“Be a master of the mind, not mastered by the mind.” ~ Zen Proverb
This is one of my oldest and dearest friends, Donna McClure Steele, and this is her first appearance in the outhouse. I’ve known Donna so long I don’t remember seeing her for the first time. She’s just always been here. She grew up two houses down from Mamaw’s church, and I would often see her, and her brother Jimmy, outside playing when I’d walk to church with Mamaw. By the time we were in high school we were running buddies, ball playing partners (her nickname was ‘Lil Bit because she’s so tiny), and Rook playing fiends. Only, of course, when she wasn’t working at one job or another, like babysitting Jodi Stacy and her brother Travis who now, essentially, run Bank of the Mountains where dad and Donna work.
Over the last couple of years I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Donna’s youngest, Ryan. He’s a lot like her; energetic, creative, funny, a hard worker. He has big dreams and knows what he wants. I like him a lot and I hope to get to know him better as time goes along. Me and Donna had some great times as teenagers; just good, clean country fun that I’m sure would bore most teenagers these days, but I bet Ryan would have liked us.
Donna has worked at Bank of the Mountains since she graduated from High School. She spent a lot of time at my house when we were kids (ours was the house with the open-door all-kids-welcome policy). She knows mom and dad as good as anyone, and I don’t know that anybody is going to miss dad at work more than Donna. He’s sure going to miss her. In my absence over the years, she has stood in for me. They’ve got a strong bond, those two, and I’m grateful for it.
february 18, 2016 | the outhouse: where art goes
[…] were about town when we stopped in at dad’s former employer, Bank of the Mountains. Donna, whom you met back in December, was there to greet us. It should be obvious from the top photo how much dad and Donna care for […]