a.d. elliott - Take the Back Roads

Dear Henry, While in Lexington, Virginia , I stopped by the Jackson House Museum. Let me tell you all about it! Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was born on January 21, 1824, in what is now Clarksburg, West Virginia. His father and one sister died of typhoid while he was young, and his mother remarried in 1830. The new stepfather did not want responsibility for either Thomas or his sister, so his mother sent the children to live with their uncle in what is now Jackson's Mill, West Virginia. Growing up in a rural area, Jackson did not have many opportunities for traditional schooling and was primarily self-educated. However, despite Jackson's lack of formal education, he enrolled in West Point in 1842 and struggled through, graduating 17th in his class of 59 in 1846.   Jackson deployed to Mexico almost immediately after graduation for the Mexican-American War. He participated in the battle of Chapultepec and the capture of Mexico City. When the war ended in 1848, Ge...

Dear Henry, For the last couple of weeks, I've been painting.  I was blessed when I moved to our home in Salem, Virginia. The former owner really loved her home, and she was also a "blue" person. I was able to move in and feel right at home. Consequently, I've not done a lot of home improvement.   That period of leisure has come to an end. It was past time to paint the porch and the deck. It had been a couple of years since we moved in, and after the massive amounts of rain during Helene, painting was more than due. Physical labor couldn't have come at a more welcome time. My mother has dementia and balance issues due to a lifetime of opiate, benzodiazepine, and alcohol abuse. Some months ago, she had a terrible fall, and it became clear that we were going to need to place her in some type of care facility. However,  because of the challenging dynamics in my family, my uncles took over the care of my mother. My youngest sister and I were assured that my mother was...