Your favorite columns of 2022
The last column of the year. So many thoughts running through my head. It’s hard to know where to begin. I’ll just get on with it.
Christmas was one of the best, if not the best, I can remember. Mom gave my brother and I a book about her life. In her words, she wrote about family, faith, and how she felt about many things in. Reading it almost felt like an invasion of her privacy. Her writing was hands down better than anything I’ve ever written. The book is one my most treasured possessions. I hope to pass it down for generations to come.
The only way I track which columns you like, or don’t like, is through the number of likes and comments on Facebook. It isn’t an exact science, but it’s all I’ve got. I went back to the beginning of 2022 and counted each week’s numbers from the first unto the last. When I say this column is yours, it’s true. I’m going to recall the top six, which your likes and comments, tell me your favorites.
Out of 52 columns, the sixth most liked, with 205 likes, was the column in which I wrote a letter to my Daddy. I guess everyone who has lost a parent could relate. Daddy never knew I had a column. I wish he was here to share it. He would been my harshest critic and one of my biggest supporters I suppose. He loved Lewis Grizzard. So, did I. And yes, I do know I’m no Lewis Grizzard. If I didn’t, I literally had a man stop me once to tell me while he enjoyed my column, I was no Lewis Grizzard. People are mean.
Your fifth favorite, with 209 likes, was a column about the stigma associated with mental illness. People, and employers, talk a good game when it comes to encouraging people to come forward when they have a problem. Most don’t come forward and with good reason. People and employers aren’t exactly truthful in their encouragement. In many instances, coming forward ends up with being labeled crazy and seen as a liability. If me saying that offends you, you’re part of the problem. It’s true. I lost two good friends, Sonny Age and Wes Jones to mental illness. The sun shines a little less bright since they passed.
There was a tie for third and fourth with two columns which each got 210 likes. The first I will mention is one I wrote about my late friend, David Tinsley. David, born Down Syndrome.
Of all the people in the world I have ever known, he loved the Lord as much as anyone. Every time he stood to testify with one hand over his heart and a finger pointed toward heaven, I wanted to shout. Some often did. He loved people despite their sins. A lesson for us all. The column also mentioned my friend, Matthew Taylor. If you know Matthew, you love him.
The other column with 210 likes was one about not being ashamed of where we come
from. It talked about how God often sends angels on earth to help us when He sees we have a need. While I won’t go back into the details of each situation, I will tell you the ones God sent to me mentioned in the column. Joe Dowda, Trammell Rhodes, and Tom, Shirley, and Hall Fowler, all helped me at various times in my life. When I really needed it. They all did so without making me feel ashamed. I’ve tried to pay it forward.
In second place, with 266 likes, was the story of a man named William Watkins. William had a hard life. He had a harder death. William was found murdered on the banks of the Etowah River. He was not a man known for changing a community. But he did. He worked odd jobs to scrape by. He looked like a man life had beat up. But he was a good man. Those who knew him loved him. Two of my friends, Pastor Gary Lamb and Hank Edge, gave him the funeral he deserved in front of a packed house. I love our community.
Your most liked column, with 316 likes, was one about the community contributions of
Ray and Paula DeLuca. The DeLuca family may have originated up north, but their heart and home are all Canton. Time won’t permit me to rehash all the great things Ray and Paula have done to better our community, but there are many. Along with the rest of the DeLuca family. I love them all. Many of you obviously do too. Ray and I work together almost daily. So, I can say this. You can’t. When he married Paula, he married up.
This is my 555th column. Thank you for sharing them with me. I hope God allows me to live long enough to do many more. With your help, it just might happen. Happy New Year my friends!