“I have an adventurous palate. I had to go to the emergency room once to have my stomach pumped.”
— Precious, 1-year-old, who is part Chihuahua, Schnauzer and something else

The puppy was a gift for a granddaughter, but lives with the grandmother.

The post When it comes to eating, she’s not picky appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I never could have imagined living to be 97. I have no idea how it feels, really. I mean, I don’t know any different. I’m slower, yeah. I have a little trouble with short-term memory. But overall, my mind is still fairly good.

“I live by myself. I take care of the house. I do all the laundry and everything. I still go out back to my shop and piddle around a little bit. I guess I’m just blessed to have survived everything I’ve gone through in life. I survived the war. I survived a heart attack. I survived a broken hip. I survived cancer.

“I had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. That was kind of an unusual thing. I got sick. They did tests. My wife and I were waiting on the report when the doctor came back. He said, ‘Well, Mr. Sneed, I hate to tell you this, but you’ve got cancer. It’s in your lymph nodes. If you take the treatments, you probably will live six months. But if you don’t take the treatments, you probably won’t live very long.’

“That wasn’t very good news. My wife started crying and I started crying. We cried a little longer, then got over it. I thought, well, if I’m going to die, I need to get things in order that need to be done. I was thinking about that and talking to her about it. Then, suddenly, just out of the blue, I said, ‘We’re not going to change anything, honey. We’re going to go ahead just like it is, and trust in the lord.’ So we did. And I’m still here.

“Isn’t that amazing? My life has been amazing. I was married 67 years. Our kids — four boys and two girls — are all still alive. I have grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a great-great grandchild. Sometimes I wonder, why me? Why have I been such a fortunate man? But then I think, well, I don’t really mean that, lord. I’ve been through so much, and I’ve been close to death so many times. I’m just glad to be here and glad that I can still do the things that I do. It’s a joy to be alive.”

— Fred Sneed

(Note: Fred Sneed passed away on Aug. 29, 2021.)

Related:

• Navy veteran: ‘We never thought we would survive’

• ‘Iron woman’ helps them survive Great Depression

The post At age 97, ‘it’s a joy to be alive’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I’m 82, going on 83. And I don’t have any intentions of learning how to operate or even turn on a computer. I don’t want nothing to do except fish, be around my daughter, my grandkids and stuff like that. When you get to be my age, a lot of things that mattered years ago don’t count anymore. Family is number one. Always. I’m from Tarpon Springs, Florida. It’s a little fishing village about 30 miles east of Tampa. I come here for two months during the summer to be with my family. And I come for Christmas and New Year’s, then I go back to Florida. I’m satisfied with my life, all the way around. I’m blessed with a good daughter, good grandkids. What else could you want? 

“I had my daughter with my first wife when I was 26-27 years old. The Greeks like to have boys so they can carry on the last name. When the doctor came down the hallway and said, ‘Mr. Kouskoutis, I want you to know that you are the proud father of an 8-pound, 9-ounce baby girl,’ I lit up like a Christmas tree. I said, ‘When can I see her?’ He said, ‘They’re cleaning her up now.’ So I went over there, and they had her upside-down, cleaning her. She was crying, and I was banging on the window, saying, ‘What are you doing?’ At that age, I didn’t know from anything. When they took her and put her with my wife, I went up and saw her. And I tell you, at that moment and every day since, I would not have changed my daughter for 100 boys. That’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.”

— John Kouskoutis

(Note: John passed away on Nov. 6, 2021.)

The post Daughter ‘greatest thing that’s ever happened to me’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“My wife and I have four kids and nine grandkids. Our kids are in Beaumont, but we live in Baytown. I travel to Beaumont for work. So when I get off, I pick up some of the grandkids and bring them home with me. When I leave for work in the morning, I bring them back.

“Those little characters love their pawpaw. We don’t have them all at the same time. But when they’re staying with us, they like when I take them to the park to do some bike riding or fishing. Our biggest challenge is keeping those guys happy. But having them around keeps us young.

