Newspaper Page Text
Just Ramblin®
with ‘T‘he‘Bear fi}"@
Chattanooga, Tenn.—"l hate you! You
never want me to do anything or go anywhere.
You don’t want me to have any friends. All
{;ou want me to do is sit here in this dumb
ouse and rot! You don't care anything about
me ‘cause you're not even my mother. If my
real mother was still alive she wouldn't treat
me this way. Oh, God, I wish she hadn't died!"’
Debbie Carter stood glaring at her step
mother Marjorie, her fists clinc%\ed. her bocgr
~shaking with rage. Marjorie said gently, *'l'm
sorry your mother died too, Debgie. lg,erhaps
your life would have been different if she had
lived. I can understand your bitterness, for
you have lost something very precious. But
she's gone, Debbie, «nd there's nothing I can
do about that. When your father and 1 were
married, 1 took on the responsibility of help
ing to raise you. And part of that responsibifl
ty includes having to say ‘No' sometimes
when [ think that the thing you want is not
the nght, thing for you. As for my feelings
toward you, Debbie, I've loved you as though
you were my very own child. I'm sorry if you
don't believe that, because I have Lriec{ to
show it."”
“Well I don't believe it!"" Debbie stormed.
“You just took advaitage of my daddy and
married him after my mother died. If he
hadn’t married you, you'd probably have been
an ‘old maid' anyway. That's just what you
act like. An ‘old maid’ who doesn’t know
anything an’ doesn’t care about anything. An’
you sure don't care anything about me, no
matter what you try to say!"
Marjorie looked at the girl for a moment,
then turned away to hide the tears that welled
into her eyes. She said very softly, ‘'Debbie, I
don’t want to discuss this anymore. You've
asked me, my answer is ‘No' and I've given
you my reasons for it. I'm afraid that's final.”
“Well that's fine with me 'cause I don't
want to talk to you anymore about it either,”
Debbie raged. “We'll just see what Daddy
says about it when he gets home!"’
Debbie whirled around and ran to her
room, slamming the door behind her, and
flung herself into the frilly, chintz-covered
chair. She sat for a few moments, breathing
heavily, then she looked down at the chair,
seeing the material she and Marjorie had pick
ed out together. Marjorie had worked alFone
afternoon and most of the night sewing and
covering the chair for Debbie's birthday.
Debbie jumped up and went to her dresser.
Picking up her hairbrush, she attacked her
hair with hard punishing strokes, then she
looked at the brush. It was the silver-backed
comb and brush set Marjorie had given her for
Christmas. Debbie flung the brush to the floor
and went to her bed. Just before she sat down
she glared at the bedspread that matched the
chair that matched the canopy over the bed.
She snatched the spread off tfie bed and threw
it in a heap in the corner and sat down, looking
wildly around the room. Everything she saw
reminded her of Marjorie: the furniture, the
pictures on the wall tLat she had wanted and
Marjorie had surprised her with, the books in
her bookcase . . . Damn!"”’
On the dresser was a picture of her and
Marf'orie in a canoe that daddy had taken at
the lake when she was 7, the summer he and
Marjorie were married. Debbie jumped up and
threw the picture against the wall, smashing
the glass. There was another picture, a picture
of her wearing a tiny sun suit and holding the
hand of a beautifu{ woman in a bikini with
long blond hair and a flashing smile who posed
provocatively for the camera. Her mother. Her
real mother. The picture was taken when she
was 3, just before her mother died. What a
contrast between her and Marjorie's plain
features and mousy hair! What did Daddy see
in her anyway! Debhie picked up the picture
and hugged it to her. OE Mama, why gid you
have to die?"
After a few moments, Debbie realized she
was staring at herself in the mirror. She
carefully set the picture down and leaned
closer. ““Darned bumps!"" Was that a new one
starting? She scratched at it cautiously with
her fingernail. There weren't too many yet,
thank fioodness. but she was Just 13. Tfiere'd
robably be a lot more. Who'd want to look at
Eer then? Huh! Who'd want to look at her
now!
She drew back, looking at her whole image.
Her reflection showed her a pretty, somewhat
chubby young girl with full, moulded lips,
delicate features, long, wavy blond hair and
widely-spaced, long-lashed brown eyes. Im
pulsively, she began to unbutton her blouse,
and in a moment she was naked. She stared at
herself, seeing small, immature breasts, hips
and thighs that were a little too heavy. Mar
jorie said that was just “‘baby fat’’ and she
would lose it soon if she was careful about her
diet. Marjorie again! Long, beautifully-shaped
legs, plump stomach, and those scars. Those
awful, ugly scars! Debbie buried her face in
her hands.
At that moment, there was a knock at the
door. Debbie jerked her head up. ““Who is it?"’
