Special Shoes

Growing up basketball was a huge part of my life. I loved the game. I practiced everyday that I could. What I am saying in "I could" was if the court was dry from rain or not. It was the only court I had and it was at my Aunt and Uncle's house next door. I spent a lot of time shooting jump shots and especially free throws. I remember I would shoot at least two hundred jump shots per day and a hundred free throws per day. If I knew I was gonna miss the next day I would double or triple up according to how many days I was gonna miss. Some how, some way, I was gonna get my shots in.

I spent a lot of this weekend with a good friend of mine. He is also my brother-in-law. We spent the rides home from deer hunting talking of hunting, family, and of mainly our shared interest basketball. Dennis grew up focusing on basketball and being a great player. He went on to play at Sam Houston Sate and MSU after high school. I went on to play at little ol MDCC after high school. We talked a lot of the similarities we had in practicing in the off-season and what it took to be a great player. We both started at a young age practicing hard to be good, but there were a few differences that made a difference in how we turned out.

Rocky: Dennis:
200 jump shots/day 600 jump shots/day
100 free throws/day 300 free throws/day
Played Academy Ball Played Public School ball
No weights Lifted weights everyday
Outdoors court Practiced in gym everyday
Rubber Basketball Authentic Leather Basketball

There is one difference that really put Dennis over the top in his basketball development and we had a good laugh about it though. It was the strength shoe. Many of you are wondering what is a strength shoe? I found a picture of one for those that didn't know:


One of my biggest weaknesses in my game has always been my vertical jump and my feet quickness. I knew from an early age that this was something that I really needed to work on. A concrete court, multiple jump shots or free throws, playing academy ball, or the type of ball I was using wouldn't make these deficits any better. I found out about these shoes out of a magazine and believed every word the advertisement said. "Increase your vertical by ten inches and your forty time by three tenths of a second".

The difference in this was found out this weekend. Dennis said his dad just showed up one day with these shoes for him to start working out in. On the other end I begged my parents to please buy me some. I brought the advertisement home and put it different places in the house hoping they would get the hint. I kept finding it in the trash. So finally I just asked for some. No was the answer. Don't get me wrong I really love my parents and they never let me live without my basic needs, but sometimes they were very tight. They didn't see a reason to buy a child a $220 pair of shoes. You know the reasons: They never had a $220 pair of shoes. They walked barefooted most of their childhood and so should I. Earn the money myself and buy them.(I did work all of my childhood, but that money went to a car.)

I have always found a way to do something I really believed in and I really believed in these shoes. I was gonna have some strength shoes. I decided to make me some. That is exactly what I said, I made some homemade strength shoes. All it took was a 3inch piece of 2*4, old basketball shoe, and duct tape. This is what I came up with:


Dennis told me his came with a workout video. I guess I could have made a workout video for mine. I could have named it "The Giant Retard and His Special Shoes". I could have been rich. He said his video had a lot of side to side and jumping movements. I couldn't make those move in mine or the duct tape wouldn't hold and let me tell you didn't want mess the duct tape up. To tight and lose the feeling in your toes and to loose the block on the bottom would slide over and you would fall over. It took a while to get the duct tape calibrated just right. I remember walking down the road in these shoes and cars would slow down and take a look and people would stare and whisper about me. I didn't care I was getting quicker and faster. Only the quicker and faster never came. The only thing that came was hurting knees and shin splints. I remember the last time I wore them and the hurt in my legs and disappointment that they had probably made me slower. I threw them away that afternoon. My mom saved them and still has them at their house. I didn't know until I asked her about it the other day. I thought she was gonna choke when I brought it up. She was laughing so hard. We laughed a while about it and I told her of all of the accomplishments that the shoes had helped Dennis get to. Her response was "I guess we could have spent $220 on those shoes." Heck yeah thinking to myself, they could have taken me on to the NBA. HA! HA! YEAH RIGHT!

Happy Birthday Kelsey!!!!!!!!

One thing I am was not lucky enough to have growing up was a sister. I think I could have been a good brother to a little sister. What I didn't know was what God had in store for me in 2003. I got all I ever dreamed of and more in a sister. Not only did I get a sister but also I got a chaperone for Royann and I throughout our dating process. I remember the first time I met Kelsey. She welcomed me with open arms into the family. The whole family did a great job of that, but Kelsey was different. She became a part of my life from day one. She has been my basketball buddy, my co pilot flying, a carpenter when I needed help, a vacation partner, my Ole Miss football game partner, and a girl just when I needed to talk. She is mature way beyond her years. She is the all-american girl. Royann and Kelsey are really close also. They spent eight or nine years sleeping in the same twin bed. She was Royann's snuggle bunny.



