About The Eatonton messenger. (Eatonton, Ga.) 18??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2025)
» Your hometown newspaper since 1861 The Eatonton Alessenger THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2025 | C5 For Heaven Ssake Mike Morgan a 84 OOPs! I MEANT TO READ RUTH 1:16 INSTEAD OF HOSEA 1:2... - re me \ so 2 421 Miss... The homeless It was many winters ago in Washington, D.C., that I saw my first home less person. He was lying over a warm vent atop the Metro train. Behind him, across the street, the Washington Monument stood gloriously bathed in light. In the November evening’s bitter cold, I stopped and, puzzled, stared for a moment. He seemed peacefully asleep. I looked over at the beauty of the tribute to our first president then back to the man whose home was a city sidewalk with an aluminum trash can nearby. I was dressed warmly in a long, double-breasted navy coat with a red wool scarf wrapped around my neck, wearing a beau tiful pair of deep brown lambskin leather gloves that someone had gifted Mama. They were too tight for her hands so she gave them to me. I still have them and they’re still as pretty now as then. Back in those days, most of the cities in America were practically crime-free so it was like London is today - safe for a young woman to wander the streets at night. As I moved past him, I thought, “How does a man wind up like that?” I was freshly out of college and had been in D.C. less than two weeks. I was working at the newspaper, USA Today, in those impressive, first years of its founding. I lived in Foggy Bottom so I often walked to the Kennedy Center for a movie, or two blocks over to Georgetown for a burger at Hamburger Hamlet. I was a country Ronda Rich Dixie Divas girl who knew only a world of kindness where folks were neighborly and what little we had, we shared. I slowly walked past the man but looked back over my shoulder, as we all do when viewing again something we’ve never seen before. “I’d move to Florida,” I told myself. “At least I’d be warm.” That was the first, but far from the last, of the homeless people I would encounter. New York. Chicago. Los Angeles. Atlanta. San Francisco. As the years passed, the numbers grew. L.A. is practically one, big, tent city where people, who can afford housing, are fleeing to other states, primarily to Texas while Hollywood stars are heading for Nashville. Many times since that cold night in D.C., I’ve wondered, “How do people become homeless? What are their stories?” It was late fall and I was down at Mama’s house, sitting on the porch steps, talking to a friend who had stopped by to pick up a couple of my latest books, when a car pulled into the driveway and parked behind his. “I wonder who that is?” he said. He’s former military, so always wary. I shrugged. “Probably Jehovah Witnesses.” Two men approached, both a bit scruffy. From the corner of my eye, I saw my friend stiffen and knew he was strategizing on how quickly he could get to the gun in his car. “Hey,” said the older man. “Do you know who owns that double-wide up there?” “I do,” I replied. It’s one of my more glamorous possessions. A woman, who lived there for 15 years had moved out months earlier and I was planning to tear it down. “I’ve been tryin’ to find out for weeks. It rented?” I shook my head. “Would’cha rent it?” “It’s not in very good condition,” I replied. “Ma’am, it’s better than where we’re livin’ now. I guarantee you that.” My friend was watching, ready to jump in and save me. “Where’s that?” I asked. He threw his thumb over his shoulder. “In that car. In the Walmart parkin’ lot.” He explained that he, his wife, and two sons came to be homeless when their former landlord tripled their rent. “How much would you take?” I named an extremely low price. Tears filled his eyes and his son’s shoul ders collapsed with relief. “I knowed my prayers would be answered.” And, now I know how some people come to be homeless. Ronda Rich is the best- selling author o f Sapelo Island: A Stella Bankwell Mystery. Visit www.rond- arich.com to sign upfor her weekly newsletter. 