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 »
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 »
If you have any information on James “Danny” Hollinsghead, born in 1942 or 1943, please contact Ernie W. Webb III at erniewebbiii@hotmail.com. I’ve written numerous times in this space how much my late father loved the movie “Shawshank Redemption,” even if he had nightmares afterward due to his experiences in various boys homes, jails and
The old man would have celebrated his 81st birthday today. It’s hard to believe it’s been more than six years since he died at age 74 in August 2019. Until it was clear that he no longer wanted to fight the good fight after months of enduring bone cancer, Dad’s goal was to reach age
Happy Heavenly 81st birthday to my dad Read More »
I’ve written at length about my father’s early transgressions. Needless to say, he fought the law a lot, and the law ultimately won. What began with stealing BBs from a hardware store in Baldwin, Kansas, steadily escalated. First, as a pre-teen, he began burglarizing the houses of the people on his newspaper route. Then, he
Twelve Days of Christmas 2024, Part III: Why the old man finally found his way Read More »
The old man loved to go for walks. When my brother and I were little, he’d wake us up on craft show weekends, and we’d walk from one end of the venue to the other, stopping a few times to chat with fellow crafters before the event started, then all the way back. By my
Webb: Dad’s last walk Read More »
If you read this blog, you know my father loved to gamble. Not that he spent a lot of money doing it, but it was one of the few things he did financially that wasn’t thrifty (buying his grandchildren gifts also was on the short list). We went to the casino together dozens of times
Twelve Days of Christmas, 2021, Part II: Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em Read More »
The first time I told my father I wanted to write about his life, he wasn’t keen on the idea. He wasn’t necessarily ashamed of his past, but he didn’t want his grandchildren to think less of him. I countered that he had a great story of redemption. Not many people who spend 13 years
Twelve days of Christmas, 2021, Part 1: Dad and a real barn-burner … literally Read More »
Note: I wrote this blog, but did not publish it, on Aug. 4, 2019. Dad died the next day, less than 24 hours later. I went on the last run I’ll go on while my father’s alive today. Unless, of course, he continues to defy the predictions. In truth, I don’t run that much anymore.
Memories of a lifetime during ‘the last run’ Read More »
I didn’t ask my dad about his childhood enough. Even though we talked about it for several hours in the months leading up to his death, I will always wish I’d asked more questions. I think that’s something many of us miss out on, learning as much as we can about our parents. That said,
Twelve Days of Christmas, 2020, finale: Through my dad’s eyes Read More »
