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4A ®jje 1) eralb <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, November 23,2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: What I’m thankful for this year
1. I’m thankful for
integrity.
2. I’m thankful for the
handful of pills I take
every day. I wish I didn’t
have to take them, but I
need them, they help me
stay healthy, and they’re
available, so I’m grateful.
3. I’m thankful that
insurance pays for most
of my medicine. I wish
everyone could be simi
larly blessed.
4. I’m thankful that I
have much better use of
my right hand than I had
earlier in the year.
5. I’m thankful for
decency.
6. I’m thankful for fried
chicken. It’s a good Sun
day if I can worship the
Lord, take a nap, and eat
fried chicken. I’m grateful
that I have a lot of good
Sundays.
7. I’m thankful for de
mocracy. I hope we can
keep it.
8. I’m thankful for
doctors. I’ve had to have
several this year, and I’m
grateful for all they have
done for me.
9. I’m thankful that
the Atlanta Braves are
the 2021 World Series
champions.
10. I’m thankful for
people who don’t live in
the past.
11. I’m thank
ful for people
who stand up
against racism,
classism, sex
ism, jingoism,
and a bunch of
other isms that
we’d be better
off without.
12. I’m thank
ful for my wife.
Y’all just don’t
know how grate
ful I am for my wife.
13. I’m thankful for
the television show New
Tricks. It’s a light-hearted
police procedural on
Britbox. It’s fun.
14. I’m thankful for our
home in Ma
con. It’s where
we belong.
15. I’m
thankful for
our children
and grandchil
dren. They
give me hope.
16. I’m
thankful for
breakfast for
supper on a
cold night.
17. I’m thankful for the
grace of God.
18. I’m thankful for
science.
19. I’m thankful for
churches that invite me
to preach. I’m doubly
grateful for churches that
invite me back.
20. I’m thankful for
my grilled chicken
wings. You’ve probably
had some good chicken
wings, but you’ve never
had better wings than my
grilled chicken wings.
21. I’m thankful for
people who are vaccinat
ed. Thank you for think
ing about others as well
as about yourself.
22. I’m thankful for
people with a broad
worldview.
23. I’m thankful for
people with a sense of
nuance.
24. I’m thankful for
people with a sense of
irony.
25. I’m thankful for
people with a sense of
humor.
26. I’m thankful for
honor.
27. I’m thankful for
people who read the
words I write. Your doing
so honors me.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives and works in Macon. His
new book, Praying with Matthew,
is available at helwys.com and at
Amazon.
Carry
Thanksgiving
around with you!
KAY S. PEDR0TTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
The more I think about
“things I am grateful for,”
the more things there
are! I real
ize that
Thanks
giving
started
off with
the Eu
ropeans’
thanks to
God for
bringing them safely to
a “new world.” So that’s
my first thing, too -
thanks to God for bless
ings.
This is where the
list gets too long to go
comfortably into the
newspaper’s editorial
page space. Just a few
examples to be thankful
for in my life:
-Still having a husband
in love with me after 54
years.
-Being as old as I am
and still active.
-Being a mom and a
grandmother and a great-
grand-aunt to my sister’s
great-grandchildren.
-Having so many won
derful friends; some are
closer than others, but
every one is important.
So what if I sometimes
lose track of a name?
They are still in my heart
-1 just have to be embar
rassed for a few minutes.
-Being able to have
served Lamar Arts for
more than six years (as
secretary and president).
-Having the best
people around on the
Lamar Arts board all
these years - my “team”
is positively amazing.
-Knowing people
like Jimmy Fambro,
Cyndi McDonald, Mary
Armstrong-Reiner (my
pastor), John Todd and
Deborah Shipp, Dottie
Eldridge, Michael Rog
ers, Kathy Oxford, Linda
Olivier, Karen Mitcham,
Jimmy Ross, Marcie
Seleb, David Boland, Jes
sica and Ryran Traylor,
Nancy Thrash, Fred and
Kendall Morris, Jute
and Sheila Wilson, Peter
Banks, Martha Windle
and family, Tim Turner
and the city staff, Les-
lieAnne Williams, Carol
Parrish, Sandra Watts ...
this is just a sampling, in
no particular order.