2 3 5 6 8 9 10 12 13 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 49 50 48 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 CLUES ACROSS 1. Spiritual leaders 7. Salt 13. Fortified wine 14. Edible mollusk 16. They precede C 17. A way to compare 19. State lawyer 20. "Game of Thrones" actor Ciaran 22. Eighth month (abbr.) 23. Very willing 25. ex machina 26. Satisfies 28. Mountain in New Zealand 29. A doctrine 30. Popular Dodge truck model 31. Dekagram 33. Naturally occurring solid 34. Company officer 36. Villains 38. Cricket frogs 40. One of the founders of modern psychology 41. Endured 43. A female domestic 44. You can get stuck in one 45. Partner to feather 47. Passive optical network 48. French ballet dynasty SEE PUZZLE ANSWERS » PAGE B3 The ^Eatonton essenger Support local journalism msgrnews.com — 706-485-3501 51. Employee stock ownership plan 53. Bottom layer 55. Sound 56. Yankee great Judge 58. Dickens character 59. Late beloved TNT sportscaster 60. South Dakota 61. Exposing human vice or folly to ridicule 64. Gold 65. Longtime Braves hurler Julio 67. Humor 69. Shawl 70. Hospital unit CLUES DOWN 1. Animal disease 2. Commercial 3. Necklace materials 4. Containers 5. Investment account 6. Colorado Heisman Trophy winner 7. Dipped down 8. Head injury category (abbr.) 9. Lay about 10. Intestinal 11. Not yes 12. Caused to be loved 13. Muslim spiritual leader 15. Showing sincere conviction 18. Not in 21. Number above the line in a fraction 24. Lawn pest 26. Pouch 27. Ancient language in India (abbr.) 30. Start over 32. Wild white flower 35. Fourteen 37. Visual way to interact with computer (abbr.) 38. Side by side and facing the same way 39. Religious conflicts 42. Touch lightly 43. "Boardwalk Empire" actress Gretchen 46. Violent seizure of property 47. One who supports the pope 49. Malaise 50. Body fluid 52. Inauthentic person 54. Title of respect 55. Chilean city 57. Japanese city 59. Silk garment 62. Draw from 63. Automobile 66. The man 68. Top government lawyer Read breaking news online and subscribe to your hometown newspaper at lwww.msgrnews.com LOCAL MATTERS 11 706.485.3501 and ask to advertise on the Worship Page, today! BYTERI 7 Q X GREENSBORO, GEORGIA We are a Christ-centered, mission minded church with traditional worship eager to include you in our church family. Pastor Meg Jackson Clark Website - fpog.org Phone: 706-453-4956 a PC(USA) Church Sunday Scripture Study - 9:45 a.m. Sunday Worship Service - 11:00 a.m. First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro 117 South Main Street, Greensboro, Georgia (next to the Post Office in downtown Greensboro) Lake Oconee Lutheran Church A Stephen Ministry Congregation All Are Welcome 2 Sunday Bible Study I 9:00 a.m. Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m. Pastor Steven Hayden ============ 706-485-4600 Office LAKE ocone: e , LUTHERAN CHURCH officelolc@gmail.com lwww.lakeoconeelutheran.org] CHURCH Wednesdays Sundays: 5:15 p.m. - Family Night Supper 9:45 a.m. - Sunday School Children & Adult Bible Study 10:50 a.m. - Worship Dr. Craig Williamson, Pastor First Baptist Church 115 Madison Avenue • Eatonton, Ga 706.485.3331 www.FirstBaptistfEatonton.orgl Episcopal Church 1089 Lake Oconee Parkway (Hwy 44) Located behind the Lake Oconee Lutheran Community Center Grant, O Torch, that course of this world may he so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Torch Booh of Common Brayer Eatonton First Methodist Church 103 West Magnolia Street, Eatonton, GA 31024 706-485-5871 |www.eatontpnfmc.com1 All Angels Episcopal Church '405 Worth. Jefferson Avenue Eatonton, Georgia Woly Communion at ten on Sunchay morning Pastor David Wofford Wednesday Night Activities Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. with bible study at 6:30 p.m. Sunday 8:45 a.m. Traditional Worship in Historic Sanctuary 10.00 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Casual Worship in Historic Sanctuary GLOBAL METHODIST CHURCH
