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LEVY COUNTY JOURNAL

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2006

 

YOUR VIEW

Fly Lady’ guide to
holiday gift giving

ast December we replaced school teacher gifts
(three kids times a teacher and an aide, plus the mu-

sic teacher, the art teacher, the enrichment teacher
...) With a single check to the school’s library fund. We sent
thank you notes to the teachers telling them about the gift in
their honor — and the principal asked
the kids to help suggest some pur-
chases for the library. This went over
so well that we did the same thing at
the end of the school year. Thanks for
all you do! — in Virginia.

*Rather than a Christmas / Winter
Holiday gift I often give a Thanks-_
giving present to my daughters teach-
ers. We have a really nice bread store
that makes very gourmet breads. I’ve
given a nicely wrapped loaf of bread
the day before Thanksgiving with
a small note such as: “We are very thankful for the gift of
wonderful teachers” Sincerely,

*Everyone can use extra bread if they are having Thanks-
giving, they can bring the bread if they are going someplace
and since it’s food, definitely not clutter (except maybe on
my hips...but that’s a different issue!)

*As a former child care provider, some of the best gifts I
got from the families I cared for were actually not gifts for
me.......they were gifts for my inhome child care. Some fami-
lies would bring me large lots of construction paper, paints,
playdough, crayons, pencils, gallon jugs of apple juice,
Costco size boxes of crackers, cheerios, juice boxes, large
chunks of cheese, bags of apples and grapes, and sometimes
would even ask(and then purchase) what toy I’ve been really
wanting for the day care. Of course, all of this.is nonclutter
because we used it all!!! :

*] do a lot of baking at Christmas and every year we
give our neighbors a plate with assorted goodies. One older
couple really looks forward to and appreciates them because
she isn’t able to bake like she used to. They have said that
the traditional holiday goodies really make it feel more fes-
tive for them.

*When I was in middle school, our neighbor hood pulled
_ together and painted an elderly neighbor’s house. She was

 

sooo happy ae was 5 16 years ago and I still remember how
wa :

 
  
 

Pee

from’ sidewalks etc. aré wonderful ‘gifts’

See Fly Page 5

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it to either address on the front page.

5) Letters by the same author will be
considered for publication every 21

days.

 

Quote of the Week

“People take different roads seeking
fulfillment and happiness. Just because
they’re not on your road doesn’t mean
they've gotten lost.”

-H. Jackson Brown: Jr.

Pm E COUNTY PAPER «+ EST.

Our Mission

The Levy County Journal is published to serve the people
of Levy County as the leading information source that
empowers the community while never
compromising our principles.

We:

*reflect our community in everything we do.
*provide leadership that contributes to the betterment of
our community,

*record the history of our county and make a difference
in the quality of life for our residents and merchants.
*promote readership of community events that foster
better citizens.

*promote readership of advertising thereby fostering a
healthy economic environment.

‘grabbed the pan and! |

   

~ out the back door.

“Copyrighted Material

syndicated Content

Available from enmera News Providers”,

7

.

hen Williston’s
Jackie West
watches a

Christmas parade, it is with

‘the child-like wonder most

of us can recall from our
youths.

But for Jackie, every day
she wakes up inspires that
kind of wonder because this
woman knows how precious

life is and hdw quickly it can-

be snuffed out.

A few years back, Jackie,
a mother of two, was criti-
cally burned over 65 percent
of her body.

A kitchen fire, started from
a pan of grease left there by
arelative, woke her from a
sound sleep.

Panicking, she
ran into the kitchen,

jattempted to throw it

In doing so, the
flames went higher
and Jackie was
caught in the engulf-
ing fiery inferno.

For three months,
she lay in a coma-
induced state in the
burn unit at Shands
while her body tried to
heal and doctors fought for
her life.

When she awakened,
suddenly it was June, not
the March night when the
tragedy occurred.

Her then two-year-old son,

Willie, didn’t recognize her.

“T was pink all over,” said
the youthful, polite, black
woman.

After a seemingly unend-
ing series of surgeries and

skin grafts, Jackie started her’

own road to recovery. She
learned to walk again and
because of a tracheostomy,
speak again.

Only recently the trach
was removed and her throat,
still inflamed and muscularly
weak, has begun to heal. But
breathing—and walking—are
still difficult and works in
motion.

Jackie wears the dark
black scars that cover her
legs, arms, stomach and
back like a badge of honor
because it reminds her daily

L925 CE
Who We Are
Managing Editor
Carolyn Risner

Office Manager/Chiefland
Robin Heath

Staff Writers
Cassie Journigan
Neal Fisher

Sales Representative/Bronson
Laura Catlow
Tynesetter
Wilma Jean Asbell

 Delivery/Clerical
Rhonda Griffiths

 

 

 

 

JACKIE WEST

:

how blessed she is.

“Tf you had told me I
would be burned in a house
fire and almost died five
years ago, I wouldn’t have
believed it,” she said Friday
as we stood on the street cor-
ner waiting for the Williston

Christmas parade to begin.

I just shook
my head,
amazed.at.the; ;,
grit and, deters, vse
=) mination it must
m have taken—is
taking—to reha-
bilitate herself
and forge on
with life.

Disabled
now, Jackie

can’t work.

She spends her

time caring
for her children, living on’
a fixed budget and enjoy-
ing the small things in life.
Things we too often take for
granted.

Like the involuntary reflex -
of breathing. .

