“Tis
so delightful to tell stories and share the fun of it with others…” Written by
the author, Lewis A. Armstrong, on the back cover of Stories By An Oklahoma Boy. Retired Colonel Armstrong writes about
what is important to him: family, church, career. He has self published topics
from cookbooks to humor books; hopefully more are in the works. For this blog,
I have chosen three of his family books: Oklahoma
Boy on the Bumpy Road of Life, published 2018, Stories By An Oklahoma Boy, published 2014, The Writings of Leonard E. Armstrong, published 2012.
In The Writings of Leonard E. Armstrong:
Stories, Poems, and Letters, Lewis compiles his brother’s poems, letters
and stories. The dedication reads, “Although he no longer walks on the face of
the old earth, yet he would dedicate this work to his grandchildren and great
grandchildren whom he loved dearly…” The reader catches a glimpse of Leonard’s
closeness to his family. One chapter titled, Big Red, puts in plain words the love of a grandma to let her three
year old grandson fed the chickens and gather eggs. The rooster decided to
scare the three year old. The rooster ended up invited to Sunday dinner. Another
chapter, Merry Christmas, Christmas in
Florida, rewrites The Night Before
Christmas, “They knew that Santa was well on his way, In a shiny red sports
car instead of a sleigh…”
Stories By An
Oklahoma Boy
provides many wonderful memories of hours spent listening and/or reading Han
Christian Anderson, Brothers Grimms’ and others. My dad’s copy of Grimms’ sits
on my shelf today. My personal favorites are the Bobbsey Twins and Winnie the
Pooh; this may be because my cousin read to me. Later, I shared Winnie the Pooh with my son.
Oklahoma Boy on the
Bumpy Road of
Life makes available a glimpse into
the author’s family. The author acknowledges people who have contributed to the
person he turned out to be. Lewis shares the bumps and high points in his life.
He starts with his 1941 smiling baby photograph. He ends with, “I will be 77 on
August 18, 2018. There are benefits with age, but there are limitations as well…
You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop
laughing.”
Thank
you, Lewis A. Armstrong, for sharing your life and family with your readers! We
are no longer strangers, we are now friends too!
- Mr. Armstrong has been a member of Our Genealogy Group, Morrow, Georgia, for several years. This is where I met Lewis and Linda.
- Lewis is two years younger than I am, this provokes my childhood memories.
- We both are interested in the Armstrong surname. My direct Armstrong family came from Pennsylvania to New York then to LaSalle County, Illinois. Did any travel further west to Oklahoma?
Your
narratives encourage others to share their family!
Colonel
Armstrong, Thank you for your service to our country!
