This is the tribute that I shared with my parents on behalf of my brother, Gene, and me. My parents, Gene and I were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love shown by many of our family and friends during such a busy time of year. This celebration was a significant highlight for 2013, and I am sharing it with you along with some pictures:  

Gene, Tinsley, Betty Ann, and Lee Ann

   You and I are here because we all love, respect, and adore Tinsley and Betty Ann. I want to tell you a bit of our story so you will understand why Gene and I felt it was important to celebrate them on their 40^th wedding anniversary.  

   Do you remember what it felt like to be ten years old? If you have a short memory, then think about your own kids when they were that age! Imagine becoming a single parent with two children to support, nine and ten years old. Not only would you be concerned with clothing and feeding them, but how would you provide security for them after their world had been turned upside down? My Mother is a special woman, who found inner strength to persevere through unchartered waters. Even while she was working through her own pain, she never let it show. She was our rock when the home was broken. She provided security and stability for us while she was regrouping financially and emotionally.  

   Gene and I deeply love, respect and admire Mother because she successfully modeled that you can begin again. Looking back, as Gene and I discussed our past, we wondered, how was she able to accomplish this? Mother made three significant decisions to begin again.  

   1) She began again by drawing on her faith in God. She never lost faith that her perfect Father in heaven would take care of us. As far as I’m concerned, this was her most significant decision. She made sure we were at church so that we could continue to grow in our relationship to God. As children we learned that God is always faithful even in the hardest of times. This one decision showed us that “family” was not just a genogram with names and descendants listed. We discovered an extended family through our local church. Some of our fondest memories during a difficult chapter in life were our fellowship times at church. By God’s grace, we experienced God’s loving arms around us through the many believers who loved and supported us.

   2) Mother began again by drawing on the resources available to her. She had a BBA in Accounting along with a teaching certificate, so her second major decision was to work outside the home. Mother worked as a bookkeeper in the early 1970’s. This was before mobile banking! Ledgers were still kept by hand. Quickbooks was not even on the horizon.  When business owners needed their profit and loss statement calculated, or they needed help with payroll taxes, they would bring their bank statements to their accountant.  

   3) Mother began again by choosing to love again. One day, Tinsley Penick, owner of the Austin Country Club Golf Shop, brought his bank statements to his accountant’s office, where he happened to notice a pretty young lady named Betty Ann who was the bookkeeper. As Mother put it, “it was very romantic” being courted in an accounting office. A few sparks started to fly between them, and before long they were dating. 

   Their courtship was tested early, however. Tinsley and Mother were out on a drive one day, and Mother noticed that the needle on the fuel gauge was pointing squarely on “E” for empty. Mother suggested that he should stop and gas up, but Tinsley said, “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine.” Until they ran out of gas. Tinsley didn’t appreciate Mother telling him what to do, and Mother didn’t appreciate that they were stranded. “Would you like to get out of the car and go with me to get gas, or do you want to stay there,” Tinsley offered. “Neither!” Mother responded. And that’s just how they’ve always rolled in their relationship!! 

   Imagine this handsome young golf pro, who has fallen in love with a beautiful woman with two kids from a previous marriage, now ages 12 and 13. In today’s culture, many men dating women with kids would look at Gene and me as a drawback to getting married. But that was not the case with Tinsley. Tinsley unconditionally loved us, and on December 22, 1973, Tinsley and Mother committed before God to love one another until “death do us part.”  

   It didn’t take long to figure out that what Tinsley and Mother had in common was a great sense of humor. Tinsley and Betty Ann are just funny people. I think everyone of you in this room would attest to that. They make us laugh! Tinsley is like his father. He has the amazing dry wit about him, while Mother is quick-witted. When you get the two of them together, it is just a great time.  

