Kenne David and Katie on Galveston Beach — Image by kenne
Galveston still has that beach. Kids probably still run it raw. But Kenne and Katie grew up— that’s the real crime. You don’t notice it happening. One day you’re just standing there remembering sand and wishing you’d paid better attention.
Kenne David & Kenne George in Bryan, Texas, Many Years Ago
We watched our children grow old the way you watch a city rise around you, street by street, believing you are standing still.
Their faces sharpened, then softened. They learned the weight of names, the cost of leaving, the strange relief of returning.
We were busy loving them— that constant labor— tying shoes, lifting boxes, listening for footsteps in the dark.
Meanwhile, time passed through us like a second language we were learning without knowing it had a grammar.
One afternoon we caught our reflection in the glass of their lives and saw it clearly: the quiet accumulation, the patience etched into bone, the years carried without ceremony.
We had grown old the way a house does— slowly, while sheltering others— until one day the light fell differently and revealed what had always been there.
The Houston Chronicle recognized outstanding nurses during a luncheon on May 2, 2023. Each year, the Houston Chronicle honors the top nurses across Greater Houston during their Salute to Nurses event. In 2023, 200 recipients were selected through a public nomination — included are seven UT Physicians employees. Kenne was recognized as one of the Top 15 this year.
At the top of the pass the trail crosses a rockfall, a slope of loose slate as old as the mountain, as deep as the valley below. Out of the rocks an arch has been stacked, straddling the path. The stones, tall enough for a tall man, lean at the top until gravity tips them together in a curve as clean as the arc of the earth. The arch should not stand. No mortar, no scaffold of sticks. No tricks of buttress or blocking. Only this surprising geometry of stones balanced across the sky. Not a slate out of place. Picked from the rockpile by a painstaking hand, the chosen few remain, stacked by shape and grain and weight. At the top of the world, a gate.
While on the Houston leg of our road trip, we had dinner at Ben’s Den Tasting Room with Katelyn, Janie, and David — a food truck provided the food menu.
In 1998, the De Aldecoa family bought the then memorable Uncle Ben’s Rice manufacturing facility on Clinton Drive. Now the facility has been turned into a world-class coffee plant and distillery, expanding the beverage imperium with the creation of the Gulf Coast Distillers. Yes, the whisky I had was excellent.
Granddaughter Katelyn (iPhone Images by Katie Turner Bailey)
During the week of March 12th, son David, granddaughter Katelyn,
daughter Katie, grandsons Nick and Jaxon visited Joy and me in Tucson.
Each day would end watching the sunset from the patio.
On several occasions, Katie took images with her iPhone.
Hiking the Mt. Lemmon Trail Near the Lemmon Rock Lookout
Docent Paul with David and Kate at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Docent Paul with David and Kate at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Docent Paul with David and Kate at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Kate and David at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Kate in the Bat Area at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
David and Kate in Tanuri Ridge pool
David and Kate in Tanuri Ridge pool
David and Kate in Tanuri Ridge pool
David and Kate in Tanuri Ridge pool
David and Kate in Tanuri Ridge pool
Kate swings at the ball
Fireworks seen from our nighborhood
David, Katelyn and Granddad
Images by kenne (Click on any of the tiled imaged to see larger view in a slideshow format.)
Granddaughter Katelyn and son Kenne David left this morning, returning to Houston after four-plus days here in Tucson. This was their second visit after three years. We made an effort to do as much as possible in the desert summer and the beginning of the monsoon season, which began while they were here.
Photos of Katelyn and poetry about her have been part of several posting over the last ten years — she will be eleven this September. Here’s one of the poems:
The Eyes Tell You
Little girls have a mysterious power, But not all can feel it – when she does, You can see it in her eyes.
As she matures, she is driven To climb the tower of perfection, Always resisting her own indifference.
Her enigmatic power is needed To stir the artist inside, To triumph over the unenlightened.
In her own way, she will find something new, Something never before encountered Placing art in a world void of feeling.
Inventive, she will act, Sometimes seeking out failure In order to turn it into a triumph.
Once her power is transformed By the magical virtue of art, Loving and understanding becomes simpler.
Kenne David Turner’s 1954 GMC Pickup Truck — Photo-Artistry by kenne
kenne and Grandson Jaxon
kenne and Grandson Jaxon
Granddaughter Katelyn
Granddaughter Katelyn
Katie, Kenne G. and Kenne D. in Bryan, Texas (Early Eighties) — Image by Mary Ann
Son, Kenne David and Granddaughter, Katelyn at About the Same Ages — Image by kenne (April 6, 2011)
Kate, Kenne (Dad) and Kenne David — Father’s Day Many Years Ago