The first time I met Kelsey she was turning the ripe age of twelve. Today I heard a story of Kelsey on her twelfth birthday. She was at the drug store working when a the thoughts of getting older got the best of her. She ran over to the flower shop to seek counsel from Bessie the Florist. She jumped on the counter in the shop and and tears was rolling down her face. Bessie thought she had gotten in trouble with her Mom and Dad. Bessie questioned what was wrong and Kelsey exclaimed, " I don't want to get older". Bessie told her that getting older was great and to enjoy these days and questioned her why getting older was so scary. Kelsey went on to tell Bessie she was really afraid of getting boobs and womanly curves. Bessie went on to comfort her that day about growing into a woman. She grew into one heck of a woman. She not only has the looks, but the brains to back it up.





Happy Birthday Kelsey (little sister), and Royann and I love you very much. We will always be here for you if ever need anything. We hope to get to spend a lot more birthdays with you. Maybe one day you will get those boobs you so fear.

The Greatest Kiss

Stories are meant to be told and also meant to be read. I love to listen to great stories. I thought I would write them down now so if anything were to ever to happen to me maybe one day Royann could share them with our kids and have a great laugh. Royann has taken a fill in position with a couple of vet clinics around Mississippi and sometimes it leaves me home alone. Tonight happens to be one of those nights. I am a very traditional person. As you read this blog of stories you will come to find that out. There are things that I do day in and day out that are traditional to me. One is hard to do when my wife is away. Ever since she found out she was pregnant with our first child, I go in each night and kiss my wife and rub on her belly. (Royann goes to bed before me a lot of times while I work on a computer business.) Also I say a prayer with my wife for our future child with my hand on her belly. I don't pray that he or she is successful, rich, smart, healthy, or a good athlete like most parents would hope for. I am not saying those things are important so please don't take it in the wrong way. I have a unmoving faith that those things will be taken care of by God. The one thing I do pray for is his or her salvation. I pray that our child becomes a Christian and he becomes a miracle worker for God here on earth. I end the tradition every night with talking to my wife's belly to our child and telling him or her funny stories about Royann and I and kissing Royann's belly. I know what you are thinking is this the greatest kiss the story was named after and the answer is no.

While thinking about my tradition I thought of another kiss that happened in my life. It was my first kiss. First kisses are long not forgotten by anyone. They are major moments that live with us forever even if we can't stand that person it was with. It always brings a smile to our face thinking of it. Mine was on July 2, 1989. I had gone with my Aunt and Uncle to my cousin's all-star baseball game. In the previous year of playing on these fields I was named league MVP, all-star myself, recorded the most home runs as a hitter and most strikeouts by a pitcher ever to hit or pitch in Holmes County. I was sort of a big man you could say. I was respected by old and young and male and female. I walked with a strut with my held high. When I showed up to this game a year later it was no different from when I was playing. Young does were running everywhere and everyone knew who the head buck was. I sat in the small bleachers away from the main stands where the parents sat where the teenagers were. Just breaking into the teen years I was cool enough at the time to hang with the fourteen and fifteen year olds. I had played with most of them and they knew and respected me for what I did on the field. As I sat down to watch the game I scoped out the women around me without them knowing I was looking. I gauged them and it was the same old women. Out of the corner of my eye I caught the most beautiful specimen a thirteen old had ever seen. She had blond hair with perfect bangs, short shorts, and was the most well endowed thirteen year old I had ever seen. She was a friend of a friend, which worked perfectly in my favor. I knew she would introduce us and talk me up before hand. I was in. I had never been nervous like this in my whole life. I think I even used my real name Bradley because I didn't want the name Rocky to scare her off. We talked the whole game sitting right there on the hill above the field. I don't think I saw a single pitch. The night and the game flew by. The only way I or her knew the game was over is because they started turning the lights off above the field. After the game she asked me to walk me to her friends mother's car. My strut turned into a limp. As we reached her ride and looked behind us at the darkness of the field that was once lit up and the droves of fans walking up to their own cars, I did what any nervous boy would do. I played the small talk card. We were just telling each other our deepest secrets not five minutes ago and I go to the small talk card. I use the small talk to avoid the inevitable, but it didn't work. She wrapped her arms around my neck and moved in. I remember thinking in the milliseconds before her lips met mine, I had never kissed a girl. I didn't know how to do it. I remember thinking do I turn right or turn left or go for the straight on kiss? I had overheard one time my brother saying something about the tongue, but I remember thinking that sounded both gross and dangerous. What if the woman bit it? What did you do with the tongue anyway? I knew I had seen a lot of people kiss on TV on the one channel we did get back then. I had seen wedding kisses. I had seen my Mom and Dad kiss. I did what any naive, country raised boy could do. I decided to go with the TV kiss,closed mouth but with fish motions. Almost like I was chewing a piece of food with my lips. I remember her tongue trying to cross the goal line, but I held it off with my tight lips motion. Wow! This girl was experienced I remember thinking. Just as I finished the kiss my little cousin "The Brat" we used to call her snuck around the car this girl had me pushed up against. She started screaming "Rocky is kissing a girl" over and over. So a lot of people became a part of my moment that night. She quickly said goodbye and jumped into the cranked car we were standing by. I don't know if it was the kiss or the gas fumes from the car that had me on cloud nine, but I could barely stand on my weak knees.