“It's me, Debbie,”’ her father answered.
“May I come in.?"”’
“Just a minute.”” Debbie crossed to the
closet, jerked her robe off a hanger and put it
on. Then she opened the door. “Come on in,
Dad.”
Frank. Carter sat down on the frilly
bedroom chair and looked at her as she sat on
the bed facing him. He also saw the brush, the
bedspread and the picture, and he ignored
them. He said, *'Debbie, your mother said you
two had a rather unpleasant disagreement this
afternoon. You want to tell me about it?"
Debbie stared at him a moment, then her
mouth tightened. *'l'm sure she’s already told
you about it, hasn't she? Did she send you up
here to jump on me too?"
“No, Degbie. your mother didn't tell me
about it, and she didn’t ‘send’ me up here. She
did say you might want to talk to me, and
that's all she said.”
Debbie leaned forward. ‘I do want to talk
to you Daddy. I want to talk to somebody who
cares. They're having a party, Daddy. It's at
Bobby Jerni%an's house and all the kids are
gonna come. Bobby's mother and dad are hav
ing a party too and all their friends are gonna
be there, an’ they said Bobby could have a par
ty at the same time an’ invite his friends an’
we could use the den an’ do whatever we want
to. Bobby's invited everybody an’ we're gonna
play records an’' dance an’ there won’t be
anything wrong with it, Daddy! We're just
gonna drink Cokes an’ heve a good time, an’
when the grownups’ party breaks up we'll all
go home. Bobby said we'd probably all be
home by 12:30. Please, daddy, please let me
oL
g Frank Carter looked at his daughter for a
long moment, then he sighed and lowered his
head. ‘'Debbie, what did your mother tell you
about 1t?"
“She said I couldn’t go because ‘she didn't
think it was a good place for me to be,” "’ Deb
bie mocked sarcastically. ''‘But Daddy, she
doesn't know! How does she know w{ether
it's a ‘good’ place or not? She just doesn't
want me to go ‘cause she doesn't want me to
do anyrhing."'
Her father considered a moment before he
spoke. Then he said, *'Debbie, first of all, I've
told you this before, and I'll tell you again.
When two people are married and have a c%\ild.
then they must believe in the same things and
work together, or else they have no marriage
at all, and that child has no home. When either
your mother or I tell you something, then it's
the same as if we both were telling you. If it's
something we should discuss and decide on
together, then we'll defer giving you an
answer until we've had a chance to Lali about
it, and then that answer will be from both of
us.
“1 can understand how badly you want to
go to this party. But I must tell you that I also
resent your thinking that I would go against
your mother's wishes. She does care, Debbie,
and she wants you to do things that you'll en
joy. But your mother told you the same thing
that I would have told you if you'd asked me
first. I don't know Bobby Jernigan. I'm sorry
I don't, because he's probably a very fine
young man. But I do know that Bobby's
about 17 or 18 years old, and 'his crowd of
young people is too old for you to be going
with. Y.)u'gfeel out of place, and you would be
out of place, and I don't think it's the place for
you to be. Obviously your mother doesn’t
think so either.”
Debbie stared at him a moment, then she
leaped to her feet, the words hissing between
her teeth. *'l might have known you'd take her
side! Why do you keep calling her ‘my
mother?’ " She thrust outger arm, pointing at
the picture. “‘There’'s my mother. My motfi]er
is dead! Marjorie is not my mother an’ she
doesn't care anything about me. Look at me,
daddy. Look at me! Who could care anything
about me? Tell me! Who?"
Suddenly Debbie ripped off the robe she
was wearing and stood naked before her
father. Frani Carter looked at the budding,
about-to-be woman that was his daughter. He
saw the childish beauty that was trembling on
the verge of bursting into full bloom. He saw
the life that he'd prayed so hard to keep. And
he saw the terrible scars that traversed her
back above her hips, and he breathed a sigh
that just escaped geing a sob. He stood then
and picked up her robe and closed it gently
around her, Eis fingers softly touching her
throat. Then he took her on his lap and held
her as he had when she was small. She put her
arm around him and he stroked her ancfkissed
the top of her head, inhaling the soft fragrance
of her hair.
“1 have looked at you, Debra Ann,” he
whispered, his lips against her hair. *‘l have
looked at you since the first time I saw you
when you were born, and you were red and
wrinkled and the most beautiful thing in the
world. I have looked at you when I held you
and kissed you, when I fed you and dressed
you. I looked at you when you were a baby,
learning to crawl and to stand and to walk,
and I look at you now as a young woman and
you are still the most beautiful thing in the
world. I looked at you when you were so sick
and I was so afraid you were going to die, and
I knew that all my world would end at that
moment. I looked at you when you'd had your
operation and suddenly we could believe you
were going to live, and I was the happiest man
on Earth. I looked at you when your mother
was gone, and there was no one left in the
whole world but you and me. And I looked at
you in Marjorie’s arms and I knew she loved
you, just as I know you love her now, and I
was glad. I'm glad Lf)]’at I have f'ou. and I'm
§lad that we both have someone like Marjorie,
or we both need her very much.”
