Joyce Richards Case

I feel I’ve come full circle from growing up in a newspaper family to writing about one. The Prichard Family Series has been in my heart for years. I’ve written it in my mind many times as life took me in one direction, then another.

As a kid, I played around the presses while my parents and two brothers toiled late into the night publishing our small south Texas town's weekly newspaper.

By the ‘50s, I was old enough to join forces in the family printing business. Into the wee hours of Thursday mornings, I ran the Addressograph machine which stamped the address one at a time of the hundreds of subscribers. When I was in the ninth grade, my mom suggested I write a column about school activities, events and social news of the local teenagers. It’s comical to read those columns now.

Later, my reporting became more relevant as I progressed to writing feature articles.

My adulthood brought gratitude for the work ethic and training my background provided. It’s amazing to see how God uses every stage of life even when we are oblivious to His plan for us. The epiphany comes when we realize He has been present all along, lovingly teaching and holding us up when we fall.

My husband, Jerold, and I reside in south Louisiana. We are blessed with seven children, two have reached heaven before us. Our family is still growing and we rejoice with each new addition.