Columns/Opinions

The Office of the Attorney General is grateful to service members and their families for the sacrifices they make each day to serve and protect our nation. Duties associated with a parent’s military service can complicate the child support process. Dep l oyments, frequent relocations and income fluctuations when called to duty make it difficult for parents to provide the emotional and financial support their children need and deserve. These and other factors can take a heavy toll on veteran and military family life and compound child support or parenting time issues.

The past couple of years we’ve (Roy and I) have really had some woes when it comes to illnesses. He’s beenplagued with heart problems and diabetes issues and I hadback surgery. But over the past four months, he’s been at the house nursing a diabetic ulcer I don’t wish on anyone. It has been a vicious problem – even for folks with Type II diabetes. I would like to post a picture, but it’s pretty gross so I’ll just let your imagination run wild.

I thought I would share our problem since it’s American Diabetes Month. If one person reads this column and comprehends what I have to say, then it will be worth it. The first suggestion is to listen to your doctors. I know - shoulda, coulda, woulda. I’m telling you folks – this is not an illness I would wish on my worst enemy.

Wars have come and gone over the course of time, and people who fought in them, sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Veterans Day should be everyday. Not just one day of the year, but in our minds we should keep the spirit of Veteran’s Day alive all throughout the year. I had the pleasure of speaking with two men last week who are Veterans.

They brought their strength and courage to the table as young men eager to serve their country. Today they serve as a reminder of the sacrifices that were made to protect our great nation. Those two men, are Mr. Lyman Bankard and Mr. Tim Smith of Daingerfield. Mr. Smith gently reminded me of what a Veteran truly is. Their heroism cannot go unnoticed, because at any time like many men before and after them, there was a chance that they would not return home.

There’s something going around called Ebola… ever heard of it? I, like many of you, am sick of hearing about it. But, I thought about something over the weekend; is this Ebola thing being used as a political tool? With good reason, Americans are deeply confused about the risks of Ebola. It is a frightening disease, made more so by dueling theories about how best to deal with people arriving from West Africa and by wildly different messages — based partly on erroneous information given out by New York City officials — about whether the doctor who returned to New York from treating patients in Guinea and came down with the disease was or was not a danger to others when he moved around the city. 

Dear Mom,

It’s been 17 years since your death and I just feel the need to write you this letter. It’s your favorite season of theyear with Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching. You would already have all of your Christmas packages bought and hidden around the house by now; but, for me, I’ll start about Dec. 15. Despite life throwing us a few curve balls over health issues the past couple of years, things are going as well as can be expected. I’ve tried to work it out as best as I can, but it might make me feel better to talk to you and a “few of my very special friends.” I say a “few of my friends” because I’m still in the newspaper business and I thought some of the younger readers, my age and younger, might benefit from what I need to say.

My friends and I have a text message group that we always text each other in when we want to talk during the day. It saves each of us a lot of time from texting each other individually. There are no rocket scientists in this group; it’s comprised of me, Stephen Hutchison, Eric Winchester, Seth Moore, Allen Harris, Joel Studele, and Chris Johns. One of my favorite ways to annoy about half of the group, who doesn’t watch football, (I know and they call themselves men) is to text “THE DALLAS COWBOYS” about 30 times in a row and blow everyone’s phone up. I can just imagine Eric trying to sell a tractor and his phone just buzzing away and by the time everybody tells me to shut up, I’m in tears from laughter. Well, you can bet that last Sunday, when the Cowboys beat the defending Superbowl champions, I was on cloud 99.

city limits

by Debbie Knox

Dear Editor:

Pioneer Days Third Annual Health Fair was a success. That would not have been possible without the generosity of Emmanuel Baptist Church, the corporate sponsorship of ETMC-Pittsburg, the participation of 36 vendors and the important information shared, along with awesome door prizes contributed. 

Increasing public awareness of health issues along with solutions for addressing them is a common mission shared by those in attendance.