Amy Brooks

Firewife ~ Supermom ~ Wondernurse

[Texas Longhorns @TexasLonghorns]

the big guy's on his way to Dallas 🤘

#HookEm

[Texas Public Policy Foundation @TPPF]

On this day in 1835, Mexico demanded the surrender of a cannon.
Texans said, “Come and Take It.”
Things escalated quickly.
Happy Battle of Gonzales Day, Texas. 🤠💥

[Texas Longhorns @TexasLonghorns]

Nobody to blame but @EASPORTS for a good time last night 🤘

#HookEm

[Guillaume Huin @HuinGuillaume]

Our archivist shared with me the words of the late Lloyd Frazier, owner of a McDonald's four blocks from the World Trade Center on 9/11. I've found myself rereading them all morning.

“We became the Hotel McDonald's the first couple of nights. We had a full house - firefighters, police, National Guard - with people sleeping everywhere in the restaurant. On Wednesday morning, someone asked why we were sweeping and cleaning. I said, 'We have guests coming tonight.' And the firefighters spent another night with us.

One day, I put a Quarter Pounder in a fireman's hands and he looked at me with a wink and told me I was his hero. I just filled up with tears and looked him back in the eye and let him know who the real hero was.

The rescue workers came out of the rubble and you could see the pain on their faces, and you know they'll carry these scars with them forever. It's just horrific. And it is so rewarding to be able to just give them a little lift.

The letters children wrote to the rescue workers were collected at local McDonald's and brought to Ground Zero. We put those letters into the workers' hands. And the firefighters, police, and EMS personnel- their eyes just welled up when they got these letters - just little letters in the kids' own words.

Throughout it all, McDonald's stood behind us every step of the way. I sent out a call for help, and my brothers and sisters at McDonald's rallied immediately.

We'll be here as long as it takes," Frazier promised.

From what I've read in articles, Frazier has become a celebrated and integral member of the mammoth Ground Zero operation. His restaurant was one of the first safe havens for firefighters, one of the first places to serve water and food, one of the closest restrooms for rescue workers, and one of the first places to shelter people fleeing from the collapse of the third building, Tower 7. He also set up a McDonald’s mobile unit that provided hundreds of thousands of free meals to firefighters, police officers and rescue workers.

What many people don't know is that he also saved a police officer's life when the towers came crumbling down and the streets were engulfed by blackness. He opened the door to his store, and pulled the officer in.

Today, I am thinking about all the lives that were changed forever by this tragedy. And I am thinking about Lloyd Frazier, his manager Raymond IIdefonso, and all the crew who did everything they could to help. The managers, supervisors, owner/operators, regional and divisional staff - they all helped.

It's not just a McDonald's story. Many other restaurants did the exact same thing. The right thing.

All heroes in their own way. Never forget.

[Houston Fire Dept @HoustonFire]

Thirteen years ago today, five HFD firefighters lost their lives in the Southwest Inn fire, the deadliest incident in department history. We honor Robert Bebee, Matthew Renaud, Anne Sullivan, Robert Garner, and "Iron Bill" Dowling. Never forget. #HoustonFire #NeverForget #GBNF

[Houston Fire Dept @HoustonFire]

HFD mourns the passing of retired Captain Clifford C. Reed, the Firewalker, inventor of the Reed Hood, and a legend who shaped generations of firefighters. He served nearly 35 years and leaves behind a family deeply rooted in HFD. Rest easy, Captain. #HoustonFire

[Texas A&M University @TAMU]

The game may change. The atmosphere does not. ⚾👍

It is the people who show up, lean in and create something bigger together. That is what Aggieland stands for.

[Random SEC @therandomsec]

Apparently it’s a hot take on here but I don’t get the Savannah bananas hate. It’s obviously fun, people enjoy it, it’s not like it’s trying to rip off baseball, it’s never claimed that. Simply a fun thing to do, like the globetrotters.

[Savannah Bananas @TheSavBananas]

The biggest game in Banana Ball history deserves an epic photo dump. Thank you to everyone who showed up and showed out last night at Kyle Field. We’re so grateful for all 102,000 of you🫶

[Savannah Bananas @TheSavBananas]

Let's have ourselves a night with the @TXTailgaters 💛

102,000 fans in Kyle Field - The Biggest Game in Banana Ball History.

[Amy Brooks @thefamousamous]

@TracesofTexas Happy Birthday!! 🎉🎉🎉

[Houston Firefighters @FirefightersHOU]

January is Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month.

After laying a sister to rest last week due to job-related cancer, the importance of awareness & prevention could not be clearer. Keeping up with routine medical checkups and screenings is critical.

[Robert Griffin III @RGIII]

Take a moment and talk to God. Not to ask for anything, but simply to thank God for all that you have in your life.

[Traces of Texas @TracesofTexas]

Here's a sad statistic: Stevie Ray Vaughan was on the planet for 13,092 days. As of today, it's been exactly 13,092 days since he died. Tomorrow, he will have been gone longer than he was here. Today would have been his 71st birthday. Did you ever see him live? I'd love to hear your story.

RIP Stevie Ray!

[Traces of Texas @TracesofTexas]

Historical Marker in Athens, Texas, the designates the exact spot at which the hamburger was invented in the late 1880s by Fletcher Davis.

[Amy Brooks @thefamousamous]

#1 FAN @b_coleman74 @Commanders

[Amy Brooks @thefamousamous]

@Commanders @JayD__5 @TheTerry_25 @BrianR_4 @ZERTZ_86 @SamCosmi @TylerBiadasz @Bwagz @frankluvu7 @MikeSainristil @ChinnJeremy2 @dantefowler @Tress_Way @JR1ERA @Ottomatic82 @b_coleman74

[Edward A. Kelly @IAFFPresident]

Millions of retirees will now get the Social Security benefits they earned with the repeal of the WEP/GPO

Many in Labor helped make this possible, especially the @GLFOP and my friend @PYoes. The @IAFFofficial is proud to stand with the FOP in the fight for our members.

[Traces of Texas @TracesofTexas]

The best thing about doing this page, other than actually meeting y'all in person, is the stories y'all tell me. When I posted this Christmas story, sent in by Traces of Texas reader Steve Eberhart a few years ago, it became of my most viewed/liked/commented-on posts ever. If you read it, you'll see why. Talk about the true meaning of Christmas!

"In November 1957, my Dad was killed in the line of duty in the U.S. Army in Hawaii.

At the time, our family was living in my Mom's hometown of Macon, Georgia.

My Mom, Annie Ruth, gathered everyone and traveled to Texas to bury my Dad in his hometown of Muenster, Texas.

As she had done on occasions before, sometimes for a year or more at a time, she stayed with my Dad's sister, Elvira Flusche and her family in Lindsay, Texas.
There was a wait for the body to arrive from Hawaii and the funeral was finally held in early December. In the days and weeks after his death, my Mom dealt not only with his death, relocation to Texas, the funeral, dealing with the Army over benefits and insurance issues and such.

With the funeral behind them and 2 weeks to go until Christmas, Annie Ruth and Elvira realized the insurance and benefits would not likely arrive before Christmas and with essentially no money left after traveling and the funeral, they did not know how they were going to make Christmas happen for the 7 children of Annie Ruth and Bill's.

Elvira convinced Annie Ruth to go to the local bank, The First State Bank in nearby Gainesville, and get a small, short term loan which she could pay back once the benefits arrived hopefully in a few weeks.
She agreed and they drove to the bank.

Annie Ruth went in to see the local banker, Claude Jones. She explained the situation of having just lost her husband, an Army man, their shortage of funds, the insurance and benefits which should be forthcoming and their immediate need to provide for Christmas for her 7 children.

Mr. Jones listened and finally said, "Let me look at this a little further and we will get back to you".

With that, Annie Ruth left the office and joined Elvira in the lobby of the bank. As they walked out of the bank, Annie Ruth was in tears telling Elvira that he said he would get back to her, which she apparently assumed was a "no" to her request.

Upset, the two of them returned to Elvira's farm home north of Lindsay where they agreed they would just have to do the best they could and things would be better next Christmas.

For Annie Ruth it was almost too much to handle, she had lost her husband, she had no job, no income or money, she had 7 children to raise ranging from age 3 months (me) to 10 years and now had literally nothing for them for Christmas.

A few hours later that afternoon, a large station wagon car pulled up to the farmhouse yard. Annie Ruth and Elvira went out to the front porch to see who arrived.
The man stepped out of the car and they noticed it was the man from the bank, Mr. Claude Jones. The back of the car was full of toys, clothes, food items, essentially everything needed for Christmas. Unsure of what was going on, Annie Ruth asked him,
"Mr. Jones, what is this?"

He stepped over to her, hugged her and said, "Mrs. Eberhart, you're not going to need a loan and you're not going to need to worry about Christmas, it's all taken care of."

This is a true story, and THAT, was our first Christmas in Texas in December, 1957.

I never knew of this story as a child but was told of it a few years ago. I checked it out and it is all true.

I also found out Mr. Jones was as generous to many others around the Cooke County community over the years.

I never met Mr. Jones, but I sure wish I had."

I have read and reread this story about 100 times since Steve sent it in. It still, even now, brings tears to my eyes. The fact that there was this man, Claude Jones, doing these kinds of things in a little ol' town like Gainesville (back then it was little) not because he was going to get publicity for it or for any other reason other than it was the right thing to do ... it's just the best thing ever. The world is made a better place because of Texans like him. If the universe is just, karma-wise, Claude Jones knows that this one act of kindness has echoed and reverberated such that now, 67 years later, folks are still reading about it. I wonder what he'd say if you could have somehow sat him down in 1957 and told him what it would mean to Steve's family and to this silly man on the internet (me), who wasn't even born when he did it.

Thank you, Steve. Merry Christmas Mr. Jones, wherever you are!

[Amy Brooks @thefamousamous]

@astros #FireDanaBrown