Page 4 - The Wiregrass Farmer, December 24, 2008
Editorial & Opinion
T-bone steaks, yellow roses and an angel
The WIREGRASS FARMER - Established 1902
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Letters
Thanks for helping
Dear Editor,
I would like to express my deep appreciation and thanks to the
Turner County residents, businesses, churches, schools, commu
nity and civic organizations and others for their support of the
“2009 Missy Sunday Memorial Toys for Tots Drive”. Because of
the many donations, over 100 families and over 175 children in
our community will experience a very bright and joyous
Christmas that they might not have otherwise.
The “Toys for Tots” drive was first introduced in Turner
County by Missy in 2005. It was a project she believed in and
was very dear to her heart. Missy loved and cared for all children
and wanted all children to have a very merry Christmas. Turner
County Connection has made and will continue to make “Toys for
Tots” an annual event in Missy’s memory.
“Toys for Tots” is just one of the many programs and activi
ties of Turner County Connection and was truly a community
wide collaborative effort.
If you have further questions concerning the many programs
and activities of Turner County Connection or would like infor
mation about our community collaborative, please feel free to call
me at 567-9066.
A lady walked into a gro
cery store one day not partic
ularly interested in buying
groceries. She wasn’t hungry.
The pain of losing her hus
band of more than thirty years
was still too raw, and the gro
cery store held so many sweet
memories.
Her husband often came
with her and many times he
would pretend to go off and
look for something special.
She knew what he was up to.
She would always spot him
walking down the aisle with
three yellow roses in his
hand. He knew his wife loved
yellow roses.
Her heart was filled with
grief that day and she only
wanted to buy her groceries
and leave, but even grocery
shopping was different since
he had passed on. Shopping
for one took time and a little
more thought than it had for
two.
Standing by the meat
counter she searched for the
perfect small steak and
remembered how he had
loved his steak. Suddenly a
woman came up beside her.
She was blonde, slim and
looked lovely in a soft green
pantsuit. The pretty lady
watched as the woman picked
up a large pack of T-bones,
dropped them in her basket,
hesitated for a moment, and
then put them back. She
turned to leave, but once
again reached for the pack of
steaks. The pretty lady smiled
and said, “My husband loves
T-bones, but honestly, at these
prices, I don’t know.”
The recently widowed
From Where I
Sit
lady swallowed her emotion
and looked into the pretty
lady’s pale blue eyes. “My
husband passed away eight
days ago,” she said. Looking
at the T-bones in her hand,
she fought to control her
trembling voice. “Buy him
the steaks and cherish every
moment you have together.”
The pretty lady shook her
head and placed the steaks in
her basket wheeling away
with emotion in her eyes.
The widow lady turned
and pushed her cart across the
length of the store to the dairy
products. She stood there try
ing to decide what size milk
to buy. She finally picked up
a quart and moved on to the
ice cream. If nothing else she
could always fix herself an
ice cream cone. She placed
the ice cream in her cart and
looked down the aisle
towards the front of the store.
She saw the green suit and
recognized the pretty lady
coming towards her. In her
arms she carried a package,
and on her face was a bright
smile.
The widow lady felt she
saw a soft halo encircling the
lady’s blonde hair as she kept
walking towards her, her eyes
holding hers. As she came
closer she could see what the
lady held and tears began to
come to her eyes. “These are
for you,” the pretty lady said
as she placed three beautiful
long stemmed yellow roses in
her arms. “When you go
through the line they will
know these are paid for.” She
leaned over, placed a gentle
kiss on the widow lady’s
cheek, then looked at her and
smiled again. The widow lady
wanted to tell her what she
had done, what the roses
meant to her since they were
exactly what her husband had
done, but she was unable to
speak. She stood there hold
ing the roses, with tears in her
eyes and watched the pretty
lady as she walked away.
As she looked down at the
beautiful roses nestled in the
green tissue wrapping she felt
that what had just happened
was almost unreal. How did
the pretty lady know?
Suddenly the answer seemed
so clear. She wasn’t alone.
God was with her and He had
sent His angel to remind her
of that.
