Gracies Pond

In everyones life there comes a loss of someone you love. Be it a spouse, parent, good friend or even a pet. Travel along with Bill, Bob, Gracie and B.J. as they walk through the trials and tribulations of this life. Share in their joy as they pass from the darkness into the light. In most books you see yourself as the character, in Gracies Pond you may see yourself. You may be going through the situation one of the characters are and follow them to your solution. To write a story well, it should be experienced. Gracies Pond is based on the authors life. The trip B.J. takes at the age of fourteen searching for love, for family, follows the exact route taken by the author many times. Gracies Pond is a book for all ages, both adults and children alike. One that parents will pass to their teenage children or visa versa. I wish you joy and hope.

There was nothing like wilderness living in Kentucky. Outhouse + cow + momma = frazzled momma Log raft + boy + river = danger Mountain Man + snow + slay = bad choice Bad Indians + momma + girl = kidnapping Momma + grandma + squirrel = biscuits & gravy Rain + boy + momma = loblolly Momma + gun + green eyes = chicken & dumplings Gracie’s family left Virginia for homesteading in Kentucky. They were naïve city slickers, but God sent angels to help them. The land had to be cleared and a log cabin built. Through their strong faith in God and a lot of prayer they staked out their homestead and helped to build a community. The angels worked overtime keeping Bobby Joe out of trouble but sometimes they just watched and laughed. The Mountain Men were the “bestest” angels God sent them. Gracie was a feisty little girl almost six when they came. She was an observer and wrote their experiences in her diary when she was nine. The places are real. The last names are people living in the community and the charter members of the church. The fi rst names are my children and grandchildren. The events are fi ctional except for the building of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church which is still there today.

The author practices Optometry in the Atlanta area, and serves as a legal consultant to optometrists and related health care professionals. He holds an undergraduate degree in Physics-Mathematics, and post-graduate degrees in Law and Optometry. Dr. Provost is a member of The Florida Bar and The Georgia Bar, and is licensed to practice Optometry in Florida and Georgia. He lives in an Atlanta suburb with his wife Evelyn, an attorney, and their four champion Persians, who have replaced in both intelligence and charm, four talented children who have gone on to careers in Optometry, teaching and real estate. The author graduated from Berry College near Rome, Georgia in 1961. While at Berry College in the late fifties the author was President of the Freshman Class, Treasurer of the Sophomore Class, Secretary, Vice-president and finally President of the Men's Student Government. At the end of his Junior year he became the first ever recipient of the Jessie Pritchett Parish Student Leadership Award, presented to the one student among the entire student body who best demonstrated leadership qualities on campus. While at Berry College the author rewrote the Berry College Handbook for Men. Following graduation in 1961, the author enlisted in the U. S. Army. He served two tours of duty in South Korea, the first as the feature writer for The Pacific Stars and Stripes newspaper, distributed daily to more than 37,000 U. S. soldiers in South Korea. The young reporter covered all meetings of the Military Armistice Commission (MAC) held at Panmunjom, and traveled freely throughout South Korea in his assigned Jeep, writing about anything of a military or civilian nature that interested him or that might be of interest to his readers. At age 24 the author was accepted as a student at the prestigious Defense Language Institute, located at Monterey, California, where he studied the Korean language for a year, graduating first in his class of thirty students. Following months of instruction at the U. S. Army Intelligence Center located at Ft. Holabird, Maryland, the author was stationed with the 502 Military Intelligence Battalion in Seoul, South Korea. As the youngest of the five prisoner interrogators and intelligence analysts, the specialist daily interrogated captured North Korean espionage agents and their 'minders" who had failed in their attempt to infiltrate the irregular coastline of South Korea. These experiences are the subject of the author's soon to be published book entitled The Wall at Inchon. In 1965 the author received an Honorable Discharge from the U. S. Army, and in 1967 was accepted as a student at the University of Houston College of Optometry. Dr. Provost graduated in 1972 with the degree Doctor of Optometry, and began his private practice of Optometry in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida suburb of Plantation. In 1977 Dr. Provost was accepted into Nova Southeastern University College of Law, graduating in 1980 with the degree Juris Doctor. He has practiced Optometry since 1972 and Law since 1980, in Georgia and Florida. The author was born in Kinston, North Carolina in 1939, the knee baby of seven children. Following the sudden death of his father, a wartime U. S. civil service engineer, in February 1947 the seven-year-old was sent to live for a decade in historic Oxford Orphanage, located northeast of Raleigh. Dr. Provost's Reflections in An Orphan's Eye-A Decade at Oxford is the first book written about the historic 132-year-old institution since Nettie Bemis' popular Life at Oxford, published in1925. However, whereas Nettie Bemis' work centered around the history and campus life at Oxford, Dr. Provost's work, while recounting the history of the institution, is a factual, bittersweet narrative of a youngster's decade-long odyssey spent growing up 'inside the hedges." This work is a moving account of how tradition rich Oxford Orphanage and its four hundred students and staff grabbed a timid, disillusion

