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USA250 Journal Project
Personal Chronicle: July 4, 2025 – July 5, 2026
A gift for reflection. A record of now. A story for what’s next.
🖋️ Opening Reflections
To be written in the days or weeks leading up to July 4, 2025.
There is no deadline for knowing yourself. Just begin.
Prompt One: “Who am I?”
Begin with truth—even if it changes.
Who are you beneath the roles, the job titles, the expectations?
What names, memories, or meanings do you carry?
What do you believe about yourself—deep down?
Prompt Two: “How did I get here?”
Tell it like you’d want it remembered.
Trace your path through time—family, joy, struggle, place.
What choices, accidents, or circumstances shaped the person you are?
What has life taught you so far?
✍️ Ron Devlin – Prompt One: “Who am I?”
Just a man. A tired one.
Used to be a miner. Before that, Colleen’s daddy.
Now I’m a granddad with a busted hip and a boy who don’t say much but sees everything.Folks call me stubborn. Maybe I am. Maybe I had to be.
I ain’t much for talk, but I know how to listen to the land. I know what a storm smells like before it rolls in.
I carry a lot—my wife’s laugh, Colleen’s birthday (March 9), and the last thing she said to me.
I believe I failed her. And I believe I won’t fail Caleb. Not if I’ve got breath in me.That’s who I am.
For now.
✍️ Ron Devlin – Prompt Two: “How did I get here?”
Grew up three hollers down from where I live now.
Started in the mines at 18. Took a busted shoulder at 42.Married young. Lost her too young.
Raised Colleen best I could while the mountain kept taking pieces of me.Thought I’d die a miner. Instead, I’m raising a boy I never planned for, in a house that don’t stop breaking.
Colleen got sick, then gone.
Caleb stayed. And I stayed with him.I got here the long way. With callouses and regrets.
But I’m here. That’s got to count.
Family, Friends & Associates
Caleb – Grandson.
Lyle Brooks – Best friend.
Mona Riggs – Friend.
Pastor Dan – Local church leader.