Please know that God sent
His son who was bom on
Christmas Day over 2,000
years ago so that all who will
accept Him as their Lord and
Saviour will have the assur
ance that Heaven will be their
final home. Have a wonderful
Christmas Season!
Lisa H. Kingry, Executive Director
Turner County Connection
But for God there go I
Editor
I’m very sure that all of you have heard the phrase “ Do unto
others as you would have them do unto You”.
Stop and meditate for a while on, What if every one of us had
the conviction that Jesus had to save mankind?
We all profess to be good Christians, go to church, and read
our Bibles, but what about our daily doings in the world? Do we
turn our backs on blasphemers, cheats, and liars? Do we try, I
mean really try, to be the kind of people who walk in the footsteps
of Jesus and care for each other as he cared for us? I don’t think
there are too many of us righteous enough to point fingers and
pass judgment on each other, but I hope many of us still have the
will to become better persons than we’ve been and stand up to
injustice, corruption, and evil things. Many people have become
so self centered, how do we get back to being “All Gods
Children”?
I watched NBC Dateline the other night and saw Miami city
police going to serve eviction on a family with guns drawn and a
battering ram to throw a family out who was behind on their
mortgage and give them 24 hours to get their belongings out of a
dumpster! I have been all over the eastern half of the US and in
some really bad neighborhoods with crack houses and drug deal
ers among other criminal events and witnessed things such as this,
but not a family who lost their jobs and couldn’t pay their mort
gage! I also recently watched a sheriff in another instance and
place refuse to throw people out of their homes, and some heart
less official will probably try to fire him. Has the world forgotten
how to care about others besides themselves? With all the expen
sive bureaus and agencies that peoples taxes get given to, why
can’t these guys be a little more concerned and helpful to desper
ately hurting individuals. If anyone needs to be evicted it should
be the Fat Cat CEO’s and greedy bankers, as well as politicians
and regulators that waved the American dream in these peoples
faces and didn’t stop them from trying to bury themselves with all
the slick deals that made Wall Street financially benefit from and
is now leaving the those residents out in the cold. No they got fat
severance packages and a bailouts on your back. They don’t have
to worry where their kids are going to sleep tonight!
My Father spent most of his life in the amusement business
mnning the big generator sets to power all of the lights and elec
tric motors. I grew up on the road all over the eastern half of the
US. Back when I was a young boy some bummy looking guy
would come around looking for a job that had a tough way to go.
The first thing my Dad would ask was “ Are you hungry” and if
the answer was yes he would immediately take him to the carni
val cookhouse to get him something to eat. Then he would find
him something he was capable of doing. I said “Dad, Why did
you just spend your money on that guy”. He looked at me and
replied “ There but for the grace of God goes I”. Not to say that
my Dad was a saint, we all have our downfalls, but he had a heart.
(See LETTER Page 5)
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Wishbone, Backbone, & Funnybone ... by Charles B. Perry
On more that one occasion
I have told my children that if
I had known about grandchil
dren, I would have had them
first! They don’t see much
humor in that statement, but
that’s o.k. they will someday
realize what I am talking
about...I hope!
With Christmas just
around the comer, once again
I am looking forward to
watching my grandchildren as
they open their gifts. It is
always interesting to see them
checking out their brother’s
and sister’s gifts to see what
of theirs they want to play
with or take away from them.
Oh well, that’s the way it
goes.
Have you ever wondered
what grandchildren really
think of us grandparents?
The following are examples
of some grandchildren’s true
feelings which were taken
from papers written by a class
of 8-year-olds. As you read
these you probably will find
that many of these sound
familiar to you.
Grandchildren identify
grandparents as a lady and a
man who have no little chil
dren of their own. They like
other people’s little children.
A grandfather is a man, and a
grandmother is a lady!
Grandchildren think that
grandparents don’t have to do
anything except be there
when we come to see them.
They are so old they should
n’t play hard or mn. It is
good if they drive us to the
shops and give us money to
buy things.
When they take us for
walks, they slow down to
observe things like pretty
leaves, flowers, and caterpil
lars. They show us and talk
to us about the colors of the
flowers and also why we
should not step on ‘cracks’ in
the sidewalks. They never
insist that we, “Hurry up!”
Usually grandmothers are
fat but not too fat to tie our
shoes for us. They wear
funny glasses and funny
underwear. They can take
their teeth and gums out.
Grandparents don’t have
to be smart. They just need to
be able to answer questions
like, “Why isn’t God mar
ried?”.. .and “How come dogs
chase cats?”
When grandparents read to
us, they don’t skip around to
finish a story as soon as pos
sible. They don’t mind if we
ask for the same story over
and over again.
Everybody should try to
have a grandmother, especial
ly if you don’t have television
because they are the only
grownups who like to spend
time with us.
Grandparents always
know that grandchildren
should be allowed to have
snacks before bed time, and
they say prayers with us and
kiss us even when we’ve
acted bad.
When a 6-year-old was
asked where his grandma
lived. “Oh,” he said, “She
lives at the airport and when
we want her, we just go get
her. Then when we’re done
having her visit, we take her
back to the airport.”
Grandpa is the smartest
man on earth! He teaches me
good things, but I don’t get to
see him enough to get as
smart as him!
It’s funny when grandpar
ents bend over and you hear
gas leaks.. .they blame it on
their dog!
Like I said, maybe grand
children should have come
along first!
Thanks to my friend Paul
A. for sharing these tidbits
with me. Until next time...
Baker’s Dozen
A better
mousetrap
Stand back! I have an
idea.
Since about 3.14159265
people read this blog, I can
share it here and not worry
about it being stolen, until I
manage to patent and copy
right and trademark every
thing which I need to patent,
copyright and trademark.
An unbreakable toilet seat.
Yes, I am aware that such
exists now, the stainless steel
unibowls found in our pris
ons. But these are also steel
and suffer a major shortcom
ing necessary for a decent toi
let seat, that being comfort. I
shall explain shortly.
Having busted, and sat on
a number busted toilet seats
over the years, I tell you with
great authority that a broken
toilet seat does not announce
itself ahead of time.
No indeed.
The broken seat waits
until your full weight has
been applied, and then with
pinch that would make even
the Pistol Shrimp or the
Mantis shrimp concede they
take a distant second place.
The pinch is, of course, on
a tender part of the anatomy.
I don't care who you are,
how tough you are or that you
gargle battery acid and eat
barbed wire for lunch. When
a toilet seat pinches you, you
emit a high pitched scream
that is sometimes so highly
pitched only dogs can hear it.
Y'evver wonder why
neighborhood dogs suddenly
start howling for no reason?
Somebody just got pinched
by a toilet seat.
If you settle down on a
unbroken seat, at least one
that surficially intact but has
hidden fissures merely wait
ing for that last straw in order
to suddenly expand to the
Marianas Trench of toilet seat
fractures, you don't know
until it's too late.
You know what I'm talk
ing about. You are positioned
"just so" and the break
springs into action. It does
not suddenly slam shut, oh
no. But it gapes open, like the
aforementioned Marianas
Trench.
You are now in a position
remarkably similar to what
the Spanish Inquisition used
to do with prisoners. And
much like the prisoners of the
Inquisition, you have no
choice about what happens
next. You must go ahead with
your intended actions, know
ing all the time that you're
about to be given a treatment
FAR worse than the new
waitress on a Friday night at
the Radio Ranch.
Neighborhood dogs begin
howling.
Now I did say there is an
unbreakable toilet seat, as
found in prisons. This is a
stainless steel model, on
which there is no lid to lift.
It's all one piece.
The drawback should be
obvious now.
When was the last time
you went to the doctor? Did
the doc put his stethoscope to
your chest to see how good
your recoil and flinch reac
tions are?
Now, imagine the same
frostbite inducing shock,
except at 3 a.m. when you are
half asleep, on a much larger
area and a much more ... yeah
well, it gives new meaning to
the term "freezing yer heinie
off."
And once again, neighbor
hood dogs begin howling.
An unbreakable and com
fortable toilet seat.
I'll be rich I tellya, rich.
