Welcome to another issue of “What we did, and conversely, what we should have done in retrospect”. (Big thoughts for a Georgia Tech drop out).
At present you would find me whiling away the days attempting to finish a beautiful bank (this is for the clients benefit) situated in Cartersville, GA. The Bank President, Mike, gave me the nickel tour around Cartersville when I first started the job, and the highlight of the tour was a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that resembles a farm feed depot from the outside. The screen on the front door is half missing and there’s no worry about catching your hand in the door because they are so worn from use that they never touch. The atmosphere is pure home town, like something out of a southern Norman Rockwell background. The waitress knows us by sight and now brings the teas automatically and says “What’ll-it-be-today?” She knows I want cornbread and Ron (my assistant) wants his biscuit. One item on the breakfast menu that says it all is Country ham and right below it is City ham. My waistline if you could see me would testify to my love of this Southern Phenomenon. I digress, the job will be over at the end of January and the talk is I may get to stay close to home and do another bank in the Duluth area, we’ll see.
Now, on to the doins around the kinfolk. Our family was lucky to spend one last Christmas with my mom last year and then she was on to resume her place next to Dad. Our sorrows were for ourselves and the emptiness we felt and will always feel. I speak for all our family when I say that we had the greatest teachers of how life should be lived, not just on Sundays, but every hour of every day. God just thought he had the Best Superintendent and Carpenter. How He has the whole project team…. THE BEST!!!! We laborers and apprentices will be on in time to help out.
My Susan is still working her one paying job in Ellijay at a medical office and her hundred or so non-paying jobs at home. She has been working very had at cleaning up my parents place and trying to get it ready for our kin and family to spend Christmas Eve at the parents again, as has been family tradition. It’s looking real good. Mom, forgive us for givin away all your cloth and material, but believe me, we probably clothed a whole lot of grateful people this year thanks to your collection.
Melissa and Andy have decided they still care about each other, but want to see a little more of that world we told them was out there. Andy and the kids are here in Ellijay now, with Andy working hard at the family restaurant. The kids get to come out and visit and we sure do love having them. I’m getting a camper so we can take them camping next spring. Should have some good stories for you next Christmas. Melissa is over in Charleston sharing house duties with her companion Keith and his two girls, who are cute as can be. They’ll all be down for Christmas with us we hope. Should be a regular circus around here. Wouldn’t have it any other way, it’s the spice of life….family.
Our “Special” Carrie lived up to our expectations again and was up for the Homecoming Queen this year, her Senior year. She didn’t win, and I’m afraid it might have had something to do with her escort. My Cheshire cat grin was so big and the glow of pride so obvious it caused the judges to think I was recently almost released from a funny farm and didn’t want to get me real excited by Carrie winning. They figured if she won I might bust with pride. Oh well, I didn’t quite bust. Carrie is goin to Appalachian Tech part time while she finishes High School and will continue there next year, majoring in business. She’s also working part time at Susan’s job (the paying one).
Susan’s Mom has moved up from Florida and is going to set up homekeeping in the spot I’ve cleared out behind ours. Glad to have her up to enjoy the grandkids and their antics. Hopefully her first winter back up here in the hills will be a moderate one with no major ice storms or deep snows. Maybe she’ll get used to our southern accents again after being down there in southern New York.
Hopefully this greeting finds you all ready for the Y2K with plenty of firewood, bottled water and Pop (Coke to us down here). I’ve stocked up on popcorn, peanuts and have a generator to run the TV and the Satellite dish and DVD player. The essentials for survival. I’ve asked Santa to bring me time off with pay to enjoy all these “essentials”. We’ll see!
Once again I make my annual offer to any of y’all venturing to this part of the country to come stay awhile… Susan looks like she needs help with all those non-paying jobs around here. Have gotten some surprising e-mails from some of you and I have promptly entered your e-mail address at every spam mail site I could log onto without giving a credit card number or promising to buy six adult videos over the next thirty days. No thanks are necessary, my joy to help you lonely people out.
Have a very, very merry and warm Christmas and on New years Eve night as we watch The Immortal Dick Clark, we here on Burnt Mountain will raise our bottles, toast the past and tempt the future to spend it with all of you here with us in body, or spirit.
Your friends and family here thinking of you,
Buddy, Susan, Carrie, Alex (dog person), Tigger, Maggie, Misty and Tom (felines and felons)
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