Tommy & Becky Perkins
Hello from Becky and Tommy Perkins, deep in the heart of Texas—Lockhart, to be exact. We moved here from Austin nearly 13 years ago. Best “move” we ever made! We have been totally immersed in small-town life, including a new, small church, the Breakfast Lions Club, country music jamborees, and getting to know and love our neighbors. Tommy borrows a line from Garrison Keillor and says Lockhart is “where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” Maybe a slight exaggeration, but life has been so good here!
We celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary in a few days and are happy to say we’re still hand-holding best friends. We have two daughters and eight grandchildren ranging in age from five to 21. One family lives in San Antonio, the other in Willis (north of Houston). Except for the grandson in college in Illinois, we’re delighted to have them all within a relatively short drive.
These days, instead of kids here in the house every day, we have animals. Our current count is one tuxedo kitty, a talkative African Grey parrot, and four dogs, one of whom, Tommy says (lovingly), is crazy. He’s a foster dog, is deaf, and has this OCD thing where he seems to chase things only he can see. If anyone has a hankering for a playful, loveable, still kind of shy little guy with a lot of soul to share, just let us know, ‘cause we’re looking for a perfect, forever home for him.
Becky retired from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas in January of 2003. She enjoys every aspect of retired life! In addition to helping out in dog rescue (transporting, evaluating, fostering, etc.), she is a reading mentor, volunteers with the church, serves on the local Salvation Army board, and does pet therapy with our Border Collie at a nursing home.
Tommy can’t retire because someone has to pay for the cruises! For the past five years, he’s been a Private Investigator and specializes primarily in workers comp fraud cases. He travels all over the state—apparently there’s not enough fraud here in Lockhart. He does occasionally do domestic cases. Our favorite was when he was hired to follow a husband to see where and with whom the guy spent Valentine’s Day—right after the not-so-happy couple left the marriage counselor’s office where they were supposedly trying to save their marriage! On a worker’s comp case recently, Tommy spent the evening in a class where they were taught how to raise free-range chickens. Ah, such excitement!
Although basically unused, Becky has her PI license, too. The how and why of that is a story unto itself!
We started cruising in 2003 as a retirement celebration, and we just keep celebrating! We’re totally hooked. This is our fifth cruise but first time to be involved in a “Roll Call.” We are enjoying getting to know each of you and can’t wait to meet you in person! See you in December!!!
At the Galvez Hotel
in Galveston!