An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 30, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. The phone rang, and when I answered it the voice on the other end of the line sounded a bit distressed. “Do you remember me? You put a windshield in my pickup a few months ago,” she explained. “I do remember you,” I said. “Well, I didn’t know who else to call,” she said, “I have locked my keys in my truck. Can you help me?” I told her that It would be a few minutes before I could get away from my shop, but that I would come out as soon as I could and see if I could get into her truck. When I arrived, I got out the special tools that I have for getting into locked vehicles. I have two car antenna masts that I have adapted to use for breaking into vehicles. One of the antennas is straight with a slight curve to it, and the other one has a sharp right angle bend at the bottom and ends in a sharp point. After prying the top of the door away from the top, I was able to thread the straight antenna throug...

Memorial Day is a day for remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. I have been fortunate enough to not have any close family members who died in the service of their country. But as I think about how wartime affected some family members who served and how sad their lives ended, I have come to realize what they sacrificed to serve their country. A local hero that we remember on Memorial Day is Herbert A. Littleton. Littleton was a United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for falling on a grenade during the Korean War. He was born on July 1, 1930, in Mena, Arkansas. He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on July 29, 1948, for a one-year term. After the outbreak of the Korean War, Littleton reenlisted in the Marine Corps. He went to Korea with the 3rd Replacement Draft, fighting in South and Central Korean operations from December 17, 19,50 until his death. Littleton earned the nation's highest award...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 23, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. The little gray kitten was nowhere to be found. Two grown men were crawling on the dirty shop floor, looking under the dozen or so old cars stored there. Car parts, toys, and tires were stacked all around the cars. There were many many places for a tiny kitten to hide. How would they ever find the little gray kitten? A half-hour earlier, a customer had come into my shop for a windshield repair. As I worked on the windshield, the customer opened the liftgate of the SUV so it would not get too hot. In the back was a tiny kitten in a cardboard carrier. When the job was finished, the customer was ready to close the liftgate. He noticed a hole in the carrier and saw that the kitten was missing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the little gray kitten streaking into the building full of old cars. He hurried into the building as he asked me to help him find the kitten. I’m sure that it was quite a si...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 16, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. When I was a young boy, I used to eagerly read the “My Most Unforgettable Character” story each month in the Reader’s Digest. I read the Reader’s Digest from cover to cover, but I always looked forward to reading “My Most Unforgettable Character.” In real life, my most unforgettable character is my cousin LeRoy. When he was thirty-four years old, a car accident left LeRoy paralyzed from the waist down. His chances of survival were not good for the first few days. After a few weeks, doctors inserted stainless steel rods in his back to stabilize his spinal column. The accident left him with constant, excruciating pain for many years, until an experimental laser surgery relieved ninety percent of his pain. He was told that at best he had fifteen years to live, but he proved the doctors wrong, living an amazing life; remaining very active until shortly before passing away at the age of eighty-three. L...

This eulogy, written by Linda Borton McCabe, was read by Tom Borton at LeRoy Borton's memorial held on Sunday, May 13, 2018, in Keene, Texas LeRoy Earl Borton was born at home on January 22, 1934, in Ava, Missouri, to John Borton and Jessie Reeve Borton, and passed to his rest on October 21, 2017, in Athens, TN, at the age of 83. As the firstborn of five children, he spent his growing up years on farms in Missouri and Michigan, where he developed an early love for cars, trucks, tractors, and anything motorized. He began driving farm trucks almost before he could see over the dashboard, and it was said that if a truck came down the road and you could not see anyone behind the wheel, it was probably LeRoy. Those were hard years, but living on the farm and growing a large garden enabled them to always have enough to eat, as well as having lots to keep him and his 3 brothers and one sister busy. LeRoy attended high school at Adelphian Academy in Michigan and Sunnydale A...

While we are traveling in the car, my wife and I like to listen to audiobooks. One of the books we have listened to is Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. We enjoyed the book so much that I looked for other audiobooks by L. M. Montgomery. I found and purchased her book, The Story Girl. We enjoyed listening to it as well. The Story Girl was published in 1911 and tells of the adventures of a group of young cousins and their friends who live on Prince Edward Island. The book is narrated by Beverley, who with his brother Felix, has come to live with his Aunt and Uncle on their farm while their father travels for business. The Story Girl is their cousin Sara Stanley, whose many stories fill the book. One story in the book caught my attention. I want to share the story with you. While the schoolkids were on their way home from school, Felix has some exciting news. "Jerry Cowan told me at recess this afternoon that he had seen a picture of God–that he has it at home in an...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 9, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. A couple of months ago, a customer came into my shop wanting an estimate on a paint job. He had a Nissan pickup that was over twenty-five years old. The little truck needed a lot of work, and the estimate was for more than it was probably worth. I never expected to get the job. The truck just wasn’t worth it. About a month later, I received a call. The customer wanted to know If I remembered estimating a paint job on his Nissan pickup. I told him that I remembered it. He wanted to know when he could bring the truck to me. I was surprised that he wanted to spend that much money on the truck. Then he told me the story of the little Nissan hardbody pickup. His brother bought the pickup off of the showroom floor and drove it for many years. My customer inherited the Nissan when his brother passed away. The little truck had great sentimental value to him. When we were repainting the truck, my customer w...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the May 2, 2018, issue of The Mena Star. Last week, in our weekly Bible study group, we started by watching a video produced by La Sierra University music students who performed a beautiful arrangement of the hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.” The music video tells the story of how Horatio Spafford was inspired to write the lyrics to this classic hymn. Horatio was a prominent Chicago lawyer. He owned several properties throughout the city. He and his wife had four beautiful daughters and one son. Horatio was a successful lawyer, and with his real estate investments became a very wealthy man. But suddenly things began to go very wrong for Horatio. It began with the tragic death of his young son. Then he lost everything overnight when the great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed most of his real estate holdings. Two years later, Horatio with his wife and four daughters planned a vacation in Europe. At the last minute, Horatio had to stay behind ...