What I’m thankful for this year

so I won’t feel so guilty for all the food I will consume at Thanksgiving this year.

In addition to all the food I will consume that day (and yes, I will gain weight, lots and lots of weight), I will also honor and recognize the blessings God has bestowed upon me throughout this past year, because despite the food and the shopping season that begins as soon as the food is digested, the most important part of the holiday is recognizing those things and people for which I’m thankful for.

My job: It’s a stressful job but I wouldn’t trade my job for any other. Where else can a native Calhounian with an inquisitive and “nosy” streak a mile wide use those characteristics to deliver news to her beloved community? Add to that, I don’t just cover and write the news, but I layout the paper each issue, which utilizes my original career of graphic design. It’s perfect despite the people who want to bash me on Facebook for my “inaccurate and biased” reporting (because I know that anything I report on has been fact checked, has been recorded and I have taken every quote off of the recorder and put it into my story). I don’t have the liberty of just pulling quotes and things that happen from the sky; I have to attend meetings, record meetings, conduct interviews, request documents by Open Records Request and pour over incident reports to give our readers accurate news. I love doing that and wouldn’t have it any other way because everything I do I want to do with the highest amount of integrity; I hold myself and my staff to an extreme measure of accountability because I take this job very seriously. I enjoy what I do and am extremely thankful for being blessed with this job.

My Calhoun Times family: When I was a child in Calhoun, one of the highlights of the week was receiving the Wednesday and Saturday editions of the Calhoun Times. For those that don’t know, the Calhoun Times has offered this community news since 1870; that’s 146 years for those doing the math. The Calhoun Times was the pride of the community when I was young and our house was located in a small, older subdivision behind what has always been dubbed as the “new building” of the Calhoun Times, located on Line Street. You would walk into the building to get a paper and there was a huge staff of 50 or so people that worked for the paper. Fast forward to today where there are six people who put out the same two papers each week: three in advertising and three in editorial. It’s no secret that with the introduction of the internet, newspapers worldwide have taken a hit, but the Calhoun Times is still here, chugging along and putting out the same two papers full of local news twice a week. We make it work because of our staff here, and we prove the old adage that you don’t have to be blood related to be family. Billy Steele and Dianne Hall, both in advertising, have been with the company the longest at around 25 years each. They are the foundation of our group because they have the greatest history at the paper and they know how important we are to the community. There’s Danika Trice at the front desk who handles classifieds and bends over backwards to help our small editorial staff with things like typing in calendar events and the Gordon Record. Anything we need, she is instantly there to help take some of the load off of Editorial; it’s not her job but she does it. Then there’s my editorial boys: Sports Editor Alex Farrer and Staff Writer Tyler Serritt. Tyler is our newest addition and has been invaluable covering both news and sports and has a wonderful writing style; and I don’t even have to go into why Alex is invaluable: he’s the best sports editor in the state and I’d put him up against any other one any day of the week. His work ethic and coverage of local high school sports can’t be touched by any other sports editor, and he’s fair in his coverage to all three high schools. Our motto here at the Times is “Work Hard, Play Hard” and all six of us do that each and every day. We take pride in our work and do whatever it takes to get the job done. We are all good friends and are close outside of the office. They support me, they make me laugh, they keep me in check and they love me. I don’t know what I’d do without them and I am so thankful for them and the job they do at the paper, and for their impact in my life.

My family: We have deep roots in the CalhounGordon County area; my parents, aunts and uncles, my brother and I and now my children are all products of Calhoun City Schools; both of my parents actually grew up in Sugar Valley. We are a small family and we are a close family. We have each others’ backs- my poor parents question daily my sanity due to my choice of career but they support me 100 percent and help me in anyway that they can, which usually includes babysitting my youngest while I attend every city council and county commission meeting each month, along with other after-hour events and meetings. The crowning achievements of my life are my three children - one in her second year of college, one in his junior year of high school and one who is rocking second grade. When my husband died a few years ago, my only concern was how my children would get through it, how they would overcome it. Those times proved that love is the way you get through things like that and my children have never suffered from lack of love due to our family; we are a family full of love. My children have made me so proud in how they’ve grown and handled losing their dad, and he would be so proud of them today. I am extremely thankful for my family and as long as I have them, I can handle anything.

My best friend: Everyone has that one person and usually equate it to a spouse; not me, my person is my best friend. She’s the one that finishes my sentences, brings me whatever I need when I don’t even know that I need it, reads my mind and is ahead of anything I’m thinking. She’s supportive without being pushy and tells it like it is whether I want to hear it or not. Her family is my family and viceversa. Even our youngest children are best friends! She makes me laugh until I’m physically hurting inside and we have many wonderful, crazy adventures together. The hashtag for our lives is #YOLO (you only live once) and we aim to live up to that every day. I am forever grateful for her friendship and am thankful for her on Thanksgiving Day as well as every day.

Mi Amigo, Mi Amor: Sometimes things happen that you don’t see coming that end up being a huge blessing. When I was widowed at a relatively young age, I really didn’t know what direction my life would take; all I worried about were three heartbroken children and getting them through it. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into

years. It’s odd how things turn out and how something or someone that you didn’t realize you needed becomes something or someone you can’t imagine living without. I think back to the beginning when a friend became a date and neither one of us had a clue what would happen but it’s been a wild ride and a year later, I wouldn’t trade “my boo” for anything in the world. It came out of nowhere and has blessed me immensely. A man full of integrity who constantly makes me laugh. There was a time I couldn’t imagine a happiness or contentment like that again and God has blessed me with that and more, and for that I’m extremely thankful.

My Lord and Savior: Listed near the end of the list but that of which I’m most thankful, is Jesus Christ and His ability to love and forgive me despite of who I am or what I do. No matter how undeserving of his love I am or how many times I let Him down, He never lets me down and for that I am grateful and thankful.

Our Readers: I am extremely grateful for our readers this Thanksgiving. I love going on Facebook after posting a story and seeing what you guys have to say. I also love when our “regulars” come into the office to hang out and check in on us. We are always going to have haters, but the majority understand we have a job to do and we do it as we should and they are appreciative of us, and I and my staff are appreciative of them.

Our Contributors: I am thankful for our opinion columnists and contributors. On the business side, there is Dewayne Bowen and Joey English who offer readers insight into finances and real estate respectively. There’s Greg Bowman and Allie Griner who offer our Agriculture and 4-H columns each week and we appreciate their insight so muchAg is a huge part of our community. There’s our religion columnists Randy Muse and Jon Mitchell who bring to our readers the hope that is Christ. Our opinion columnists deliver their insights, whether we agree with them or not, and are much appreciated as well. Dick Yarbrough is a precious soul who makes me laugh out loud and think about things going on in the state of Georgia with his columns. Ken Herron offers insight into politics and things going on in the world with a wisdom that is much appreciated. Uncle Billy Davis brings us his musings of his time traveling the world in the military. Then there’s Coach Smith. My face lit up just typing that. Coach Smith is the Calhoun Times biggest fan. He has submitted a column to the paper since 1969. At this time, he submits two opinion pieces each week: one for Sports Editor Alex and one for me. He is dedicated and his writing is from the heart. He cares about our community deeply and his stories of his time (82 years) in Gordon County are one of my favorite parts of the paper. I can’t be remiss in mentioning our photographic contributors Larry Greeson, Frank Crowe and Tim Godbee. These men jump into action anytime we ask them to shoot something and we are so thankful for their time and talent.

It was a long-winded jaunt I took, but there it is, the things I’m most thankful for this year. I hope everyone that reads this column will take the time to count and recognize their blessings, too, because everyone has something to be thankful for. And with that, I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving.