A Beautiful Surprise

 On October 10, 2020, I received the greatest gift from my father Johnny Joe Gulley in many years. 

At the age of 43, he decided to host my first birthday party. I did not grow up with my father so this moment was huge! 

Since COVID-19 was still very active at the time, we decided to have the event outside at my cousin Cal's home.

Approximately 20 or so people including children, arrived at random times to help join in the fun. 

Words can't begin to express how loved my family made me feel.

We ate good food and listened to radio station104.5 as we played dominoes.

During the first game, one of them shouted out, " You can't play dominoes. You are just matching colors." I am not going to lie. I was a tad bit hurt by that statement.

Keep in mind that the first few hands that I had were terrible.

Since I was the low man on the board, I had to get up to let someone else play.

In the second game that I played, I sought vengeance. In the end, I emerged victoriously.

I left them being a winner!

We took plenty of pictures to document this event to share with my friends across the globe via the Facebook website. Overall, I had fun and I was proud of my dad for hosting the event for me.

He said that he wanted to continue this tradition for many years to come. 

I pray that God will allow us to share many more birthdays such as this in the years ahead.

A Teachable Moment

I am so proud of my niece Gin Gin. She is such an accomplished young woman.
One of the things that I love about her the most is that she listens to me when I speak.
Once, when she was 17, I had a conversation with her about the boyfriend that she was seeing at the time. She told me that he played football.
I asked her what position did he play and she got mad at me. 

She told me that she did not know because she hated the sport.
I told her that she was slacking on her duties as his girlfriend. 
I told her that she did not need to like the sport to know which position he played. I told her that it was a good idea for her to know just in case someone else wanted to know about him as well. She thought about what I said for a minute and then she texted him. We found out that he played the position of the defensive end for the Pirates. 
In the end, she learned that she needed to ask her man more questions so she would not look ignorant when other people ask about him. 
 

Dumbfounded

On April 20, 2020, I had finally received the $1200 Economic Impact Stimulus check in the mail that was promised to us by President Donald J. Trump. 
So the next day, I decided to take a trip to Walmart and make good use of the money that I was given.
While I was in there buying up some random things, this young woman and her child asked me to buy them some food and household items. 
I agreed to do so because the money that I was given had been a blessing to me. 
Therefore, I saw this as a chance for me to pay it forward. 
She followed me in the store to pick up household items. However, she started to throw the more expensive items into my basket.
I told her that I did not mind helping her, but I would be in charge of what she would receive since I was the one that was footing the bill.
She got upset and then she said that she would continue to ask other people. Then she disappeared.
This left me in a confused state for a minute, because I had gone out of my way to help her with her needs but she had the nerve to refuse my help because she could not get what she wanted.
I am a charitable person, but I will not be used.
There is an old saying that "beggars can't be choosers." I sincerely hope that she was able to receive the help that she needed, but she missed out on her blessing with me. 

The Greatest Gift From My Father

Up until the time that I was 4 years old, I lived in Chidester, Arkansas with my parents Johnney Joe and Sheila Gulley in my dad's parents manor. 
It was around that time I told my dad that I wanted to be like Boss Hogg, a character from the hit TV Show "The Dukes of Hazzard."
Weeks later, he bought me a big white cowboy hat, a belt buckle, and some cowboy boots. 
As a child, I would pick out the clothes that I wanted to wear and I would wear those items EVERYDAY!
In 1981, I took a picture in my outfit at the county Faulkner County Fair. 
Years later, I would look at that photo and become furious. I asked my dad why he allowed me to go out in public looking the way that I did.
He replied, " You were my only son and I wanted to make sure that you believed that you could be whatever you wanted to be in life."
I must admit that my father and I have not always seen eye to eye on certain issues. 
However, he has always been there for me when the moments counted the most. I will always be thankful to him for inspiring me to believe in myself. 

The Old Adventures of Young Rickey Gee: Lessons From My Uncle Tyrone

The Old Adventures of Young Rickey Gee: Lessons From My Uncle Tyrone: When I became an adult, I would converse with my Uncle Tyrone, my mother's brother about women. I always thought that he was the one tha...

Lessons From My Uncle Tyrone

When I became an adult, I would converse with my Uncle Tyrone, my mother's brother, about women. I always thought that he was the one that best luck when it came to dealing with women because he always seemed to be with the most attractive of them all. 
Here are some of the lessons that he taught me.
1. When it comes to women, you have to listen, but you do not have to agree with them.
2. Choose your battles with them wisely, because even if you have solid evidence that proves that you were right in an argument they will make you pay for it later.
3. Learn that the true meaning of submission is to be able to sacrifice what you believe is right for what is right. 
4. Whatever you say that you will not do, there is always someone else that will be willing to do it for her. So you might as well do it and get it over with.
5. When you are hearing to much nagging in your household, take your woman out on the town to reset her emotions. 
6. Elevated foot massages are way to give a woman pure satisfaction without being sexual. Do it often! She will appreciate you in more ways than one when you least expect it.
7. If she ever asks you for space, give it to her. You might just be doing yourself a favor in the process. 
Earlier you may have read that I said that I thought that my uncle was very lucky with the ladies. 
Well, his luck eventually ran out with them, because he's now serving a 35 year sentence in prison behind one. 
I still write to him because I miss him and just because I like to pick his brain from time to time. 
Regardless of what he was accused of doing, I still manage to be thankful for the lessons that he has given me to help mold me into the wise man that I am today. 

Family Time

Family was a such a special time on the weekends when we were children. 
I can remember when we would gather around in the front room and watch old Abbott and Costello films. 
We would eat Jiffy Pop Popcorn and have Capri Sun drinks or canned cokes to drink as well.
Sometimes we would even watch old Tarzan and Roy Rogers films as well. 
I believe that we did all of this so that my step- father could relive his childhood through us once more. 
I had no idea that other people did not do what we did until I became much older. 
Even though, I had a step-father, my closest neighbors were being raised by their mothers the best way that they could be raised.
As an adult, I now see how fortunate I was to have grown up in a house, not an apartment, with two parents in the home.
It's amazing what you do not realize you have until things change. 
Special thanks to J.C. Clemons Sr. for being the great provider that he was to me as a child. 
May he rest in peace.