-At the top of the list
of people special to me
are my neighbors (espe
cially Bob, Mark, Terri,
Eric, Peggy and Charles)
and the Herald Gazette
staff, without whom I
would still be trying to
figure out how to make
up pages but now they
do it all for me: Walter,
Rachel, Missy, Tasha,
Nolan and Laura.
-For having known the
ones who recently left
us: Patti, Butch, Andrew,
Elizabeth and Maxine;
their contributions to the
world we know cannot
be forgotten.
That’s all, folks. I here
by resist the temptation
to go on for a few more
pages. Just let me reiter
ate that I wish everyone
a very happy Thanksgiv
ing and wish everyone
who needs it gets enough
food year-round, not just
during the holidays.
Kay S. Pedrotti has spent some 50
years writing for newspapers. She
is active in the Lamar County com
munity. She lives in Milner with her
husband Bob Pedrotti.
Email news@barnes-
ville.com or call 770.358.
NEWS to have an event
published as a calen
dar item in The Herald
Gazette.
• The John Birch
Society will meet on
Wednesday, Dec, 1, 2021
which will be the annual
Christmas covered dish
dinner at the Barnesville
Lamar County Library
meeting room from 5:30
p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Please
plan to arrive with your
food dish around 5:30
p.m. to help set up for
the dinner. Lamar County
Sheriff Brad White and
the Vice President for the
Society Wayne Marlow
will be the two guest
speakers. Sheriff White
will talk about the attack
to defund police and
constitutional office of
the County Sheriff’s of
fice. Wayne Marlow will
talk about the growth
and activity of the JBS
throughout the country
and plans for 2022. Both
speakers will take ques
tions after their talks.
• The Barnesville
Housing Authority Board
of Commissioners will
hold their annual board
meeting on Thursday,
December 2, 2021 at 6:00
pm at J. Henry’s Restau
rant in Griffin, GA.
• The Martin-Moore
American Legion Post
25, is now meeting again
at the newly remodeled
Women’s Club House
on Stafford Avenue, the
fourth Thursday of each
month at 5:00 p.m. for
the winter months. Re
turn to 6:00 p.m. in April
2022. All veterans are
invited.
• Milner Community
Library regular hours of
operation are Tuesday 11
a.m. - 7 p.m., Wednesday
11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Thursday
11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Friday 11
a.m. - 5 p.m. and Satur
day 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Kudzu & Clay: The last supper
I am not the most
spiritually devout person
in the world, at least in
the sense of attending
church. I have never
believed I had to be
present in a building
on a Sunday morning in
order to commune with a
higher power. I live in the
suburbs and I don’t think
anyone would argue with
me about this. Growing
up in a small town, life
was different. It was an
unspoken misdemeanor
to not attend church on
a Sunday. I can recall
my parents waking us
up early in the morning
to try to get us ready. It
was always a fight. There
are times they gave up
halfway through and we
never made it. “Where
are your church pants?
Why didn’t you hang
them up last week? Why
are they balled up under
your bed? Now we have
no time to iron them! Do
we always have to look
like a bunch of...” Enough
profanities were thrown
around on a Sunday
morning before getting
to church that all the
penance in the world
wouldn’t deliver us from
those sins.
It was always a fight,
that is, unless there was
the famous covered dish
lunch to look forward
to after the service. I
would sit through the
sermon with a glaze over
my eyes just thinking
about the delicacies
that awaited me. The
old ladies at the church
would push together
tables so that it formed
one long table that had
to be a mile long. All the
people would put their
contributions on the
tables. Bowl after bowl of
jello salads, deviled eggs,
fried chicken, and on a
separate table every kind
of cake, pie, brownie, and
cookie you could think
of. It was truly a divine
feast in honor of the King
of Kings.
