Welcome to Phyllis Kester's front porch

Entertaining short stories written for adults and older children to serve as a bridge from an earlier generation to the present

My childhood summers would find my family gathered with neighbors and friends on the front porch to sing and socialize as our houses cooled off from the heat of the afternoon. Without air conditioning, we opened the windows to let the natural breezes cool our house so it would be more comfortable by bedtime. This was before television sets in every home and cellphones, so it was a time of outside neighborhood games like hide and seek or kick the can. It was also a precious season of visiting and story telling. I loved when relatives visited and told stories about my parents when they were young.

Scripture tells us one generation should tell of the works of the Lord to the next generations. We are designed to invest in each other and sharing our stories is one way to do it. But how will our descendants learn these stories if we don’t continue to gather and retell them? As time and health permit, this website will be “my front porch” for sharing some personal family stories and other short stories.

I challenge you to begin sharing stories within your own family. Perhaps some of mine will remind you of your own, or will spur you to begin asking questions of your own relatives.

Phyllis's Recent Posts
Family Stories

Singing

The young man on the right side of the picture is Buel M. Smith, my father. He graduated from Limestone Gap High School in May 1931, and this picture was likely taken when he was about 16 or 17 years old. He is holding the winning banner after what had first seemed like a catastrophe for four high school teenagers who traveled about the state of Oklahoma singing in quartet competitions. Their small rural high school in southeastern Oklahoma did not have all the things we expect in our schools today. However, at that time,...read more
Family Stories

Dreaming

Are you a dreamer? No, I’m not referring to the legislation concerning immigrant youth brought to the US as minors who remain undocumented. Nor am I referring to the person who lives in a world of fantasy and is regarded as impractical and unrealistic. I’m referring to those who occasionally dream about an idea or project that some may consider highly speculative or improbable. Martin Luther King, Jr. was considered a dreamer, as are many scientists. I think both of my parents were dreamers, and by that, I mean...read more
Family Journeys - Family Stories

Tornado Alley

  While still in high school, my casual attitude toward tornadoes changed dramatically in 1957. My parents and I were driving to a two-week workshop in Fargo, North Dakota. My dad was determined to arrive that night since our housing was already paid for and we were nearing our destination. However, it was raining. Mother was watching the storm clouds ahead of us from the front seat beside him when she suddenly became agitated.  “Buel, I see a tornado ahead of us in that cloud. We’ve got to...read more
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A head-on car collision. Job loss. The death of a child. Phyllis and Monty Kester survived all these crises and more. But one thing remained constant throughout: the inspirational love story between a husband and wife and their Lord. learn more