Teagan Grace Born On Grandpa's Birthday

This past Sunday a milestone in the Gupton-Weems-Smith-Polhemus families occurred. A Hollywood scriptwriter couldn't have penned it any better. Sara Weems Polhemus, the daughter of my cousin and best friend, Steve Weems, and his wife Rhonda Smith Weems, delivered her second daughter on her father's birthday. Stephen Kent Weems was born on November 15, 1957, and his newest granddaughter, Teagan Grace Polhemus, made her grand entrance into the world on November 15, 2009. Little Teagan, whose arrival terminated Kinley Mae Polhemus's days as an only child, wasn't due until later in the week but made her grandfather's wishes come true by being born on the same day of the year that he was 52 years ago. Kevin Polhemus is the proud father of both Kinley Mae and now Teagan Grace. Kevin and Sara live in Chicago, though both are graduates of Columbia High School in West Columbia, Texas. Sara, pictured above with her beautiful baby girl Teagan, is shown below with Steve and Rhonda when she was a baby herself. Steve, who has been as close to me as a brother since before the two of us even started school, is pictured below in a photo I took of him in my parents' kitchen when he was in his twenties, and in a more recent photo with his wife Rhonda as the two of them chat with Joe Fenn at Steve's Uncle J.W. Gupton's 80th birthday party in Richmond, Texas. I would like to extend my congratulations to Sara, Kevin and Kinley on the birth of the newest member of the Polhemus family of Chicago, to Steve and Rhonda for being grandparents for the second time, to their son Austin Weems for becoming an uncle yet again, and, of course, to Jack and Phyllis Weems on becoming great-grandparents . . . one more time. And, now, what follows is my continuation of my previous blog wishing "Happy Birthday" to the many friends and family members I love so much who were all born in November.

Jamie Laron Tims, who celebrated his 27th birthday on November 4th, has been like a son to me since he was a small child. Jamie, pictured below sporting the Deion Sanders jersey and roller skates he received from "Santa Gup" many Christmases ago, is also pictured showing off his infant daughter Amaya on a sunny afternoon in Lake Jackson. Jamie, whose younger brother Garry Anthony "Bubba" Hutcherson turned 24 on November 16th, is shown below with my son Brian Gupton in a photo from their youth. Another "foster" son of mine who is also now a father of his own daughters is pictured below when he was one of my kids. Adrian Lee Earl Pipkins, known to all of us simply as "Wimpy," was 24 years old on November 12th. Wimpy was photographed by me at the beach and on his bicycle when he was about 11 or 12 years old. And the other "beach beauty" stretched out in the sand is Courtney Johnson, who celebrated his 29th birthday on November 11th. Chris, Courtney, Jamie, Bubba and Wimpy--all November babies--were all just like my own sons when they were kids. Now they are all grown men, a couple now married and a couple with children of their own.

Winners at a "Hoop Jam" tournament in Pearland in 2000 were, pictured below from left to right, my son Brian Gupton, Julian Solis and Chris Maynard, all members of the Columbia Roughnecks varsity basketball team that year. Chris, who is also pictured above, celebrated his 28th birthday on November 11th. The trio of Roughnecks cagers proudly display the trophies they won that day nine years ago.

Sharing a November 11th birthday with my uncle, former district judge Thurman M. Gupton (who would be turning 98 this month if he were still alive) are two of my son Brian Gupton's best friends since his childhood days. Both Chris Maynard, pictured below at right with Brian from their 2000 high school prom, and Courtney Johnson, pictured above in a childhood photo I took of him with Brian, were part of the wedding party last month when Brian married Tiffanie Hatley in front of the Varner-Hogg antebellum mansion near West Columbia. Courtney was 29 and Chris 28 when each had a birthday on November 11th.

