First of all, it was a great day to be in Hickman County on Christmas Day. For the past two and a half years, I have called Centerville----a town that I had visited many times in the past---home. I love it, for a lot of reasons. But, sometimes I will also express my frustration that there is no Wal-Mart here, but that's another blog post. What happened here on Christmas was very cool. Several of the local Churches banded together to present a Community Christmas Dinner at Hickman Middle School.The spread was impressive, and everyone involved did a great job, but what impressed me was the diverse group of people represented while we were there. There were several young people, like us, who just might not have had a huge family in town. Older folks, who for whatever reason, didn't have a lot of people coming in for the holidays. There were even a couple of gypsies there, and several volunteers who were inmates of the Hickman County Jail. You know what? Nobody looked down on anyone, and everyone got along. Maybe it was the magic of the season, but it was well worth the drive into town. This has been going on for a few years in the town that Miss Minnie helped to promote, and everyone...town leaders, Baptist, Methodist, Church Of Christ, whoever...are to be commended! Though Centerville doesn't have a Wal-Mart, it still has that Mayberry feeling that I remember growing up....
And, as the late Paul Harvey would say....the rest of the story. If, somewhere around Burns, TN, there is a dog eating T-Bone steak tonight, one best not think anything about it. There's a big celebration going on.
Around 5pm yesterday, my phone rang. It was my father, and he had some distressing news for me. "Jack," the pug dog that belongs to him and his wife Marcia (technically my step-mother, but I hate that word), had mysteriously turned up missing that day. The dog is a rescue dog, and hadn't really bonded with anyone that much besides them, so it was a mystery how he got out. But reason aside, he was gone...and there wasn't a trace. Daddy had looked all over the metropolitan Burns area, and found nothing....I drove over and looked around myself, and didn't find him, either.
Needless to say, Marcia was quite distraught, and I can't say that I blame her. As someone who has always had a soft place in my heart for animals, I truly believe that "All Dogs (and Cats, now!) Go To Heaven." I left Burns last night with a heavy heart, knowing full well what the odds were.
But, wait just a second....This story has a happy ending. This morning, just a few miles from home, "Jack" was found...tired, a little hungry....but very much in health. I, and a few others, had put out a e-mail chain about him, and I just wanted to use this forum to tell you that he's OK. And, if he wanted a couple of T-Bone's tonight....Well, I know a woman who is not going to have a problem with that..
Happy Holidays!
Chuck
