Family
My Grand Generation
Bill Rogers
I only knew my grandpa after he was forced to slow down from heart problems. He made things out of wood for the flower shop. Bird houses and yard decorations are what I remember most. Our yard was always decorated come Halloween and Christmas with his creations. He was the first person I saw put salt on his cantelope, a habit I have kept all my life. I have seen pictures of him and Ronald on motorcycles and I'm told they drove all the way down to the Darian Gap in Panama. He was the youngest of nine, I think. Aunt Bobby told me that a couple of his older brothers were in Bonnie and Clyde's gang. They would rob banks in Dallas and drive up north to a safehouse in Denton. One of these safehouses was either my great-grandparent's house or the house of one of these older brothers. On that point it wasn't clear.
Doris Rogers
My grandma was an artist, euntrepeneur, and a community fixture in Little Elm. She was always very generous. I had a garder every homecoming and Valorie a mum. I never remember us paying for them. When Grandpa passed she used some of the money to send me on my first mission trip to Panama. She always represented a focal point for all our family gatherings her whole life. One of her most famous stories is when the boys were young, there was a mean old rooster who was pecking at Brad when he was a toddler. She took off her high-heel and threw it at the rooster and struck it dead. That rooster was plucked, cleaned, and cooked for dinner that night.
Bobby White
My Great Aunt Bobby, she's a jack of all trades. She is the younger sister of Doris and they seemed very close and did things together, like keeping Eva's Florist, the flower shop, going. I never did meet Eva. On top of being a florist, she's been a Texas Master Gardener, raised animals, has been a real estate agent, and probably much more. She's a very active woman and I admire her energy. She's a great hostess. She keeps a lot of collectables and pretties that make a parent nervous when kids are around. Still, we split our Rogers family gatherings between her and Brad.
Jimmy McDonald
I remember going to the nursing home with Mom and Melissa when we were little and visiting him near the end of his life. Melissa and I, having seen a Life Alert commercial on TV, laid on the ground in the hallway yelling "help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" We played with puzzles in his room. Unfortunatly I don't remember much past that. He must have been a very unique figure, because he produced three very unique characters in his children. He had an aortic aneurysm that seems to be genetic. I need to remember to get that checked sometime.
Betty McDonald
My MeeMaw might out live us all. She had such a small house that we were somehow able to fit our big McDonald-side of the family into. When we didn't fit it spilled into the fairly spacious back yard. Though we met there for many holidays, it's the Easters that I remember the most. Throwing or kicking a ball. She loved going to the movie theatre regularly and being a part of her church, FBC Carrolton. We would go every year to watch her sing with the choir in the "Living Christmas Tree." A fixture of the holiday season, it was a spectical and often had different kinds of theatre performances along side it, if I'm not mixing my memories. I remember clearly being there when I was struck by the conviction that I should join the Army, which ended up being a very interestign side-quest in my life. She also encouraged me when I decided to go to Criswell College in persuit of being a minister with her words and by giving me a couple books.
Reuben Ekberg
As a boy who had lost both of his grandfather's young, Reuben became a sort of surrogate grandfather when I started attending all the Ekberg family events. He was certainly the patriarch of the family and was a great example of how men should act in their advanced age. He worked in the navy as a young man on electronics, maybe having something to do with radar, my memory is a little fuzzy on that. He had the heart of a preacher. Always had Jesus on his lips. He hand dug a well at 60 years old. It collapsed and he did it again. I'm told he was a very stern father and maybe you could see an outline of what that used to be, but he had clearly mellowed out as a grandfather. He was proud of his Swedish roots, but also had fully embraced being a Texan. The same can be said of the whole Ekberg clan.
Donna Ekberg
The best times with Donna was sitting at the table with her drinking coffee and eating ginger snaps. She was always asking questions about what was going on in our lives in a way that felt very genuine and not just a way of progressing a conversation. She was very generous and seemed like she was always giving something away.
My Predecessors
Billy Rogers
The people closest to me are the ones I have the hardest time finding the right words for. This is true for my parents, my sisters, and my wife, but because he's the only one so far to have died, it's most true for my Dad. I wasn't ready. I miss him so much. He was such an anchor for me, one that was easy to take for granted until he was gone. Even though I had by that point done numerous things that might make someone think I had "matured" in some way such as marraige, Army, or our first child, I had done all of those things out of youthful exuberance. It wasn't until my Dad died that I realized some weakness of mine had died with him. I had a clear shift in my mindset. It felt like I had "become a man" and that I needed to take responsibility for myself.
Dena Rogers
Scott Ekberg
Julia Ekberg
Allen Rogers
Lisa Rogers
Brad Rogers
Kimberly Rogers
Ronald Rogers
Gary McDonald
Lori McDonald
Rick McDonald
Shelly McDonald
Brenda McDonald
My Contemporary Generation
Melanee Fabri
Jason Fabri
Melissa Rogers
Diane Ekberg
Erin Guzman
Michael McDonald
Courtney Alida Ellis
Michael McDonald
Brian McDonald
Saige McDonald
Ginger McDonald
Ian McDonald
Dillon McDonald
Hayden Rogers
Kate Rogers
Kennedy Rogers
Randy Rogers
Aubree Rogers
My Bride
Valorie Rogers
My childhood sweetheart.
My Progeney
Lucy Kay Marie Rogers
Moses Alexander Rogers
Magdalena Pearl Rogers
William Glen Rogers
Cecilia May Rogers
Asa James Rogers
Nephews and Nieces
Ryan J Bentley
Nathan Fabbri
A'tianna Rogers
Ariella Rogers
Corrin Hill
Ellianna Jaurez