Homemade Literature

Waiting for the Popster To avoid confusing the reader, the telling of this chronicle demands explanation. It is about four dogs … real dogs … and one cat that lived, loved, and passed on while in the care of one human person with several names. Three of us enjoyed the love and care of Mom/Mama, another human as well. Buddy was the human brother to Skippy and me. Dad, who was the father figure to Blackie and Brandi, evolved into Mulan’s playmate,“The Popster.” Blackie and Brandi’s Mom became Mama for Mulan. To share the lives of these family members, I must put aside my smelling and stalking skills and resort to borrowing the language and thought patterns of humans. Why, you may ask? I am Jerry, your narrator, and I am neither dog nor human. I was Buddy’s feline playmate during the early 1940’s and the first of Buddy’s animal family to arrive here in Rainbow Valley. Perhaps this place is a way station to heaven. Maybe it doesn’t exist at all, but don’t t

Prologue This book was an itch that required scratching. The preparation gave me decades of entertainment and the opportunity to learn about my kin. This record comes in four parts. The first is a family history of my paternal family, the Stubbs line. The second is a family history of my maternal ancestors, the Hampton line. Part III is a brief autobiography. Part IV is an anthology of autobiographical sketches written over a long period. Except for the first in the series, these stories are factual as I recall the incidents and they are in chronological order. I dedicate this book to my sons, Michael Wayne Stubbs (1957) and Mark Alan Stubbs (1960) both of whom I love and respect, and to my dear wife, Nancy Lynn Jacobs Stubbs for her proofreading, meaningful advice, and being the girl of my dreams. All my love to my grandchildren: Travis, Jordan, Jennifer, Kayla, and Aaron. You bless my life. Earl Stubbs-2012 Part I 1 Life is full of surprises and seren