Frank Carter put his fingers under his
daughter’s chin and tipped her head back to
look at him. “Debra,” he said, ‘‘you're old
enough to understand things now, so perhaps
it's time for me to tell you something. I
haven't told you before because I wanted to
protect you, and it's not easy for me to tell you
now. It won't be easy for you to hear. But you,
of all people, should know that life is not
always easy. Your mother is nogdead, Debbie.
She didn’t die, she went away with another
man. I don't know where she is; I haven’t seen
her since she left. She wouldn't talk to me, she
wouldn’t answer my letters. I have not seen or
heard from her since you were 3 years old. I've
always dreaded the moment I had to tell you
this, but I've always known that someday you
would have to know.”
Debbie stared at her father, open mouthed,
her eyes huge with shock. FL was long
moments before the words came, the only
words she could think of. *“Did she
know . . .Did she know when I was sick?"’
Frank Carter bowed his head. ‘‘Her mother
knew, Debbie,”’” he whispered. ‘‘Your grand
mother. I wrote to her. Your mother must
have known. I'm sorry.”
After a few moments, he continued.
“There's something else I think you should
know too, Debbie. I'm going to break a pro
mise now. A promise I made to Marjorie.
That's not easy to do either, becausedvou know
I always try to keep my word. And I kind'a
hope maybe you won't tell Marjorie that I
di(rn't keep it this time.
“You know that Marjorie was my
secretary before I married her. She was also
my friend, and I think she was the only one
who really knew and understood the Hell I
went through when your mother left. And
afterward, when you were so sick, before we
were married, Marjorie stayed with you and
nursed you and cared for you as much as I did,
and I think she has more than earned the right
over these years, to think of herself and have
you think of her as your mother.
“You doubt that Marjorie loves you? You
know that she wears a one-piece bathing suit
too, Debbie. And I know that she’s afways
been careful not to let you see her undressed.
For if you did, you'd see her scars too, and she
never wanted you to know. She wanted you to
love her for herself, and not for something she
did. And what Marjorie did was give you the
greatest iift that one human being can ever
give another
“The kidney you're carrying in your body
was hers. Just as much as the mother who
bore you .. Marjorie gave you life.”
DICTIONARY, PLEASE
By the way, can you place your hand
on your sternum? The odds are 50 to 1
you're wrong. Look it up.— Chicago
Tribune
(LP CAREFULLY ALONG D(;)I TED_LIL\IE, INSERT IN ENVELOPE AND MAIL TO CONGRESSMAN.
R SN
Ol COMPANIER! o
Guest Column
Today's guest column is
by Denton R. Coker, president
of The Georgia Association of
Junior Colleges.—Editor
» $ »
One of the assets of the
State of Georgia is a strong
system of 25 community an
junior colleges which are con
sistently making giant con
tributions to the educational
and economic growth and
development of the state.
While most of the attention
and resources in higher educa
tion have been given to the
large, pretigious institutions,
this unheralded group of
quality two-year colleges of
fering associate degrees has
stea(fily grown in number and
in service to the citizens of
Georgia.
Georgia is particularly for
tunate to have a junior college|
within commuting distance of
most of her citizens. These
two-year institutions spread
across the state from Young
Harris to Brunswick and from
Cleveland to Bainbridge.
There is a great variety of
junior colleges in Georgia. Fif
teen of the colleges are state
colleges under Lie Board of
Regents of the University
System; seven are sponsored
by churches; two are parts of
county school systems; and
one is an independent, non
profit institution. Twelve of
the two-year colleges have
dormitories and thirteen serve
only commuting students.
Four of the group offer a wide
range of vocational-technical
education programs; and
some concentrate on prepar:
ing students to transfer to
senior colleges and univer
sities to complete bac
calaureate and graduate pro
grams.
All of these associate
degrees institutions have
several things in common: (1)
they emphasize good
Availabl
A Georgia Trial Lawyers
Association slide presentation
on the importance of juries to
the American legal system is
now available to high schools
and civic groups LfiroughouL
the state.
GTLA President Harry L.
Casin Jr. of Atlanta said local
trial attorneys are available in
all areas of Georgia to give the
Erogram. and to conduct a
rief question-and-answer
period for the audience.
