As people in my community and circle know, my husband, Don Kincaid, died on June 18th of this year after a long and often brutal battle against liver disease caused by auto-immune hepatitis. He was the bravest person I’ve ever known, lovingly ran a tight ship, and now I feel like I’ve lost my captain. In trying to learn to navigate without him, I’ve decided to spend some more time on this blog, which was started in memory of his father, William Burl Kincaid, Jr.

Don loved the idea of the blog, but his declining health prevented him (and me) from keeping up with it and following through with our plans for it. I’m not exactly sure of how active I’ll be on here because, to be honest, the last few years have been very hard and I’m moving forward slowly, but my intention is to invest a little more time in it, hopefully expanding a bit in content.

Don loved Owingsville and all of the quirkiness that can be found in small, rural towns. He loved people, was a keen judge of character, and paid zero attention to a person’s wealth or position when engaging with them. I have had people I don’t know come up to me since he died to tell me of a certain kindness he did for them, or to tell me how much they admired him for both his professional and public service work. A local man who worked with Don in city government sent me a note describing him as “selfless.” He certainly was, always putting the needs of others before his own. He served in office to help the community, because if you have the capacity to make the lives of others better, that’s what you do . . . and that’s what he did.

He accomplished a lot in his life, but he never was one to brag or seek to take credit, traits he inherited from his father. He also got his dad’s stoicism and resolve – characteristics that the Greatest Generation seemed to have in spades. Throughout his illness, he was a fighter, even until the very end. He refused to give up, never felt sorry for himself, refused to sink into despair, and when I myself was tempted to do just that, he would say, “You can cry for a little while, but then you have to pick yourself up and go on.” Or, “We don’t quit. We look things straight in the face and carry on.” I am trying so hard to do that.

As I move forward with this blog, I plan to share old recipes, old letters, historical tidbits, book reviews, pictures – pretty much what we did before – but I also want to add some personal elements, like crafts with my grandchildren, my personal hobbies, and musings about things that are important to me. I hope to maybe inspire another person who has lost their anchor in life. In doing all of that, I want to honor the memory of my husband, and, wherever his spirit is in this vast and beautiful universe, I hope he’s proud of me.