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DECEMBER 24,2002 1 want a surprise' [; i y ; Jackie Cooper Columnist jkershawcooper@aol.com From the very first Christmas that I can remem ber, when I was asked what I wanted Santa Claus to bring me I answered, “A surprise!” Now you can imagine what that did to my family. They reminded me that Santa need ed a clue. But I wouldn’t budge. I wanted a surprise and that was it. Then on Christmas morning I would wake up, go into the living room and announce I didn’t get my surprise. Then I turned on my heels and went back to bed. Talk about a rot ten kid, I was the poster child in this instance. When I was fourteen my mother died, never having had the pleasure of giving me “my surprise.” Lord knows she had tried. She had asked me con stantly what my surprise would be, and I had stuck with the fact that although I didn’t know what it was, I would know it when I got it. At least as I got older I quit talking about the surprise. I did have that much sense. But inside I still had that hunger for the unknown present that would make me feel satisfied. Christmases came and went and I still felt I was missing out on something undefined. When I went off to college I selected Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. It was an Associate Reformed Presbyterian school, but a lot of my high school classmates chose to go there and I did too. My Baptist father wondered why I hadn’t chosen Furman. Anyway, one of the high lights of the Christmas season was the adopting of a child I v/tffte Kin} ei IJousd Uery (Christmas I r sdndCd Ideiv IJear! I |f ; Bring This Coupon in And Receive J ]k, 10* Off i E| uh Your Order HI 1301 South Houston lake Rd" 111 987-5055 Answers to Thursday’s puzzles King Crossword Answers G R I Tm C O~NBB E X A M E A V Ipßr A Tpgs" E W S dwarf] Ymos Taj fs A gBBy~ o d e l s JL AH o. Q u eßmp \ x i e O X E TTIBfY A KM R I T E D E B A rMr 1 V E T E D M 3 ITIT Npis Y Q O L Z O N eTBc~ o bWq n l y _!_ J3L _L sHf c u_ r|lr _u _L A from a nearby orphanage. You adopted the child in the sense that you bought him or her a Christmas gift. My best friend at the school was all involved in it and he convinced me to join in too. A month or so before Christmas a group of children, mainly the new kids to the orphanage, were brought over and introduced to us “spon sors.” We got to choose the child we wanted. I chose a lit tle girl named Virginia, because that is my mother’s name and I thought that rea son enough to select her. The lady from the orphanage who came with them told me Virginia was not a child that talked much or demonstrated affection. It seems she was an abused child. While I was in college my father sent me five dollars a week. That was the money I used to date, buy cokes, etc. Now, five dollars went further back then but it still wasn’t a lot of money. It seemed even less when I saw a doll that I thought Virginia would like - and it cost eleven dollars. Still I managed to scrimp and save and get the money, and get the doll. When the day arrived to give the presents, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if Virginia would like the doll, especially since I had no sis ters and was clueless as to what was “in” for little girls that year. So I was apprehen sive as she unwrapped the box. When she saw what it was her face lit up. She clutched it to her, and then put it aside as she came over and reached up and hugged my neck. I heard the woman who was with them saying to someone. “Well now that’s a surprise!” Then and there I had my epiphany. It was the surprise I had been waiting for all my life. And all it took was giving instead of getting. I hope you got your “sur prise” this Christmas, and I hope it came because you gave as well as received. Open 2ft Hours! Wcp pUmston ptame Memories of Christmases past The room was probably not more than 15 feet by 20 feet and it had in it a dresser, bed, six or eight chairs, and a pot-bellied stove. Linoleum on the floor. Extra wood stacked next to the stove. And, that is where we would gather at Grandma and Papa’s (my Walker Grandparents in Washington County, Georgia) for Christmas. It would be the six in our family, the four in my Aunt Lillian’s family, and Grandma and Papa The talk would be of the rela tives (always of the relatives), other matters of current interest, perhaps a little politics, the past crop year, and of the weather. Then, there might be a discussion of how to spell a particular word, or of what the word meant. Then perhaps a dis cussion of the correct usage of a verb or noun or of a particular word or phrase. My Aunt Lillian had been a school teacher as had my Will you supvive Christmas? A quiz. I’ll admit I had help with this. Thanks to Ndda Tawse for the ini tial inspiration, and to James Tidwell for some of the punch lines. 1. Your mother-in-law looks over the five desserts on the table and says that it’s just not Christmas without mincemeat pie. You (a) point out to her that you began making mincemeat in October, by mincing the meat, apples and raisins according to Martha Stewart’s recipe, and stor ing it in an earthenware crock, and that you are about to begin cutting butter into the flour for a home made latticework pie crust. (b) rush out and get a frozen mincemeat pie (c) say “Mince this!” 2. If you are given one of those clocks that makes bird noises every hour on the hour. You (a) put it in the hall closet to give to someone else next year Top ten reasons - l||# Kefly Burke Houston County District Attorney As we close out this year, I thought I would tell you how grateful I am to be your district attorney by giving you a “Top Ten List.” Top Ten Reasons To Be The District Attorney of Houston County 10. You get to go out on late night calls to meet with undercov er drugs agents who always want to go eat. 9. You get your own parking space at the new courthouse. 8. You get to argue with Public Defender Terry Everett about everything and anything. 