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Behold, I have been given another Christmas! Fran completed another cross-stitched picture to be featured on our Christmas cards. It shows a red pickup truck with a Christmas tree aboard. It is too bad that Casey Day is no longer among us to see this memorialization—he was always driving his red pickup whenever we saw him.

Son Thomas brought his boyhood friend Claude down to visit, and Chef Thomas prepared a fine breakfast for us. Daughter Sharon later called and we talked with her and her family. Grandkids Taylor and Austin were home for the holidays.

Fran’s brother Terry and wife Nancy also phoned in to make our family celebration complete. It is certainly a blessing to have Bell’s invention available to make such family gatherings possible when folks are widely dispersed around our great country! 

Friend Larry Hodge called to say that Bill Dimsdale has died. He always sat between his wife Noreen and mother, Dot. He was an amiable, friendly sort, who greeted us all with a disarming smile. His diabetes had robbed him of one lower leg; he was fitted with an appliance that included a foot. He will definitely be missed!

Word has come to us of the loss of a former Columbus Lion who was also a practicing dentist: Dr. Charles (Chuck) Hunnicutt. He and wife Dee were members of First Baptist Church, but they lived near Greenville, South Carolina, since he was in an office there some of the time. They had moved back and forth several times when I was last in touch. 

Chuck had served in the Air Force, so we had that in common. I believe he served in a fighter group in Alaska, but I cannot remember the details. I always enjoyed chats with Chuck, always accompanied by a big grin on his part. 

I am writing this on Epiphany, so we have just taken down our Christmas trees. The A-frame one with lights was clamped to the banister in the breezeway, visible to anyone coming up the street from the dining hall. It is similar to one I put on our dock every year in Hampton, Virginia. It looks like a tree only at night . . . A few people express their appreciation for it each year.

Cold (below freezing) and ice were forecast, so I did not go to Bojangles this morning. Friend Larry Hodge said that only about half the usual folks showed up. I hope I get to go next Saturday, since I have not been since last year! I am recovering slowly from my bronchitis . . . I have taken all the extra pills the hospital Doctor prescribed, and they have rid me of the hacking coughing spells.

The Tryon Daily Bulletin noted the passing of Linda Lee Reynolds. I had a nice long visit with her when she was hospitalized last year. We always enjoyed seeing her come forward to play her big ol’ string bass at the Community Chorus concerts. When I told her that we could hear her, she asked about wrong notes, since she played without a score. I assured her that I had not heard any wrong notes!

Linda Lee was also President of the Chorus, and sang in the Tryon Presbyterian Church choir. She will definitely be missed by a lot of people, including me.

We often visited the San Diego Zoo when we lived there for four years. Now we watch it on the Animal Planet channel, as we really enjoying seeing their animals “up close and personal.” The internet offers a huge window on the entire world!        

Garland would like to hear from you at 828-859-7041 or garlandgoodwin7@gmail.com