by Roy Exum
posted November 25, 2009
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I AM THANKFUL Calder Willingham, as the Lou Gehrig's disease may seem to be getting worse, is able to watch his countless friends get better and better. That’s the way life really is and Calder himself will tell you – only the very luckiest of men will ever feel such love.
I AM THANKFUL that I was standing in a church not long ago and standing in a place where I could watch one of Bill and Harriett Chipley's daughters sing, "Here I Am Lord." The joy she poured into joining the congregation in praise was absolutely spectacular.
I AM THANKFUL my old truck sure does have a good heater. It "blows cold" in the summertime too.
I AM THANKFUL that when a squirrel committed "critter-cide" on the highway not long ago, there were some big crows that came to peck out some of the fat and that the "animal kingdom" itself renewed my vision that each and every one of us should be an organ donor.
I AM THANKFUL for those who ride on "the short bus" to school and for the way so many physically and mentally challenged kids excel in so many ways. And that I genuinely hurt to my core every time I hear that slur.
I AM THANKFUL for dear ole Luther, WDEF's radio personality who, although he will almost certainly one day not make it to his Morning Show, the beloved rascal will linger in my happiest of hearts forever. With every new day, he extends his record as the longest on-air personality in the whole wide world. What a champ!
I AM THANKFUL for Vanderbilt football coach Bobby Johnson. This year's team was 2-9 but it is universally agreed he is the classiest coach in the SEC and his graduation rate (91 percent) sure counts for something with me.
I AM THANKFUL for a dog's cold nose and the way it feels when it bumps your face every day when you come home. I'm talking about the undisputed fact nothing in the world is as faithful as a dog who knows you love him. And why is it that “rescued dogs” seem to have the most emotion? What’s more, kids who are adopted seem to return love with an intensity nobody can quite explain.
I AM THANKFUL for the tears that ran down my face when I got a simple note from Sam Dowlen, the Signal Mountain scrapper who shattered his back at college this August but who, after being at Shepherd Hospital in Atlanta, wrote me the greatest one-sentence note I have ever received because I know it was written by his hand. What glory!
I AM THANKFUL for that new country-western song, "How Can I Kiss The Lips At Night That Have Been Chewing On My Tail All Day Long?"
I AM THANKFUL for strong antibiotics, toasted almond slivers, oil changes, blooming dogwoods, and, yes sir, when somebody cares enough to give a hug. Who among us can walk down the street, on the foggiest day, and not marvel at the creations that abound in every glance?
I AM THANKFUL when the real delicacies come out with the Thanksgiving feast: creamed hominy and pickled peaches and a dish of spoon bread. A little chutney, I’m telling you, right there with the bread-and-butter pickles. And what's that? An oyster or two in the dressing, just like the Pilgrims ate! That said, it was still a very hungry man indeed who ate the first raw oyster, don't you think?
I AM THANKFUL that Jordan Thomas created such a stir -- and a God sent awareness -- as one of CNN's Heroes. Because of his high-profile exuberance and his deep yearning for others, even the smallest kids who need prosthetics all across America are now getting a second look. Talk about turning scars into stars! (Remember to watch him with Anderson Cooper on the CNN special tonight.)
I AM THANKFUL for the hard-jawed leadership the retired physician Charlie Longer provided the Erlanger Hospital Board of Directors. He wasn't paid a dime for his intensity, his time, or his insight but he did what needed to be done. Proudly too, I might add.
I AM THANKFUL for the way my two buddies, Toby McKenzie and Joe Prebul, have “hung in there” after getting “throwed” in the big rodeo of life. It takes some grit and plunk to get back up and dust your britches off, particularly with so many watching but, just you wait, it doesn’t take long for folks with a stout constitution to climb back on the bucking bronco for yet another ride.
I AM THANKFUL for the fact Florida and Alabama are on track to make next week's SEC Football Championship better than any bowl game could possibly be and, yes, it is time for a playoff system just like it's time for Tennessee grocery stores to sell wine. Without trying to continually make progress we'll never get better.
I AM THANKFUL that when it began to look like hope was lost, Christie Seepe wondered if she could give her husband Ken one of her kidneys. They then found the blood type matched, the DNA matched, and now every time I sit down next to my boy “Slap” and hear his lovable laughter my belief in real-life miracles is restored. Listen, dummy, if you don’t believe in miracles I know some you can touch, trust me.
I AM THANKFUL for the Town of Signal Mountain, voting in a unanimous way to squelch that traffic-camera idea. Give Mayor Bill Lusk and his crowd their due for studying the proposal but traffic cameras are un-American, unethical, under-handed and just plain wrong. We must keep Signal Mtn. as "Mayberry" as we can because it is such warmth that our children will remember the rest of their lives.
I AM THANKFUL every time I see an Emergency Medical Technician anywhere, just wearing the uniform. These people save thousands of lives every year and I loved the fact that when UTC honored those “who serve” at a recent football game, our ever-valiant EMTs proudly walked in the gate free, too.
I AM THANKFUL for the Harley-Davidson engineers who designed motorcycles to carry far more than the machines actually weigh. Not long ago I saw a woman on the back of one wearing her "leathers" and I'll promise, at least three cows had to make a "total commitment" for her costume. On the other hand, she sure did look happy.
I AM THANKFUL for this early-November scene: About 10 days after the World Series ended, I spied a single mother standing on the pitcher's mound of a empty Little League field, pitching one strike after another to her young son with the sure-fire promise that he'll be ready by the time next spring rolls around.
I AM THANKFUL that while the political pendulum now swings far to either side, there are enough of us still in the middle to prove the checks-and-balances to make this country the best it has ever been and for the way the Constitution, written so very long ago, is still our True North.
I AM THANKFUL that the liberal ones in the media, most especially, can't understand why Fox News has overwhelmed CNN, that the conservative pundits are in equal dismay that this country desperately needs a better health system, and that -- locally -- a huge majority still can't grasp such staunch support of "public art" while reading, writing, and arithmetic scores in every public school is still so shameful. How do you explain money for “modern art” when our children go without?
I AM THANKFUL every time I get a hand-written note. With cell phones, texting, “sexting”, emails, and tweeting, nothing will ever take away the grace, the sincerity, or the beauty of a hand-written response.
I AM THANKFUL for those who have graduated -- I don't care if it's from diesel mechanic's school -- and those who are older and have now returned to school to equip themselves with a new heartbeat for the future. I love it when people win, be it in track or politics or the operating room or the courthouse, and I appreciate all those anonymous ones who were "the wind beneath their wings."
Finally, I AM THANKFUL, just as in years past, the Pilgrims found a turkey before they saw a opossum, and that -- get this -- even if only two are gathered, this versus the groaning tables of tomorrow, we can all give thanks for these and oh so many more things.
royexum@aol.com
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