When the service was
over all the children
would run as fast as they
KUDZU &
CLAY
Chris Walter
could to get in line. If we
were lucky enough, the
pastor would bless the
food during their sermon
to expedite the process.
I’d grab a paper plate
and race through the
first line. I’d put a deviled
egg on there and maybe
one piece of chicken and
immediately sit down to
eat. We weren’t allowed
to get to the desserts
until we had our meal.
There were loose guide
lines as to how much we
were supposed to con
sume before entry to the
dessert line was granted.
My brother just put a
scoop of baked beans on
his plate and that suf
ficed, but I was always
one to toe the line.
After inhaling our food
we waited for confirma
tion from our parents
that it was OK to run to
the desserts. To be the
first one to the table was
a distinct honor because
you got to tear into every
pristine pie and cake
there was. We’d fill our
plates so high we had to
use two hands to get it
back to the table, always
making sure to skip any
thing with fruit in it. Fruit
is practically a vegetable.
You never forget
the moment that you
lose your innocence.
The moment when the
band-aid of childhood is
ripped off and you see
the world for what it is.
For me, it was a Sunday
afternoon just as the
one described. I had
finished my meal and my
plate was piled high with
dessert. I had been the
first one to the desserts
and had the honor of
running a knife through
a beautiful chocolate
cheesecake. I could only
imagine whatever old
lady staying up all night
to painstakingly make
this thing from scratch.
Her poor arthritic hands
aching as she stirred and
decorated, transferring
nothing but love for the
Lord and all his children.
I sat at the table, a
smile on my face, and
picked up about half a
piece of cheesecake with
my fork. I put it in my
mouth, slowly closed
my eyes, and exhaled
as I started to squish it
on my tongue to savor
every ounce of holy
goodness. Immediately
my eyes opened, my face
turned green, and I spit it
out of my mouth as fast
as I could and started
wiping off my tongue
with a napkin. There,
in a muddled mass of
gelatinous cheese and
chocolate was a familiar
and unmistakable small,
white ball. Yes. I had just
narrowly avoided eating
a mothball. And now
every taste bud in my
mouth was tainted with
that unmistakable stink
only intended to kill in
sects or alert people that
you may or may not have
a problem with moths
eating your clothes.
At that moment the
curtain had been pulled
back. As I gagged, I
looked around the room.
What monster could
have done this? How
could they have dese
crated this celebration of
togetherness and divine
fellowship? And then
I realized that the old
lady I pictured lovingly
making this cheesecake,
this fried chicken, these
deviled eggs was not
crouched over a stove
with arthritic hands put
ting love in every morsel
the night before. No, she
just threw this together
SEE THE LAST SUPPER 5A
FLASHBACK
In memory of
Elizabeth Sellers
Nov. 21-27
10 years ago
Peterbilt held a grand
opening celebration and
ribbon-cutting at its fa
cility near 1-75 here. The
event included a barbe
cue dinner and displays
which included a 1958
Peterbilt rig.
25 years ago
The prison sentence
given local crack co
caine kingpin Julius But
ler (aka Julius Vaughn)
was cut in half by the
state sentence review
panel. Butler’s sentence
was reduced from 30
years to 15 years.
50 years ago
Benjamin Joseph
Henry, 16, was killed in
an auto accident here
Sunday night. He was
the son of Dr. and Mrs.
George T. Henry. Also
injured in the Johnston-
ville Road crash were
Randy Berry and Darrell
Strickland.
100 years ago
Mr. W.T. Elliott has
bought the U-Save-it
Store from Mr. W.B. Veal
and has already taken
charge of the business.
Mr. Veal, as already
announced, is going to
locate in Miami, Fla.,
having a splendid offer
there. Mr. Elliott is a
well known and highly
respected young man
and he will have all
the best wishes of the
people here for a suc
cessful career in this
business.
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