An American version of Miss Marple, Gracie Evans is homesick and tired of retirement. She's bored with living in the Moser Mansion Rest Home For Women in Locked Rock, Iowa. Spring brings back pleasant memories so she prays to God to give her a chance to go back to her farm for a little while. No one is more surprised than Gracie when her prayer comes true. The renter asks her to stay at her farm for a month while he goes on vacation. Soon she decides she should be more careful what she prays for. Her thrill at finding wild strawberries to pick dulls when she sees an Indian swimming naked in her pond. After he leaves, she finds a missing neighbor's clothes on her pond bank. Gracie goes for a walk through her timber to mushroom hunt and gets shot at. That's just the beginning of bad luck for her while she's at Three Oaks to farm sit. Once the widower neighbor and Gracie's former beau finds out her problem, he keeps coming over to check on her. At least that's his excuse for showing up unexpectedly. What he really wants is to take back up with Gracie where they left off years ago. None of this farm sitting experience was what Gracie meant when she asked God for The Chance Of A Sparrow.

In a far, faraway land long ago, there was a great stirring. A princess had been born—a child chosen to a royal bloodline and set apart to God. Heaven—have you ever wondered what it would be like or what questions you would ask God if you could sit down with him for an hour? Princess Gracie did have this opportunity. Join her in Princess Gracie's Journey to Heaven to find out what her questions were and how God answered her.

I have learned over the years that there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than to give something of oneself in hopes that others will benefit from that gift. The idea was planted in my being by my fathers way of raising his children. It grew in leaps and bounds and, in fact, was magnified when actually I began to listen to stories about my family history. I took those stories passed on to me by my father, mother, grandmother, and other family members to form a story about my Grandmother Gracie Hampton. It was her lifestyle, environment, conditions and timeline in which she lived, that is the storys anchor, and my inspiration. And make no mistake, even though I have used the real names of the Hamptons family central characters, and most relatives, all words written as dialog in this book are mine and mine alone. Ive adding my words as dialog, along with a few fictional characters to facilitate a story line of how it could have happened during the events noted. At times, it was a struggle to keep an eye on my purpose in life. God knows I have been distracted many times. Often, by my own misguided actions. Yet, Ive always returned to my roots, the foundation of my upbringing, the unapologetic belief that I can not only survive but thrive and compete in any environment. I learned that from my ancestors. My youngest son, once remarked, Im not sure who I am. At the time, he was going through an identity crisis trying to find out where he belonged in life. My advice was simple, Go look in the mirror. Thats who you are and who will get you where you want to go. I hope this book helps others remember who and where they came from. Codis Hampton II

The Adventures of Gracie and William are an enticing trip through many of childhood's earliest experiences, fears, and triumphs. Children will relate to the younger Gracie as she shares the same uncertainties about life that they have. Whereas they will want to be like William who is older, braver, and wiser. Join Gracie and William as they learn important life lessons while exploring their world and the animals around them. Including heart-warming Christmas and spine-tingling Halloween adventures too!