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The ADVANCE, December 1, 2021/Page 5A
OPINIONS
“I honor the man who is willing to sink
Half his repute for the freedom to think,
And when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak,
Will risk t’other half for the freedom to speak.”
—James Russell Lowell
editorials
The Rally
Perhaps you
saw the video a
few weeks ago. A
hospice nurse ((a)
HospiceNurseJulie)
posted a video on
TikTok and Insta-
gram discussing what is known as “terminal
lucidity” or “the rally,” an end of life phe
nomenon marked by a terminal patients’
perking up and returning to a state of men
tal clarity in the days before death. Hospice
Nurse Julie noted that it has happened to
around a third of her patients and that she
tries to prepare family and loved ones for
the possible change “so it doesn’t devastate
them when [the patient] suddenly passes af
ter doing so well” for a while.
I have witnessed “the rally” first hand.
It’s both happy and heartbreaking.
In the fall of 2012, my husband received
a phone call from the director of the assisted
living facility where his mother lived.
“I think it is time to call in hospice for
Margaret,” said Teeny.
“What?” he asked in shock. “We just
saw her two days ago. She seemed fine.”
“She’s in a steep decline,” Teeny con
tinued. “I see this all the time, and I believe
that the time has come. I’m so sorry.”
We felt certain that the director was
mistaken, but she wasn’t.
During the next few weeks, we wit
nessed my mother-in-law’s physical and
mental free fall as we visited almost daily,
trying to make those last days beautiful for
her, and for us.
Then one day, we arrived and learned
she hadn’t woken up from sleep that day.
I remember touching my husband’s back
to steady him as he pondered the possibil
ity that he would never see her eyes again,
hear her laugh, or carry on a conversation
with her. She slept deeply and peacefully,
wrapped snugly in sheets and blankets and
surrounded by some of her most cherished
possessions from her Chattanooga home.
For days, we played her favorite music
— big band tunes and opera — via a por
table CD player next to her bed. We talked
so she could hear our voices. We watched
the hospice nurses care for her — cleaning
Please see Amber page 8A
From the Porch
By Amber Nagle
LETTER TO THE EDITOR...
Thank You From
God’s Storehouse
and The Jesus Inn
Most hosts get stressed out when 15
family and friends come to their house
for Thanksgiving dinner — but imagine
serving a meal to 1515 guests. That is
precisely what occurred at God’s Store
house and the Jesus Inn Recovery Center
in Vidalia last week.
For Pastor Tina Houser, Director/
Founder of God’s Storehouse & The Je
sus Inn Recovery Center of Vidalia, it
was just another opportunity to care for
her friends and neighbors. Miss Tina and
her husband, Pastor Rusty Houser of
New Life Church of Vidalia, have been
serving Thanksgiving meals for two de
cades now.
On November 25, from 10 a.m. until
2 p.m., serving lines were opened to any
one and everyone who wanted a home
cooked Thanksgiving dinner. The menu
included turkey, dressing, mashed pota
toes, green beans, sweet potato souffle,
cranberries, a dinner roll, cake, and a
glass of sweet iced tea.
Grateful guests were able to drive
through or walk up to serving lines which
were manned by volunteers from all over
the community. When asked why they
took time from their busy holiday rou
tines to help out, most replied that they
just wanted to give something back. They
were “thankful for God having blessed
them,” they said. Veteran volunteers
warmed up 300, 12 x 18 deep-dish trays
of holiday cuisine in the kitchen and pre
pared hundreds of “to-go plates.” Many
Please see Letter page 8A
Tennis
That's three.
There is a very
old saying that “the
third time is the
charm,” meaning
that after two failures
the third attempt
will be successful.
That isn't so this
morning.
I have been trying to salvage my sneak
ers with various adhesives since the sole
pealed back while I walked in the woods.
I cleaned out dirt, trash, leaves, grass
and let it dry. After a cleaning with acetone,
I applied an adhesive with the word “shoe”
in the name.
I trimmed the excess with a razor blade,
but it still looked like what it was.
Next to come loose was the “outsole,”
the part in front of the toebox.
After cleaning I loaded that up with an
adhesive that is supposed to attach any
thing. It didn't.
While I was walking along the river,
the sole flopped open again and filled with
sand.
I attempted another repair, but I know
better than to try to get glue to stick to glue.
It doesn't.
This tale reminded me of one of the
strangest, and perhaps wealthiest, men I've
known.
Clarence came from an old south
Georgia family that made a living in the
turpentine business. They owned hun
dreds of acres of slash pine, otherwise
known as “yellow pine.”
Tar was collected by slashing a section
By Joe Phillips
Dear Me
Shoe Repair
of outer bark and attaching a pan to collect
the tar.
The tar is distilled into turpentine,
which has many uses, but in the day of
wooden sailing ships the tar, and products
of tar, were called “naval stores.”
Clarence avoided any outward appear
ance of wealth.
