June 12, 1984. It was a warm, sunny day in Lebanon, Missouri, with a relatively cool low temperature of 66 and a somewhat toasty high of 85. Our family (Dad, Mom, brother, our collie Jody) and I had just moved from Joplin, and we were settling into yet another fixer-upper my father stumbled across while […]
June 12, 1984: A formative moment of my youth Read More »
Technology is great … until it isn’t. That’s all I can think after Siri took my wife and I on the “quickest” route from Paia, Hawaii, to our hotel on the western shore of Maui. Two hours (15 miles) and accelerated heart rates later, I doubt either of us will every fully trust our iPhones
A Maui drive we’ll never forget Read More »
Brenda Michelle Keller would have been 47 years old today. She left this life more than 34 years ago at the age of 12, but most people will never have the impact she’s had on myself and others in her far-too-short life. Like many folks, I think of Brenda often, particularly on her birthday and
Sharing an excerpt from ‘Goodbye, Butterfly’ on Brenda Keller’s birthday Read More »
Hard-working. Stubborn. Relentless. Competitive. Honest. All traits passed down through the years to the Webb men. Those I have. Good with their hands? Not so much. That’s been a long-running joke in my marriage, though I’ve managed to fix a washing machine twice and a few other repairs in the last 13 years. Typically, however,
Twelve Days of Christmas 2025 finale: So much for the handy gene Read More »
It’s funny how things change with age. At 26, being separated, living 14 hours from home and struggling in the workplace felt utterly hopeless. Now, at 49, I often think “Dude, you could have just quit your job and moved in with your dad back in Kansas.” Hindsight, of course, is 20-20. It would have
Twelve Days of Christmas 2025, Part XI: Giving McAllen a chance Read More »
A few thousand dollars, and life looks completely different. That thought runs through my mind every time I think about my parents and the beginning of their lives together. Dad and Mom met in San Diego in the mid-1970s, not long after the old man finished his last stretch behind bars, largely because his boss
Twelve Days of Christmas 2025, Part X: Dad’s last mug shot and nearly being Californians Read More »
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 12, “My Strawberry is Gone,” of the bestseller “Goodbye, Butterfly: Murder, faith and forgiveness in a small Kansas town.” You can order the book online. Once Bob finished his message, the service moved to the cemetery to the south and just off Douglas Road, less than a quarter
Twelve Days of Christmas, Part IX: An excerpt from Chapter 12 of ‘Goodbye, Butterfly’ Read More »
One of my favorite memories with the old man is attending Missouri’s upset of No. 1 Oklahoma in October 2010. I will always cherish storming the field with my 65-year-old father (and about 20,000 other Mizzou fans). Now, the actual trip from Topeka to Columbia, however, does not rank as a favorite memory, though I
Twelve Days of Christmas 2025, Part VIII: Dad and the 100-mph turnpike chase Read More »
My last Christmas in Lebanon, Missouri, is one of my most memorable, highlighted by my favorite gift as a boy, the Nintendo Entertainment System that was the toy/gift of the 1988 season. Mom and Dad surprising my brother and I after all the presents were opened will always be the crown jewel in an upbringing
Twelve Days of Christmas 2025, Part VII: Christmas in Lebanon Read More »
A Brock Olivo jersey, hours upon hours of Sim City, an incredibly difficult college course and a relentless illness. Those were the “highlights” of Christmas in 1996. I’d been home from Kansas State for more than a year and was in my first semester at Washburn University, a place I fell in love with immediately.
Twelve Days of Christmas 2025, Part VI: Christmas with mono Read More »
