly to me like the wind,

That woke me up in the middle of the night, to pray for you my friend,

Heaven must have seen, felt the painful struggle you're going through,

And sent messengers to wake the faithful, to reach out to pray for you.



It must have been angels, nudging my heart, to be sensitive to your plight,

That called me to pray for needs unknown, to help you with the… Continue

"Picture In The Storm"



A little girl walked to an from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable, and clouds were forming, She made her daily trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child, as following the roar… Continue

Who of us can ever forget that terrible Tuesday morning of Sept 11th, 2001? I was not yet a firefighter at that time, and had not even ever really thought of becoming one, But looking back, I think perhaps, it was a seed, one of many, planted in my heart, that played a role in my becoming a firefighter. Who can ever forget the loyallty, dedication, and bravery of our Brothers/Sisters who got "that call," and those we lost that day? I often write poems and songs etc & have since I was about… Continue