As Jackie pointed out,
most people simply’breathe.
But'she has had to learn to
breathe and is as aware of
the action as much as we are
aware of running a 5K race
when we haven’t trained for
it.

Once the parade be-

' gan, Jackie took her place

alongside her children and

I couldn’t help but notice

the obvious delight on her
face as she watched LaKayla
and Willie scamper for the
candy tossed by those in the
motorcade.

“Thank you,” she called
each and every time some-
one threw a mint or Tootsie
Roll in our direction.

“God bless you. Have a

“merry Christmas.”

_ And then it struck me.

This feeling of why
Cassie chose this particular
week for an Arizona vaca-
tion. Why I had arrived 30
minutes before the parade
started. Why I chose to park
close to the antique store on
the corner. Why I stopped
at the stone table and bench
rather than move closer to .
the street.

I was supposed to be there.
I was supposed to meet
Jackie West. I was supposed
to hear her story.

Why?

Certainly a story such as
this is not the happy, fes-
tive tale one wants to hear at
Christmas.

 

Carolyn Risner

oe.

  

xe |

Its the miraculous time of the year

THINKING OUT Ori is it?

When I
drove to-
ward Bron-
son on 27A,
I couldn’t
help but be
uplifted and
inspired at
one wom-
an’s story.

Jackie West took a bad
chapter in her life and has

_turned it into something

better.

No longer is anything a
given and everything she
sees or does becomes a gift
from the Creator.

Sunrises are more spectac-
ular. Fresh air is incredible
and breathing on your own
ae phenomenal. Children are
smore precious and life is ex-

‘traordinary;'even ifit’s not. | -

And watching a Christmas
parade is a moment captured
in time, evidenced by three
beaming faces captured by a
reporter’s camera on a cold,
dark December night.

There may not be a’score
of presents under Jackie’s
Christmas tree this year,
but there is no doubt that
the gift she and her children
will share is the gift of being
together.

They will laugh. They
will remember and they will
enjoy the day—every minute.
of it.

As I turned to head toward
my car, I extended my hand
and told her how much I

enjoyed talking with her—and |

I meant it.

But as quickly as my hand
went up, it came down and
Jackie and I hugged there on
the main street of Williston.

“God bless you,” we said
in unison. “Have a merry
Christmas.”

Jackie West may not know
it, but she is the best present
I will receive this year.

For through her story and
the remarkable way she han-
dles herself, I was changed.

Her life, her story, her
willingness to share remind-
ed me of the miracles in my
own life—the ones that tend
to get dusty on the shelf of
my memory.

Her fortitude to get up
every day and put one foot in
front of the other inspires me
to look beyond circumstance
and enjoy this moment for
what it is.

I believe in miracles. I
know a few.

And during this Christmas
season, when the greatest
miracle of all came to earth
in the form of a baby, I won’t
forget the gift I was given
and the giver who blessed
me while waiting on a
Christmas parade.

Carolyn Risner is the
managing editor. of the
Levy County Journal.

She may be reached at
editor@levyjournal.com.

No fear
of fiving

flew cross-country
last week. Flying is
always an opportunity
I eagerly await. I love
the chance to bea at an Lauper!
with all qe
kinds of
people
from all
over the
world. I
love going
someplace
different,
seeing
places I’ve
never seen
before.

There is nothing like the
exhilaration of flying. I
love the feel of a jet engine
revving up, and then gaining,
gaining, gaining in speed as
the big bird lifts itself off the
ground.

Wonderful too for me is
chance to take a bird’s-eye
view of our planet. I love
looking down at the land
with its hodge-podge of
city buildings, its orderly
little rows of colored boxes

 

CASSIE JOURNIGAN

Columnist

for homes, and especially

the wild places—the
fields of many colors, the
dark forests, the verdant
mountains and meandering
rivers.

_ This is a big land in which
we live—a very big land. I
don’t much care to spend a
lot of time in cities, andl am ~
always greatly heartened to
see just how much natural
land remains. When I spend
too much time at ground
level viewing cities steadily.
eating away at'‘Ournatural ©"
lands; begin 'to’think there *
will soon be left no trees, no
rivers, no land in which to
roam free.

My plane last week

touched down in the very
big land of the American
Southwest. Wayne and I flew *
to Phoenix to see our son and ©
his girlfriend. The thrill of a

new topography was merely

a byproduct of the visit. But
what a byproduct it was.

‘The city itself was
interesting. It was clean—no
trash littered the streets
or sidewalks. And huge.
Mountains liberally surround
a vast flat valley. Some of
the mountains look like dead
volcanoes. Others are classic
butte shapes. One resembles
an animal so much that
it is named “Camel Back
Mountain.”

Looking at Phoenix with
its areas of urban sprawl
as well as its natural areas
led me to think about Levy
County. Our area is beautiful
in an entirely different way.
Comparing the two led me
to wonder: will Levy too
become plagued by urban
sprawl? I have seen so many
trees felled in recent years.
Real estate signs are up
everywhere, promising huge
tracts of land for sale on
the cheap. I watch building
after building going up as
progress rapidly gobbles up
nature.

I wonder if we will
become another version of
urban sprawl. I hope we will
work at keeping our green
spaces. Maybe I’m just

sentimental, but sociologists,

planners and medical
scientists agree. Research
completed by Amy Zlot,
who works at the Oregon
Department of Human

’ Services, and Tom Schmid

at the Centers for Disease
Control, indicates that people
who live in communities rich
in recreational opportunities
are more fit than those whose
communities offer little or no
park space.

See Cassie Page 5