Hi Bill, Dayna, I saw the picture in the paper of dad with the 1958 HHS Girls basketball team he coached. Thanks so much. I think that was his first year in Holdenville from Yeager. Anyway, he’s 96 and hanging in there. His memory is not what it used to be, but he still remembers Holdenville. You know we lost mom to Covid in January, and we really appreciate the graveside service Bill and Dane officiated. I’d like to ask you to let any of dad’s former students or players know that if they’d like to send dad a Christmas card they can send it to:

Whenever I heard the song “I’ll be home for Christmas” I think of my Mom and how she would always get melancholy when the song played. Mom didn’t live near her parents and, after she married, never got to spend Christmas with them. So while I love the song it always makes me feel a little sad. Must be in the DNA.

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…” O Holy Night, a Christmas hymn Are you feeling weary? Out of hope? We all experience times like this but it seems the whole world is weary these days. Covid is a big part of it as is political division and social inequities.

A New Place. A New Christmas.

City Council blocks another nomination Is it Procedure or Politics that concerns them? A councilman resigns and an extremely wellqualified candidate, a graduate of HHS and deep roots in our city asks her councilmember to be considered for the open position. She is not only an outstanding person, but the only one to ask to be considered.

Art exploration for the young and young at heart What does the Thanksgiving holiday bring to mind? If you said family, roast turkey, cranberry sauce, or pumpkin pie, that would likely strike a chord in the minds of most Americans. If asked about the true origin of Thanksgiving, however, the answer might be a matter of greater debate, mixed, mashed, and buttered-up with inaccurate lore.

When my Mom was alive my children would often quiz her about mistakes I made when I was their age. “Tell us about some of the bad stuff dad did when he was a kid” they’d ask. Mom usually tilted her head, smiled and said, “He really never did anything wrong. He was always a good boy.”

I spent my first two years of college in Nashville, TN, which I considered as getting my education in “The South.” But I soon learned that to discover the REAL South, one had to go deeper, like the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, even Virginia and its Western expansion, etc. My Midwestern twang was barely noticed, except maybe from some of the Yankee students from up North.

We received a really nice note from our dear friend and classmate Brenda Lee Griggs this past week. She has always been one of the kindest and sweetest people I have ever known. Every time we receive a call or note from her it is so encouraging and uplifting. The world needs a lot more folks like her….We were having lunch at Rudy Alan’s recently and got to visit with Dorothy Hughes and Linda Shurley. It had been a while since I had seen them, and we had a good visit. Dorothy was our Sunday School teacher for several years before Dayna and I got married. We always tell folks she is the reason we got together. She wanted to know if we were blaming her or praising her! Her husband the late Kenneth Hughes and mother Mrs. Cherry were very good friends and still missed by many of us….Troy Rogers was by the office recently. He says he is retired but I believe he is putting in more hours than ever. I have known him a long time and he always stays busy….I just received a call telling me that my longtime friend and classmate Granville Turner passed away. He was a member of our 1964-65 State Championship football team and one of the nicest people I have ever been around. The Turner family was a blessing to so many of us over the years…Saw my friend George Wood this past week and I always enjoy visiting with him. George was one of the all-time great HHS football players and was also my first banker. He was an officer for People’s State Bank when they opened. It became a great asset to our area…. Had a good visit with my friend Macie Anthony. I found out that he was the Valedictorian of the Hulsey 8 th grade class. He said he knew that for sure because he was the only one in the eighth grade! Macie is so much fun to visit with….It reminds me of when I was on the East Central debate team. We had traveled to Texas for a debate tournament. Our coach, Dr. D.J. Nabors was so proud of us when they posted that our team had won the first two debates. We didn’t have the heart to tell him that the first two teams failed to show and had forfeited! My debate partner and I were proud to have a win no matter how we got it.

Enjoy Freedom and Live With Virtue Here in America, we cherish the concept of freedom and the liberty we enjoy. Among the inalienable rights with which we are endowed by our creator are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.