“Family has always been important to me. Mom and Dad, they raised me and my sisters and brother that way. My wife and I have tried to keep that going with our own kids. They stay in touch with me five, six, seven, eight times a day. They’re calling me constantly: ‘Hey, Dad. We’re just checking on you.’ I tell you, that is a great feeling. It sticks with you from morning to night, knowing that somebody is worried about you and excited about what you’re doing at all times of the day. It’s really nice. Family is everything.”

— Cedric Pete

The post Biggest challenge keeping grandchildren happy appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I think we’re pretty compatible. You know, every marriage is a give and take. You’ve got to pick your battles and you’ve got to understand each other. It was hard for me at first because I had been single for 15 years, and I had already made my little women tribe. But it’s worked out well.”

“I think it was fortunate that neither of us had any kids at home. They were all on their own and self-sufficient by the time we got married. That made things a bit easier for both of us. And the nice thing is, they all get along great. I’ve got two daughters, and they each have two kids. And she’s got two sons, and they have seven altogether. So we have 11 grandkids. When we got together, it was an instant family.”

— Cindy and Ron Fehring

Related:

• Living a comfortable life in their barndominium

The post Second time around, they have an ‘instant family’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Believe it or not, I never wanted to have children. Honestly, I felt like the world was a little too cruel, and I didn’t really want to subject him to that. But I also hadn’t met the person that I wanted to have a kid with yet, either. I love my husband. And when I actually got married to him, I knew I wanted to have kids with him. That was the deciding factor. And my mom, of course. I got a little pressure from the grandparents. ‘Just one, Sonya. I just want one grandchild from you.’”

Now that your son is 4, how do you feel about the world?
“It’s pretty much the same place I thought it was. I’m a very leery person. I shouldn’t say non-trusting, because I do trust a little bit. But I really do have to trust before I let it go or let him go. I’ve seen a lot of things and dealt with a lot of things in my life. It can be cruel out there. But I also see that there’s kindness in the world. One of the reasons I think I’m feeling a little better about everything is because there is goodness. And while I try to see the best, I still have that little guarded feeling sometimes of, ‘I don’t know about this.’ I still think you need to have that.”

— Sonya Stombaugh

The post Mom watches out for son in what can be ‘cruel world’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I mean, we took that kid with us everywhere. He went with us on every vacation. He was in my daughter’s wedding. We helped his mom go through nursing school.

“His mom and dad now are both on public assistance. And unfortunately, he’s gotten involved in drugs and stuff. To see him out there on the streets like that, it just breaks my heart. But we still love him and care about him.”

Her family tree’s branches extend far beyond her husband, and biological children and grandchildren. They include college students, prison parolees and many others who needed a place to stay, food to eat or some other type of assistance.

“We’ve had so many people living with us over the years. I just think of them all as part of our family.”

— Kaye Forrester Sneed

Related:

• Blessing bags her way of helping those in need
• Foster care kids have advocate in their corner

The post This family tree’s branches extend quite far appeared first on The Baytown Project.

You may be battling a New Year’s hangover today, but that’s not why you’re seeing double. These little guys are twins.

“Tallon is the one on the left and, let me make sure (walks around the front) … Look up, baby. Yeah, the one on the right is Tate.”

How do you know who’s who?
“Well, one way is that one of them has more freckles than the other. I can always tell them apart from the front. But when I’m behind them, it’s pretty much a toss-up.”

— Brett Hilsmeier

The post Freckles helps him tell twin grandsons apart appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“These are my grandbabies. We decided we’re in a little bicycle club. They call it EEL. It’s not spelled quite right, but it’s from the first letters of our names: Eric, Layne and Liam.

“I started riding to get in shape. I need to lose a little bit of weight and get my wind back. Just running around with them helps. I hang out with them every day. We do all kinds of stuff. I just turned 50, so they help keep me young.”

— Eric Bush

The post These grandchildren help keep him young appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“We’re moving to Sugar Land to be closer to our daughter and our only grandchild. He’ll be 4 years old in December.”

“I grew up in Houston, so moving won’t be that big of a deal for me. It was a shock when I first came to Baytown, though.”

“It’s a little tougher for me. I’ve lived here all my life. But I’ll be closer to Matagorda. That’s where I go fishing. I’m taking my boat with me.”

The post Couple has mixed emotions about moving appeared first on The Baytown Project.