He drove a truck older than mine
(forty-three years), wore a felt hat with a
tom brim, and his “tennis shoes” were held
together with wraps of tape that made
them look like little mummies.
While he didn't care how he looked
during the week, he could be spiffed up on
Sunday, likely at the direction of his wife
who dressed conservatively and drove a car
with power windows.
While sitting for an FAA Physical a few
years ago, I picked up in the doctor's speech
a hint that reminded me of deep south
Georgia.
“I grew up there!” he exclaimed, sit
ting, and that started a “who do you know”
exchange.
When I mentioned Clarence's family,
he smiled and said, “Mr. Clarence sent me
to school. Who else would it have been?”
The “scholarship” was a secret fund
handled by a local banker.
A decades-long line of African-Ameri
can kids had opportunities they otherwise
would have never enjoyed.
As I dressed, the doctor stuck his head
in the door and asked, “Remember his old
sneakers?”
Yes, I do.
joenphillips@yahoo.com
Vernon Jones touts his no
state income tax proposal
Vernon
Jones called
me the other
day. To refresh
your memory,
Jones, a former
Democrat and
one-time chief
executive
officer of
DeKalb
County, is
running for the Republican nomination
for governor against incumbent Brian
Kemp.
After he got an enthusiastic
reception at the state GOP convention
in July at Jekyll Island from Trump
Harrumphs who had lustily booed
Kemp, I wrote: “Vernon Jones? You’ve
got to be kidding. This guy has more
baggage than an airport carousel.
Check his record. He is the
quintessential RINO.”
To his credit, he contacted me
minus the expected righteous
indignation at my snarky comments
and made his case for why he believes
he would be the best candidate to face
and defeat the probable Democrat
nominee, Stacey Abrams. Among his
list: “Let her try and play the race card
with me,” said Jones, who is Black.
This time he called because he has
some ideas he wants to share with
voters (that’s you) and says the Atlanta
media make a point of ignoring him
and his ideas. I am happy to pass them
along, this time without the snarky
comments and to let you decide for
yourself if they are worth your
consideration. Besides, a lot of people
who read this column ignore the
Atlanta media. It works both ways.
In a nutshell, Jones wants to
eliminate the state income tax which
currently stands at 5.75 percent and
believes he can accomplish that task in
four years. The state income tax
currently brings in some $14 billion
and at this point has created a $3 billion
surplus.
He says, “Under President Donald
Trump’s pro-growth policies, our
economy soared. The collection of
increased sales taxes, property taxes,
and income taxes that our state received
allowed the Legislature to use a portion
of that new revenue to eliminate the
property tax and slightly lower the top
income tax from 6 percent to 5.75
percent. But the key word here is
‘portion.’
“In Fiscal Year 2021, our state
received $3.2 billion more in taxes than
the year prior. Unfortunately, our state’s
spending also has soared. In Fiscal Year
2018, our state budget was $25 billion.
That has now increased to $27.3 billion
in Fiscal Year 2022. Rather than spend
the earnings of our hardworking
residents, why not let the people of
Georgia keep all their money? A small
‘portion’ just isn’t enough.”
Jones says he would make Georgia
like neighboring Tennessee and Florida
- no state income tax states - and give
that money back to the taxpayers.
“My solution to this growing
problem is for the elected officials of
Georgia to adopt a plan over a multi
year period that would allow us to
compete with states that have no
income tax,” he told me.” By keeping
our state income tax, we are punishing
people for bringing their families here.
We are punishing them for choosing
our state to launch their businesses.
And we are punishing them financially
for choosing our state rather than our
competitors to begin the next chapter
of their lives.”
So, howwould he do it? “Everything
is on the table,” Jones said. “We can still
maintain a surplus by cutting
unnecessary spending.” He is also
looking at several sources of new
income, including a two-cent increase
in the state gasoline tax, which he says
is among the lowest in the nation.
(Actually, Georgia is 16th highest in
the nation, according to Tax
Foundation, a leading independent tax
policy organization.)
Jones also believes casinos are
coming to Georgia sooner rather than
later and, interestingly, so is cannabis
oil, both of which would provide new
taxes and offset the loss of revenue
from the elimination of the state
income tax.
One idea he mentioned that I
support is putting a satellite governor’s
office in South Georgia. Why should
South Georgians always have to travel
to Atlanta to see the governor? Why
can’t the governor come to South
Georgia and conduct his or her business
from there on a scheduled basis?
On the other hand, I think
increasing the gasoline tax would be
dead on arrival, and I am not as
optimistic as he is on seeing casinos
and cannabis oil anytime soon, but
these are Vernon Jones’ proposals, not
mine, and he is running for governor,
not me.
With that, we ended our
conversation. It was time for him to get
back out on the campaign trail and to
try and sell you on why Vernon Jones
should be governor. That part I will
leave to you.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@
dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, At
lanta, Georgia 31139 or on Facebook at www.
facebook.com/dickyarb.
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