Jeff Hampton – Page 80 – Jeff Hampton, Writer

September 29, 2021

Robbed?

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Two Sundays ago my phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out quickly in case it was something urgent. It wasn’t. It was a message from Apple News: “The Emmys are about to start. Who will win? Who’ll be robbed?”

Robbed — really? I always thought that to be robbed of something, you first must possess it. It used to be that the entertainment media would report on those who were “overlooked” or “snubbed” during these award shows, but now the language has escalated to “robbed.”

September 21, 2021

This I Know

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Our Wilshire Winds instrumental ensemble returned to the rehearsal hall on Monday evening for the first time since early 2020. It was great to be back together, and we started by playing “Hymn for a Child,” a rich arrangement of the familiar childhood tune, “Jesus Loves Me.” It’s the first thing I’ve played on my saxophone since we played outdoors on Easter Sunday, but somewhat surprisingly, I played the tune outdoors just a couple of weeks ago.

September 14, 2021

The Gig Life

For Wilshire Baptist Church

“How long have you been retired?”

We were browsing in an art gallery in Saint Jo northwest of Fort Worth a few weeks ago when the manager asked that question.

“I’m not retired. Neither of us are,” I answered, probably with an edge in my voice. Granted, she and LeAnn had just been talking about retiring from the state education system, but LeAnn has built a busy new career as an early childhood and education consultant and grant writer for various nonprofits. Still, the manager looked at me and made an assumption that rubbed me the wrong way.