Three of my favorite cousins, all of whom are as close to me as brothers and sisters, have much more in common than simply being related to me. Each was born in the month of November. In addition to my cousin Steve Weems, who served as the best man in Peggy's and my wedding 29 years ago, the son and daughter of my father's younger brother Marvin Aubrey "Hank" Gupton and his wife Terry are also celebrating birthdays this month. Steve is the son of my dad's first cousin, Phyllis Gupton Weems, and her husband Jack Weems. So I guess that makes Steve and I either second or third cousins. But I know Hank Gupton and Angie Gupton Middleton are both my first cousins since our fathers were brothers. Pictured above are photos of Hank and Angie when they were small children. Angie Kyle Gupton was born on November 21, 1953, and was 20 months old when my mother took the picture of little Angie at the beach with her mother Terry Gupton. And the photo of her big brother Raybourne Ricks Gupton, who everyone in our family referred to as "Little Hank" when he was younger (since his daddy was Big Hank), was taken on a seesaw at a park somewhere between Jackson, Tennessee, and Texas in the mid-1950s. Little Hank's birthday is November 19th. My good friends William Minks and Connie Matocha, who served on the West Columbia Little League Board of Directors with me when our sons were 11 and 12 years old, both celebrate their 51st birthdays this week. Pictured above is Connie with her husband Pat Matocha when they ate out last year in honor of Connie's 50th birthday. She was born on November 17th while William Minks, pictured in the photo above hers with his dachsund buddy, was born on November 21st in 1958. Connie is also pictured in sombrero with cake on her face at her 50th birthday party. And that cute little eighth grader above that is none other than William, pictured from his school days when he was attending Wallis Junior High School. Can you find me in the Little League Board of Directors photo? I'm only the second best looking guy in the picture. Damn you William, why do you have to be such a pretty boy?

November Month Of Many Friends' Births

11-11-11. My Uncle Thurman reminded me frequently during his later years of the importance of the numeral eleven in his life. In addition to being born on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the year 1911, Thurman Morris Gupton also wore the number "11" on his football jersey when he was the quarterback for the West Columbia Roughnecks in the late 1920s. Thurman was probably the original "T. Gup," long before the nickname was stuck on me. He was the first child born to my grandparents, Samuel Morris "Buff" and Eula Gupton, and was 10 years older than my father, Rex Gupton, who is pictured below at left with his brother Thurman. This photo, which I took on the steps of the Baptist church in West Columbia on the day my cousin (Thurman's granddaughter) Cindy and Earl Saville were married, also includes Thurman's wife Gladys Gupton and Mrs. T.M. Smith, who was one of my Sunday School teachers when I was a child. Sharing the November 11th birthday with my Uncle Thurman, who is deceased, are two of my son Brian's best friends and classmates, Courtney Johnson and Chris Maynard. Photos of Chris and Courtney, as well as other dear friends and family members who also were born in the month of November, will be featured in a followup companion piece to this blog entry. I was unable to upload additional photos and don't know if the Blogger software allows only a limited number of pictures per blog entry or not. So read through this little piece I put together and then check out the followup entry about other family and close friends with November birthdays.

The two sons of Diane George and Garry Tims, Jamie Tims and Bubba Hutcherson, both celebrate their birthdays in November. Jamie and Bubba spent big chunks of their younger years growing up in the Gupton home, practically as brothers to our sons Brian, Bret and Blake. Jamie was born on November 4th in the same year as our eldest son Brian, who was born in 1982. And while Bubba was born on November 16, 1985, his late birthday put him in the same grade as our middle child Bret, who was born May 9, 1986. Jamie and Bubba, who are the younger half-brothers of our adopted son Kirk, fit right into the Gupton family, being the same ages as our two oldest sons, Brian and Bret. And just like my own three sons, Kirk, Jamie and Bubba were always more than willing to pose for "Daddy" T. Gup's camera. I have always loved this photo at right that I took of Bubba in 2000. Like his natural brothers and his "adoptive" brothers, Bubba is very photogenic. The first picture below shows Bubba at an early age between my sons Bret, left, and Blake at the playground. The photo below that is one I took of my four baseball All-Stars, pictured from left: Blake Gupton, Adrian Pipkins, Bret Gupton and Bubba Hutcherson. That season Peggy and I signed up both Bubba and Adrian to play baseball in the same youth league as our two younger boys. Our older son Brian was playing baseball in high school by that time. Bubba and Jamie are pictured in the lower photo with their older sister, Kasandra George.