7. You get to go to cool confer ences about blood spatter, mecha nisms of death, and post-mortem autopsies (Aren’t all autopsies “post mortem”?) 6. You have the most technical ly advanced DA office in Georgia, in the newest courthouse in Georgia. 5. The county gives you a turkey at Christmas. 4. You have the greatest staff in the world. 3. You get to try murder cases and other violent felonies, which while tragic, always have superb police work behind them and all police resources are instantly available at your call. 2. You work with clerks, bailiffs, security personnel, judges and attorneys who are concerned about serving the public. It is truly a noble calling. 1. You have the opportunity to learn about Houston County from the top to the bottom. It is a wonderful county with so much to offer. The people are what make it best. As always, if you ever have a question about the District Attorney’s Office, please do not hesitate to call or email us. I’m looking for story ideas for the coming year, so if there is any thing you want to know about, let me know. Have a great holiday season and a super 2003! SSfegdy. ■ ’ slhhl Larry Walker Columnist lwalker@whgbc.com father. Mother was sharp on words and correct usage and my Unde Jim, an engineer, was very smart. It seemed to me that they always got the correct answer. Papa never had much to say. He just kept cutting holes in the oranges and supplying them to all the family. Then, he might get up, (b) hang it in a place of honor in your living room (c) hang it from the chandelier and tell everybody it’s a state-of the-art pinata 3. You find yourself beneath the mistletoe with touchy-feel ing Uncle Bubba. You (a) Point out that the mistletoe is artificial and simply there for deco rative purposes. (b) Accept a hug and turn your face in time to be kissed on the back of your head. (c) Use that handy can of pepper spray. 4. Cousin Florinda arrives as a big surprise, bearing gifts. You (a) take one of the dozen pre wrapped Claxton fruitcakes from under the tree, change the tag and hand it over. (c) quickly rewrap the clock that makes bird noises (b) act as if you don’t recognize her 5. Cousin Bob arrives with a half gallon of his homemade scuppemong wine. You (a) Thank him profusely and say you want to save it for New Year’s Eve. (b) Whisper to him that another family member who cannot be named has just joined a twelve-step I NEED TAX CREDITS FOR 2002 Rewmbw Ha P. V. 0. Perry Volunteer Outreach 201 Commerce St , Perry - 218-2274 1 LUNCH f Mon. Fri. 11:30 til 2 Lounge & Banquet Facilities. Reservations Recommended go out the side door and across the dirt road, returning in a short peri od of time with another load of wood for the stove. Then, back to cutting holes in oranges or peeling apples. Someone might ask, 'Papa, what did you get for Christmas?' To which he would probably reply: "A pretty little new nothing." All the while, cutting or peeling. Later in the afternoon, Uncle Jim and I might go squirrel hunting or try to see if we could find a few doves to shoot - or to shoot at (I real ize that you should not end a sen tence with "at," but it sounds so right). I was always intrigued by Daddy’s letting me hunt on Christmas Day when he wouldn’t allow me to hunt on any Sunday - or, for that matter, fish, or go to the movie, or wash the car, etc. But that’s material for another column. When Unde Jim and I went a|? Charlotte Web By Charlotte Perkins cperkms@evansnewspapers.com program and it would be better to leave it in the back of his truck. (c) Break out the styrofoam cups. 6. Everything is ready but the dressing which is for some reason still the consistency of soup. You (a) mix in two packages of Stove- Top (b) add cornstarch and bring to boil (c) put it in bowls, top with Cousin Bob’s homemade scup pemog wine, light with a match and serve as Christmas Chowder Flambe’. 7. Little Clarissa and little Todd begin amusing them selves by stamping chocolate Santa Clauses into your living room rug. Their father is Casual. Citation Joining UJith jA 'Couch of Ctahf UfjfiELlNA’s iTALIAn Cgarpen caf Dl SPECIAL OF THE WEEK 8 oz. Prime Rib 5 11 95 W Includes Baked Potato or Pasta, Famous House Salad & Rolls 1500 Sam Nunn Blvd. at the Quality Inn, Perry, GA (478) 987-9494 hunting, I might have with me the 20-gauge Mossberg bolt-action shotgun that Santa Claus brought me when I was about 12 years old. It was not an expensive shotgun. In fact, it was a very inexpensive gun. But, it is the only gun I have ever owned - and I still own it - with which I shot down four ducks in flight with one shot. If you don’t believe me, ask Perry’s Bobby Tuggle. He saw it when it hap pened. What great memories. What a wonderful way to learn about my family heritage. What abundant and manifested love. What great Christmases from my past. Thanks for the memories. And thanks to you, Papa, for the oranges with holes for sucking and for keep ing us warm while we were making the memories. watching footbalL Their moth er is taking a nap. You (a) Get the little ones together at the kitchen table and teach them how to cut five pointed stars from gold foil (b) Distract them by giving them the bird dock, and a hammer, and asking them if they can set the birdies free. (c) Practice your primal scream. 8. It is 11 p.m. but your sister and brother-in-law cannot leave for home because your nine year old niece has lost Rapunzel Barbie’s right shoe and is weeping, sobbing and shrieking. You (a) Hug Jenny Jo, tell her you feel her pain, and that you will mail it to her the minute you find it. Ob) Have some scuppemong wine and start looking through the vac uum cleaner bag just in case. (c) Offer Jenny Jo S2O, a Claxton fruitcake and a really cute dock if she will stop sniveling and go home. If you must have your score on this, give yourself two points for every (a) answer; five points for every (b) answer, and twelve points for every (c) answer. The more points you get the better you are at surviving Christmas Day! DINNER Mon. - Thurs. 5 til 9:30 Fri.-Sat. 5 tii 10 Closed Sunday & Holidays PAGE 5A