A boy named Charlie, who loved horses, grew up on a ranch in New
Mexico.
His basketball team won state the year he graduated from high
school.
Meanwhile, a girl named
Bette had been
growing up in
California.
She attended junior college and pledged a sorority.
Our country had entered WW2, and both Bette and Charlie
enlisted in the US Navy.
They were stationed on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where they met,
dated,fell in love, and got married in 1945.
After the war, they settled in
Las Cruces, New
Mexico, to raise their
family.
While Charlie worked at White Sands Missile Range, Bette stayed home, kept house,and
took care of their
two daughters,
Carol and
Connie.
Years went by, and Connie
graduated from high school
in 1971, just as Bette had done
in the ’40s.
That summer,
Connie left New Mexico
to attend Hardin-
Simmons University,
where a boy named Ken had been attending
school for two years.
They met, dated, fell in love, and
married in 1974.
Ken and Connie
had two sons,
Matt &
Keith.
They made their home
in Brownwood,
Texas.
The years flew
by . . .
. . . and the boys grew up.
Both sons graduated from
high school.
May 1999
May 2005
The summer
after graduating from high
school, Matt left home to attend Texas A&M,
while a girl named
Rachel was also
leaving home
to attend A&M.
They met,
dated, fell in love, and
married in 2003.
And the cycle continues as we await the birth of
Matt & Rachel’s daughter this summer.
Other things may change us,
but we start and end with family.
-- Anthony Brandt