Turning 24 years old yesterday (November 16, 2009) was Garry Anthony Hutcherson, pictured above and at right). Bubba Hutcherson has been a vital part of the lives of myself and my family since he was barely out of diapers. So the fact that Bubba, or "Deuce" as he prefers to be called these days, has now entered his 24th year makes me feel extremely old. Our family picture books feature many photographs of Bubba throughout the years, from his "little boy" photos from preschool and elementary, spanning the years through high school and now in his early years as an adult. Bubba is the younger brother of Jamie Tims, featured earlier in this article, who both are just like sons to me and my wife Peggy. David Carey, who is celebrating his 40th birthday today, is pictured below in a current photo that was borrowed from David's Facebook page. David is also pictured below in photos taken in the summer of 1990.

Reaching his 40th birthday, November 17, 2009, is much more of an accomplishment than most readers of this blog could ever possibly imagine. David Wes Carey, pictured above in a 1990 photo taken in Tempe, Arizona, with his older sister Anita Rutherford, right, and younger sister April Carey, was born on this day in 1969. Happy Birthday David from T. Gup in West Columbia, Texas. I was born in Bay City, Texas, where David Carey excelled for the Bay City Black Cats on the baseball diamond, the footbal gridiron and the basketball court. But while a freshman baseball player at Scottsdale Community College in Scottsdale, Arizona, David's dreams of one day pitching in the major leagues were shattered by a gunblast. An errant bullet from a pistol being handled by roommates in David's apartment struck him in the back while he slept in his bed in the wee hours of the morning, turning him into a quadriplegic. David Carey, whose story is told in more detail in the blog entry below this one, is pictured above with family members in Tempe, Arizona.

Not only one of my favorite cousins but definitely also one of my favorite friends is my first cousin Angie Kyle Gupton Middleton, pictured above with her husband Jack Middleton. The Middletons, who live in Cove, Texas, near Baytown, are both November babies. Jack celebrated his birthday on November 8th while Angie was born on November 21st. Angie and her big brother Hank, whose birthday is two days before his sister's, are pictured above with their mother, the late Terry Gupton, at a holiday gathering at the Anahuac home of Hank Gupton and his wife A. Lynette Parsons about 10 years ago. The photos above that were taken at the same family get-together. Hank and I are comparing our Gupton similar physical features in one while Angie hugs her hubbie Jack in the other. In the photo below, my fourth grade teacher and kissin' cousin Joyce Lester is pictured with her late husband, Charley Lester, on the steps of the First Baptist Church in West Columbia at the 1995 wedding of my cousin Cindy Brandt and Earl Saville. Joyce, who has a November 26th birthday, is now married to Ralph C. Warne. Joyce was not only one of my favorite teachers during my younger years growing up in West Columbia, but has always been among my favorite people. I love her immensely and miss her husband Charley so very much.

The photograph at right below of my cousin Hank Gupton and his bride Lynette was taken in my West Columbia backyard in 1992. Like my musical idol John Fogerty, cousin Hank married a Hoosier from the great state of Indiana. Raybourne Ricks "Hank" Gupton celebrates his birthday on November 19th while Indiana's finest export to the Lone Star State, Lynette Parsons, has a December 4th birthday.

Although both missed being born in the month of November by only a few days, my wife of 29-plus years, Peggyjo Hall Gupton (at left in the top photo), and my cousin Hank Gupton's wife A. Lynette Parsons are among the most beautiful, intelligent and compassionate people in my small circle of friends. The two photos above were all taken in the summer of 2000 on a trip the four of us took to The Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Hank, who is the son of my father Rex Gupton's younger brother, Marvin Aubrey "Hank" Gupton, was born on November 19, 1946, and will be celebrating his 63rd birthday in a couple days. Lynette, his soulmate and best friend, was born on December 4th. Peggy, the love of my life who has put up with all of my shit for far too many years, was born on December 7th. Since I was brought up right by a mother who claimed she was 39 for over 30 years, I will abstain from revealing Peggy and Lynette's ages. Not simply because I am a nice guy, but also because both women can kick my ass. So I wrap up this little salute to the friends and family members I love so very much who each have their November births in common, as well as their contiguous ties to me to boot, by wishing each of you a heartfelt "Happy Birthday" and adding three little words as icing on the cake. "I Love You" for being so very special to me over the span of the many years that I have been around on this great earth. Each of you mentioned above mean more to me than words can adequately describe. Here's a little toast to all of you, so raise those glasses high and clink them together in unison while I say from the bottom of my heart, "May each of you live forever, and may the last face you see be mine!"