“Too often, many citizens
look upon jury duty as an un
wanted intrusion into their
personal life,” Cashin noted,
“when in fact it affords them
an opportunity to serve their
community.
“The right to trial by jury
is every Georigian's oppor
tunity for justice.”
Cashin said the trial
lawyers association prepared
the presentation to better
educate citizens to the impor
tance— and workings— of the
jury system.
Titled “Opportunity for
Justice— Jury Duty,” the
slide presentation is in car
toon form and traces the
history of juries from the
Golden Age of the Greeks.
The program discusses the
qualification and disqualifica
tions for jury selection, and
the duties of jurors.
Y lLeir JuLy. mainly,"”
Cashin said, 'is to listen
carefully and determine what
the truth is from the evidence
presented in court.”
The program also outlines
the basic steps of a simple
civil trial, from opening
statements to summation.
“Service on a jury in an
honor for each individual call
ed,”” Cashin said.
“The GTLA program is
designed to bring home this
rmnt and to make jury service
ess of a mystery to those who
have note served on one,”
Requests for this brief pro
gram should be made to the
Georgia Trial Lawyers
Association, Suite 400,
Georgia Justice Center, %4
Peachtree Street NW, Atlan
ta, GA 30303
classroom instruction; (2) they
provide for close faculty
student inter-relationships; (3)
they provide quality higher
education at much lower costs
for the tax payers and the
students; (4) they are close to
their communities and offer
special services; (5) they are
sensitive to changing educa
tional needs and quick to meet
them; and (6) they make a very
significant direct and indirect
economic impact on the
regions in which they are
located.
The role of the two-year
college, whether it be called
{'unior college, community col
ege, or associate degree col
lege, is predicted to ‘i)o more
important during the 1980 s.
Already more than half of all
students entering college in
the United States start in
community or junior colleges.
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PROTECT MOVING PARTS
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for appointment
132 SOUTH
COMMERCE STREET
SUMMERVILLE, GA.
In “A Profile of Higher
Education in the South in
1985, the Southern Regional
Education Board projects a
decrease in enrohmont in
public and private universities
as well as in public and private
senior colleges but projects a
5 percent increase in public
two-year institutions. This
projection indicates that by
1985 37 percent of all the
students enrolled in college in
the southern states will be in
public two-year institutions.
To help Georgians become
aware of the great asset they
have in their junior colleges,
the Georgia Association of
Junior Cofieg(-s ils presenting
a series of 12 ur(,ic{es written
by presidents of the junior col
leges in the State which will
be featured weekly in
newspapers throughout the
State.
GOODSYEAR
The Summerville News, Thurs., Jan. 17, 1980
GOODSYEAR
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WflSlIIIIQIOII”‘:f Report
McDONALD OPPOSES
GASOLINE TAX
I have joined with a
number of my colleagues
in writing a letter to
Charles W. Duncan Jr.,
Secretary of Energy, in op
position to a pending plan
by the Department of
Energy to impose a
“backdoor' increase in the
lederal gasoline tax of up
to 30 cents per gallon
Q
. . .
i\
FH\\
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) \‘\ { "
The plan would not re
quire Congressional ap
proval because it would be
levied as a crude oil import
fee under existing Presi
dential authority Under an
accompanying set of regu
lations. the entire cost of
the import fee would be
added onto the pump price
ol gasoline by means of a
complex entitlements
payments system at the re
tinery level
Our letter to Secretary
Duncan described the plan
“a serious abuse of Presi
dential authority. If there
is to be any change in the
Federal gasoline tax. .it
should be voted upon by the
Congress and it should be
Published as a public service by this newspaper
posted on the pump so that
consumers will know it 1s
the government reaching
into their pockets still
more deeply
“Disguising a 4 massive
increase in the gasoline tax
in hundreds of pages ol
regulations would be a new
low in bureaucratic manip
ulation and an insult to
Congress and the Ameri
can people. " our letter as
serted
COOPERATION
PLEDGED
The letter also said we
as members of Congress
remain ready to cooperate
on meaningtul measures to
increase domestic 01l sup
plies. encourage conserva
tion and reduce import in
dependence
“But during a year in
which gasoline prices have
already risen by 65 percent
and the public has re
sponded with significant
gasoline conservation.'” we
told Secratary Duncan. “a
drastic gas tax increase
would be a devastating and
unfair blow to every Amer
wean family
Our letter concluded
“We will not tolerate et
torts to transtorm the
nation’'s serious energy
problem into an excuse for
increasing stll further the
already stitling tax burden
on the American people
Write or call: Rep. Larry
McDonald, 504 Cannon
Bldg., Washington, D.C,
20515 (202) 225-2931
PHONE 857-2456
WILLIE J. McGRAW
MANAGER
5-A