   I also learned that he liked doing things as a family, and he didn’t hesitate to include us in the things that were of interest to him. Our family will never forget the time Tinsley wanted a diversion from the busy life of a golf pro. He decided it would be fun to make some extra money selling honey. He announced to our family that Matthew Community Elementary School was offering a course on beekeeping. Tinsley thought it would be a fun family affair if all of us went to this evening course once a week to study beekeeping. We hit a snag early on. Gene and I lasted only one evening. At 12 and 13 years old, we had less than ZERO interest in learning about beekeeping, so now the family venture was down to Mother and Tinsley. 

   After four weeks of study, Tinsley became the proud owner of a beekeeping certificate. He couldn’t wait to start making more money by selling mesquite honey. He acquired four hives to start his beekeeping career. But the bees needed to live somewhere. To get the best mesquite honey, you needed to place the hives where the mesquite was. So Tinsley landed on Lytton Springs, TX, near Lockhart, which was about a 50-minute drive from Austin. He loaded up his truck with the hives, and deposited them in Lytton Springs. That was a good start for someone who was beginning his beekeeping career. Since Tinsley was the only one by now with a passion for bees, and since the hives were out of town, this beekeeping venture was out of sight, out of mind for the rest of the family.

Tinsley quickly learned that being a full-time golf pro limited his travel time to Lytton Springs to check on his bees. So, unbeknownst to us, he made the decision to bring the hives to our house and set them up under our deck without telling Mother. 

   Our deck was our favorite place in the house with incredible views of the surrounding landscape. The deck went from the kitchen area, which was one side of the house, and wrapped around to the master bedroom, which was the other side of the house. It was built on pillars, so there was open space under the deck. From this perch, we could see above the tree tops, and out to the 360 highway and watch the sun set. It was a great place to hang out.  

   Two years went by and seemingly out of nowhere, of all things, we started to run into issues with bees. Mother and I would step out onto the deck, and bees were everywhere. She kept asking Tinsley, our certified beekeeper, “Where are these bees coming from? I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tinsley didn’t have much to offer. In the meantime our ability to enjoy the deck kept diminishing.  

   One day Mother had a maintenance man come to the house to work on a project that required him to go below the deck. There he discovered four hives and a swarm of bees. He promptly informed my Mother of the situation, and according to Tinsley, she went ballistic. She called Tinsley at the golf shop and said, “You have one hour to get these bee hives out from under the deck!!!”  

   Do you know how hard it is round up bees?! Tinsley put on his special white beekeeping jumpsuit that protected him from being stung. And then he retrieved his smoker. Apparently, when you create smoke around a bee hive, the bees think there is a forest fire, so they all go huddle in the hive. Tinsley was able to gather the bees. With a help of a friend, Tinsley loaded up his truck and transported four hives back to Lockhart and just left them there. That’s when his beekeeping career ended. His smoker became contraband in our house. 

   Tinsley, to his credit, did not give up on doing things as a family. During the early years of his marriage to my mother, Tinsley shared his passion for golf with us, but I was the only who gravitated to it at the time. Some of you may not know that during the summers when I was a teenager, I worked in his golf shop at the Austin Country Club. Not only did I get to spend time with Tinsley at his workplace, but he made sure that I had the opportunity to learn how to play golf. Before that, I was your typical kid who thought golf was boring to watch on TV. But as soon as Tinsley put a club in my hand, I formed a brand new opinion about golf. I got hooked, and I have loved it ever since – thanks to Tinsley who introduced me to golf and his father, Papa Harvey. 

   There are so many other things I could share, but Tinsley, I have loved you from the moment I met you. You are such a sweet-spirited man, easy to be around, and fun to talk to. I can’t think of one time when I’ve felt guarded around you. I can say anything that’s on my heart, and you listen without judging. If there is a model to be made for stepfathers, YOU are it. Thank you for always being there for Mother, for Gene, and for me. 

   Gene and I feel blessed beyond measure that the good Lord brought the bookkeeper and the beekeeper together. Mother and Tinsley, we love you, we adore you, and we think the world of you. On behalf of Gene and me and your family and friends, congratulations on 40 years of marriage! May the good Lord continue to bless you. We look forward to celebrating you again in another ten years.

Love,

Lee Ann and Gene