Opinion

I have written many columns during my years at the LaFollette Press.

Some have practically written themselves. Others have been a struggle to get anything on paper.

This is one of those columns.

It is hard to write about someone who you admire and love like a sister. The difficulty is not in knowing they will read your words. The problem comes in finding the right words to describe their selflessness and dedication to a cause.

The old saying that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone is one that we all know too well. So often in our lives we think of this famous saying and feel its bitter bite.

Bittersweet too are our memories of the rapidly vanishing East Tennessee way of life we once enjoyed. Soon the witnesses to the pre-mall, pre-asphalt, pre-cell phone, pre-central heat and air, pre-Internet days will be gone forever. Already gone are many of the unique things that made East Tennessee life one of pleasure and contentment.

I am ready to gladly join those who have grown weary of the multitude of campaign signs we are seeing.

While I wholeheartedly support the candidates’ First Amendment right to have the signs and say whatever they want on them-I have grown tired of that right being misused.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech not the freedom to put a campaign sign every 50 feet. As the election has inched closer, the public outcry about the number of signs has gotten louder. I don’t understand how some candidates can say they have yet to hear a complaint.

In the most recent editions of the Press political profiles of candidates in the upcoming election have been published. The hope was to assist voters in making informed choices at the polls.

A vote should stand for something. It should not be cast for a candidate because you went to school with someone or their signs are plastered throughout the county. A vote is an indication that you are confident in a person’s ability to not only lead but to make educated decisions that will benefit the majority of the population.

Everyday is something new and exciting when you have a child. I only wish the time would stop flying by.

My first child seems like a miracle in the way he has blossomed from an awkward newborn to a beautiful boy.

He is the picture

Are we abiding in Christ and looking for His return? This in on my mind so much lately. We need to keep it in our spirit and certainly share with others.

There was a time, not very long ago we never dreamed Christian people would be under attack in America.

Who ever dreamed a federal judge would try to make a rule that a National Day of Prayer would be unconstitutional?

A Friday night meet and greet at the Davis Chapel Community Center saw possibly more candidates attending the event than constituents. With over 100 people vying for an office that was really an easy task to accomplish once you think about it.

Most of the politicians seemed genuinely invested in this community. They also appeared to want it to become more solvent, educated area. Among the issues put on the table were narcotics. Many of the candidates chose to address this as a societal issue as well as a personal one.