The ride home all I could think about was I didn't get her number or even her last name. Which it didn't matter anyway. We weren't allowed to make long distance phone calls. I knew she lived in Kosciusko and that was long distance from Tchula. Sorry kids no area calling back then. The game was the talk of the car for my uncle and cousin and my bratty little cousin just kept saying "Rocky was kissing! Shame! Shame! Shame!". I talked of this moment a lot with my cousins and friends and knew I would never see this girl again. I was in love. The next weekend as we gathered with family at my family's annual "Family Reunion" at Holmes County State Park. I got my wish. It was a big day in the park for a lot of families having their reunion. There was a tin cover roof every 100 feet with different families all gathering for their different respective families. Most other families we knew because they gathered on the same as the Killebrews each year. With the smell of fried chicken in the air and old people saying, "you are getting so big", I went through the story of that faithful night with my cousins. Just as I was finishing the story, I saw her. It was almost like God had answered my prayers. She was making her way down the hill to her families spot. She glowed like a angel. Her blond hair shining and tossing in the wind. I turned to my cousins and said there she is. It was almost like I was living in a dream. I swear I could hear a slow love song playing in my head as she walked down the hill. Is this really happening I remember thinking? Could her family and my family be in the same park on the same day? They were. She made her way down the hill to all the sectioned spots to where all the different families were gathered. The only problem was she came straight to my family's spot. I treaded lightly to get back to parents car without being noticed. I was only noticed by my cousins and their roaring laughter making fun of me for kissing my cousin. I had kissed my fifth or seventh cousin. It didn't matter to me. We were fruit of the same family tree even if she was an extended branch. I know what you are thinking, Is this the greatest kiss I have ever shared? NO!!!! Let me say NO one more time!!!

Right now that honor belongs to my wife and not because she is the worlds greatest kisser. If she is not she is real close. I think the greatest kiss for me and my wife has not even not taken place yet. It comes in five to six months. I think that honor will belong to the first kiss we lay on our first child's forehead. I think it will be the greatest kiss and if not I know it will be in the top two anyway.

I love you Royann and I miss you and baby Leflore tonight.

Major Moments

Life is full of moments. Moments that change us. Moments that make us laugh, make us cry, make us make us mad, or make us smile. I love being part of major moments in peoples lives. I love to share those memories with them. In the hunting business I am in I get to share a lot of first with fathers and sons. I get to be part of the first duck they kill. Its exciting to see the kids as they jump up and down and give a round of high fives to everybody. Usually with tears rolling down father's faces I get to be in the first picture with the young hunter and his kill. I forever become a part of someone else's life. I think that is a major reason God puts us here. It is to share what He has given us to help make those major moments in other's lives.

Yesterday Royannn and I had the chance to become a part of another ones life. I have been an avid Ole Miss fan since I can remember. My dad trained us early to cheer for the boys in the red and blue. I can remember laying on the hood of my dad's truck after he would get home from work on Saturday afternoons in the fall and listening to them on the radio. It was our spot. It was tradition. The warmth of truck hood kept us warm most of the game even though sometimes it got really cold in the later November games. Money was something we didn't have a lot of growing up, so the radio was as close as I got to the rebels. When I got old enough though my dad took me to my first game. It was the Ole Miss/Arkansas game in 1983. It was played in Jackson, Ms. I remember walking to the stadium and hearing the shouts of hog fans. If you are a fan of the SEC then you know "Pig Souieee" and how many time hog fans cheer it before, after, and during a game. Walking out of the tunnel into the stadium was unreal to a seven year old that hadn't left the country community of Horseshoe except to go to school or a one in a while shopping trip to Greenwood. The only thing I had ever seen even close to that big with that many seats for fans was the Greenwood Civic Center. This monstrosity was a thousand times bigger than that to a seven year old. I remember thinking that stadium was the most awesome site I had ever seen. It was so big I gripped on to my Dad's hand like a overtightened pair of vice grips. I saw the players on the field, players that had always just been a numbers and names through the radio. I knew all of the names and numbers. Now with a game day program I could put a face with the names and number I knew so well. I remember sitting in the stands and let me say "high in the stands" wanting to go down and meet just a few of the players. I would have given anything just for an autograph or a wave from my favorite players. Ole Miss won that night 13-10 and solidified my commitment to the Rebels. I remember my dad hanging around after the game to hear "From Dixie With Love" which I have made a tradition of my own also. Royann and I will not leave until that song is finished after the game. She will tell you please don't talk to Rocky when that song is being played. He won't hear you anyway. I am living in a moment. I am seven again in Jackson, Ms. with my dad. I am there with him in Memorial Stadium. I am there watching a single tear as it rolls down his cheek. I am there gripping his hand. I am there wondering why my dad is emotional in a way that I had never seen. Then I return to the present and understand those moments while I listen. I find a tear going down my own cheek and the hair standing up on the back of my neck and thinking of that first game.

I had the opportunity to be part of a young man's first major moment of meeting the Rebels face to face yesterday. It was everything I remember it being at seven and more. Tristan Wiggins became a life long Rebel yesterday. He is young man much like me at seven, had never seen the Rebels live, but knew more about the Rebels than probably half of the fans at the game. Tristan is unlucky though that he doesn't have a Rebel father to train him in the way of the Rebels or take him to games like I did. His knowledge comes from the radio and games on T.V. just like me at seven. His life long dream he said was to see them play live. He got more than ballgame though. I took him to the walk of champions, band in the grove, and even to meet the players after the game. Royann and I have been lucky enough to befriend a lot of the players and coaches on the team and when they found out it was Tristan's first game and how big of a fan he was, Tristan had them wrapped around his finger. Eight-five high fives and autographs later Tristan was living in one of the major moments in life. What Royann and I and the Ole Miss players didn't understand at the time is we weren't giving something like a ticket or autograph, but Tristan was giving back to us. We were part of one of Tristan's moments. A moment that will live and can he can tell detail for detail as he gets older to all that will listen.

Here are some pictures to help remember Tristan's moments.


Tristan walking into the game.


Tristan with Jerrell Powe


Tristan with Jevan Snead

Tristan I hope to share my seats with you many times in the near future and make more memories with you my new Rebel buddy.

So i am a really bad blogger---

lots of changes have been going on at our house-baby on the way, job change, ole miss football season, 2 litters of lab puppies--did i say baby on the way. Oh yeah, i almost forgot.



this is what i have spent the last couple of months doing. it comes at any time-morning, noon and night. Whoever named it "morning sickness" lied-it is all the time. and just today-i had been several days without projectile things coming up the wrong way-it hit me at my sisters house-i woke up sick feeling. nothing but mucous and yellow bile. i think it is due to some major sinus drainage hitting my stomach but anyway, it was bad-had to lay back down before leaving for work. pepsi boy-my sisters dog-came and loved on me as i was hugging the toliet-it was sweet. i think he did this to her since she was sick for almost 10 months. its ok though-i usually cry everytime i vomit, but it is getting better but i will vomit everyday if that means this child will be healthy and great. at first i had stopped eating. my doctor said i could go 3 weeks without eating before i needed IVs if i could just stay hydrated. so then i found potato soup. i quit eating meat all together and really don't want anything but salad-olive garden is a big craving. wheat thins are good too. crackers hurt coming up and i about choked on a plain biscuit i had eated for breakfast. however, over the past couple of weeks since i've changed jobs, it hasn't been that bad-due in part to smells of animals -the only meat that i have eating in past 3 months is 2 steaks and some deer meat and a little grilled chicken and i ate a hamburger on saturday-GO ME!! i am super excited about getting back to eating things that aren't so hard to find on the road or cook. at last check i had lost 7 pounds.
i'm still ok with this baby-just not excited yet-i don't feel that i am ready. i had so much with my career that i really wanted to do and now, its fallen by the wayside. i'm slowing down some and am ok with that. but GOD knows the perfect time. i shouldn't question HIM-for HE know all. so in april we will welcome a sweet little child-we will go to the hospital with 2 names and a pink and blue outfit to come in and the other will go back to the store. aka-we aren't finding out what we are having. i have never wanted to know-the only excuse people give is that the showers won't be as fun-well boo hoo!! its exciting especially with this little surprise miracle and i feel we will spend less $$$$ if we don't know what it is. my sister had a little boy a day ago and our good friends down the road in morgan city had a precious girl 4 weeks ago-so what else do i need besides some little gowns-they can't go out in public all the time and don't need all of those clothes. we may change our mind, but right now- we aren't finding out.
duck season is a month away and so, so much has to be done. i don't know if we will get it all done. but we've got a lot of work to do.
and ole miss-disappointed is all i can say. we've got some tough games ahead of us for the next couple of weeks. hope the weather holds out for some good times-our last child free season.
until next time-i have lots to catch up on. royann

Tripp is here

Dennis Ray Buse III
(TRIPP)
born on November 2, 2009 at 1 am
6# 12 or 14 oz. (cant quite remember)
18 1/2 inches long