This is a big “thank you” to two workers at the Russellville Middle School, Randy H. and Gary D. On February 11, 2009, my sister Shirley Ashby Sweatt and I went by the school to see if my footprints were still there by the steps of the entrance. Thank goodness they were.

These two men gave me a part of my childhood back. I am now 54 years old, but when I was 4 1/2 years old, my father and mother, Gratis and Gracie Ashby, were the school custodians. The school was doing work on the sidewalks and Mr. R.E. Stevenson told my father to pick me up and set my feet in the concrete. I can still hear Mr. Stevenson telling me to run home and wash my feet. We lived across the street from the school and our house has been gone for many years. Also, my name was not put with my footprints and probably my family are the only ones that know they are mine. I can still go by the school and see where our house stood on the corner of 7th Street and I can see Dad in my mind.

Thank you again Randy H. and Gary D. for giving me the rock with my footprints to me. It means more to me than you will ever know. God bless you both.