SAN ANTONIO – Sixty-eight is a lot of years to be married. But to Jerry and Lucille Bullock, 16 months seemed longer.
“We were so fortunate to have each other,” Jerry Bullock, 89, said with his wife’s hand in his.
They now freely motor their wheelchairs through the halls of the Blue Skies of Texas retirement home, chatting with neighbors and staff. But for much of the COVID-19 pandemic, they spent monotonous days in isolation, protected, but missing face-to-face contact with their family and friends.
At times, Jerry said he felt forgotten.
“Lonesome,” he said after a long, thoughtful pause.
The calendar turned from days to weeks to months.
“We thought, ‘now is the time to do it,’” Lucille said.
They decided to spend their days writing a book. It’s titled, ‘My Uncle Nathan,’ just published in paperback.
It’s a collection of life stories, snippets of Uncle Nathan’s journey as a preacher during the settling of West Texas.
“I like to say some of them are even true,” Jerry jokes.
The stories are all punctuated with wit and wisdom.
“They are faith-based, but not preachy,” Jerry said.
Jerry Bullock, a retired Air Force colonel turned ordained Baptist minister, is the writer. He’s also the illustrator, thanks to hours on the internet.
“I took art lessons so I could illustrate the book,” he said.
Gripping his rainbow of pencils in his shaky hand, he steadies to sketch each story, like the one about the little girl who had just moved to Texas.
“The pastor asked her, ‘Have you found a church?’” said Jerry as he tells the tale. “She said, ‘My mama says God ain’t got to Texas yet, and she’s not sure he’s coming.’”
A writer needs a stickler of an editor. That’s Lucille. Hour after hour, she sat at her computer, magnifying glass in hand, correcting sentence structure.
“He had to stay after school to diagram sentences,” she said. “They didn’t take. He doesn’t know a noun from a verb.”
He doesn’t disagree.
“There wouldn’t be a book except for her,” he said.
She doesn’t disagree.
“I’m the burr under his saddle,” Lucille said.
The short book is part Texas history, part humor. Lucille edited that, too.
“He tells some I think are not funny,” she said. “We took them out of the book that are not even funny.”
But, in the gospel according to Jerry Bullock, you can find humor just about anywhere.
“Laugh. Just enjoy life,” is the pastor’s advice. “There’s enough things to worry about. The Bible says tomorrow is going to take care of itself.”
They aren’t sure anyone will even read their book. It won’t make a bestseller list, but it is a classic.
They are now beginning to work on yet another book, but that’s another story.