Butch Renfroe Blog

I loved my in-laws. Dwayne and Ruth were just good people who raised good people. Let me tell you about my first serious conversation with the woman who would be my mother-in-law.  You may think it would be about me dating her only daughter, but it wasn’t. It was about Joey.   Joey Lynn Heffington was born April 28, 1969 as the youngest of four kids and was a perfectly normal baby boy.  When he was still a baby, barely a toddler, Joey contracted meningitis. Meningitis is an infection that caused Joey to have severe inflammation of his brain. A terrible…

Never, and I mean never underestimate the ability of teenaged boys to make bad decisions. Put a group of teenage boys together and that potential goes up exponentially. It was in the late summer of 1981 when that group of teenaged boys decided to get in my dad’s not quite finished batch of homebrewed muscadine wine. At this point let me say: Hi. I am Butch Renfroe and I was one of the teenaged boys in this story. There were three of us, which is I guess the bare minimum of what could accurately be called a “group of teenaged…

Just something that came to mind this inauguration day 2021. “Well, they may be YOUR president, but they ain’t MY president!” Yes they are. You may not like it. You may dislike or even despise the person in the Oval Office, but if you are a citizen of the United States they are indeed your president. For better or for worse. Before you think I am attacking a particular political party or ideology, this is a sentiment I have seen displayed equally by passionate Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians. Sounds just as inane to my ears no matter who says it.…

I know of an estranged mother and daughter. I have an idea about what caused the estrangement, but not all the particulars. Honestly, the particulars really are not all important to my point. My point is this: Grudges are heavy things. They weigh on the soul, especially on the grudge holder’s. I have never actually met the daughter in this situation, but If I were to speak to the young lady who has the grudge against her mother, I would make the following points: You may feel you have every right to be angry. They may have hurt you. Forgive…

I work for a public television station.We are also an agency of the state of Arkansas. We aired a live call in program last night where viewers could call in and ask a panel of experts questions about the Covid-19 virus that as of the writing, we are at the beginning of the pandemic. Anyway, there were about 15 of us on the phone bank, and we were all fielding calls continuously for about an hour and 10 minutes. Usually, it would be mainly volunteers on the phones, but because of restrictions we imposed, we needed station employees to man…

She had one tooth in her head, was mostly blind, was almost deaf, had a weak ticker and she had an absolute love for her people that filled a whole house from one tiny dog. She was our girl.  Lilly Belle LaRose.  She usually went by Belle, but alternately she was called Smelly Belle, Miss Belle, and sometimes Squirrel Girl. I was commuting to work when Debbie called me to say that the clinic called and that Belle had passed away during the night. This makes two blog posts in a row where I am talking about losing my dogs.…

January 7, 2019 Debbie took Baxter to the vet that afternoon. He had a fever,  had been coughing and wheezing and seemed to be really slowing down.  I mean, he was down to three legs, so a bit of a slow down was expected. But you could tell he was not feeling himself. An x-ray confirmed the worst. Our little guy was eaten up with cancer in his lungs. He was suffering and struggling to draw breath. Debbie knew what we had to do. She called me at work with tears in her voice, “How soon can you leave work?”.…

I don’t actively freelance anymore. But when I did, I did not charge enough. I would undercut myself. I read something that really struck me on a blog aimed at freelance developers. The writer said he once asked someone he looked up to, “Why should I charge so much for something that is so easy for me to do?” The reply was, “Precisely because they cannot do it.” Surgery may be easy to a surgeon. My wife can cut, color, and style hair. I can do coding. Real coding from the ground up. Am I the best out there? Nope.…

I made the following Facebook post on Valentine’s Day: Some people reacted as if I were against love, romance, and chocolate. First let us all get something straight and perfectly clear:  I am never against chocolate. Especially chocolate pie. Mmmm. Pie. One friend, for some reason, tagged me in the comments on a posted story about a couple who has an enduring tradition involving Valentine’s Day that has continued for 39 years even in the face of the lady of the story having dementia.  (Read the story here). I think she probably tagged me in good fun, but just in…

Spoiler Alert: He hung up on me uh…Lank!

Random thoughts as I sip coffee at 5:30 in the morning on August 3, 2017: I had a wonderful mother-in-law and father-in-law. I miss them. This Kona blend coffee is pretty good. Sometimes, like today, I wake up at 4:30 a.m. for no apparent reason. I specify “a.m.” because I don’t usually sleep at work. Usually. Grudges are heavy things to carry around.  I avoid heavy things. Bad back and all that. Most political posts on Facebook are still really good at inflaming and dividing, not so much at informing and inspiring. You will never argue or insult someone to…

  Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday.  I no longer bring flowers or even cards.  She has a limited amount of space in her room and already enough clutter. Besides, the purpose of the flowers and cards are lost on her.  We will probably celebrate with donut holes from Krispy Kreme. She still can appreciate some donut holes.  Loves ’em as a matter of fact. Lucy has her spot in the dining/sitting area of the observation area of the nursing home. She regally occupies the same chair everyday.  She gets upset if someone has taken her place in the center…