Everybody said in unison, "NO!"

Gravelly news byG lenna Goodson

A very old pastor lay dying. He sent a message for an Internal Revenue Service Agent and his lawyer to come to the hospital. When they arrived, they were ushered into his room, the pastor held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of his bed. The pastor grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled and stared at the ceiling. For a time no one said anything. Both the IRS agent and lawyer were touched and flattered that the old man would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They also were puzzled because the pastor had never given any indication that he liked either one of them. Finally, the lawyer asked, "Pastor, why did you ask the two of us to come here?"The old pastor mustered all his strength, then said weakly, "Jesus died between two thieves, and that's how I want to go."

Our electricity was off in the Valley Wednesday from 11 am until almost 6 pm. I walked to the postoffice andstopped at Bill Workman's. Mark Wagner was there and I asked what happendd to our electricity.Mark says that two guys drove their small plane into the electric wires past Briggsville.What was bad was I believed that tale that Mark just made up. Mark says," you know I never made a mistake in my life," and I say" Now Mark, and he says,"No, but I have had many learning experiences.

Decoration day will soon be here for Bluffton,Aly and Parks cemeteries. I wish it could be like it was when I was growing up. Mama and Grandma would take bushel baskets and pick the flowers that were blooming in their yards and they both made flowers for the graves., No spending all this money on flowers as we do now.Fred's family, the Goodson;'s and my family, the Oglesbee's and Copeland's are at Park's cemetery and our decoration is always Mother's Day.

I had a dear friend take me to the Podiatrist at Danville Clinic Thursday.Dr. Reel comes from his Russellville office to the Danville clinic on Thursdays. As a diabetic, I have to be careful withg my feet and Dr. Reel cut my toenails and inspected my feet.Since I do not have any feeling behind my toes or my lower feet, Idid not realize that a couple of toe nails had grown so long they were cutting into the flesh. I was impressed with Dr. Reel and plan to see him about every 2 months.I saw Etta Vee Payne in the clinic andshe was also waiting to see Dr. Reel.

I saw Chuck McCool Thursday at Fowlers. He says Fowlers is his "second" office. In the past few daysChuck has sold 4 houses, 3 at Carter Cove and one at Hot Springs. His business is doing well.

Mr. Tommy Metcalf got the water pump in the Cadillac replaced.I am impressed with Mr. Metcalf's knowledge of automobiles and I'm thankful Mickey Austin told me about him. I really appreciate Mickey putting the serpentine belt back on, too.And Bill Workman got my Toyota running. Bless Bill!

I was reading about Rhonda, an 8 year old girl who lived in the country. She and her family were very faithful in their country church. Rhonda went to spend a week with a friend in the city.Sunday came and they went to the Bigtown Church. The ushers wore white matching jackets with tiny , red rosebuds in the lapels. The carpet was so deep andsoft it reminded Rhonda of walking in clover. The choir wore dark blue robes and soft candles glowed on the altar. No one whispered or looked around. Rhonda was afraid she might sneeze or cough..T he organist was seated at the biggest pipe organ Rhonda had ever seen andshe played solemn music that made Rhonda think of a funeral. Then came a marching line of people, consisting of of the pastor;'s staff, a dozen deacons and the choir singing"Holy, Holy, Holy."When the choir, deacons and staff reached their assigned seats, the minister, wearing a robe trimmed with red velvet, entered and made his way up the three steps to the pulpit. At the exact moment the Reverend Doctor Henry Moss reached the third step, the entire congregation, out of habit, stood in respect. The Reverend Moss read the scripture in the most dignified voice you could imagine. At this point little Rhonda was just overwhelmed with it all. She tugged at the sleeve of her friend's mother and whispered, " Beverly, does your minister live here all week or just come down from HEAVEN on Sundays.?"

Our Rover Baptist church had the 5th Sundaysing Sunday night. Anna Jewel Fryar and her friend Jewel Marie Webb were there. I hope they were blessed. Bro. Shipley had said that morning before his sermon that he thought we might ask him to sing at the 5th Sunday sing and everybody said in unison, "NO!" The sing was good. Those that participated were Christopher Light, Emily Shipley, Brenda Turner, Scott Warren and his wife and Emily Shipley, Bethany Light and Johnny andBrenda Turner's granddaughter, performed what iscalled "black Light." The regular lights are turned off and the performers are in black so all you see are their white gloves and white stockings. They "act out" a song and it is so very good.

In writing about angels a 7 year old wrote, "Angels don't eat but they drink Holy milk from cows."