Rough Start
It feels like a rough start to 2020. Comments and arguments on Facebook about the "homeless quilt" in Mobile. A woman posted that Our Southern Souls is a sham. Australia burns, the Methodist church is expected to split over gay marriage, and Mississippi State fired our football coach.
There was a riot, fire, and death of an inmate at Parchman Prison, the only maximum-security prison for men in Mississippi. It is also one of the prisons my dad goes to sharing love and Jesus. This was the fourth inmate killed in Mississippi prisons this week and more were injured while the prisons across the state are under lockdown.
The U.S. killed Iran's Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a possible step towards war. What does that mean?
As usual, the world is better outside of my phone than in it. There was Cindy Hanna cooking breakfast in the house she renovated into her new restaurant in Yazoo City and emotionally telling about her dream coming true after 20 years.
Monica stood in line at Billy's Boudin in Krotz Springs, Louisiana with two handfuls of Now & Laters, a favorite treat for the lady she sits for. Monica has raised more children than she can count, most of them not hers. She now cares for the elderly and finally has time for a few days off and vacations with her husband. They went on their first cruise last year.
After the tornado watches expired and the storms passed through Lafayette, employees at Prejean's restaurant pulled out the clear plastic tubs and started decorating for Mardi Gras. As my boys asked questions about Iran and Iraq it felt good to see the shiny purple, green, and gold. Beads, boas, and an American flag hanging from a fake cypress tree next to a neon gumbo sign are reminders that even during difficult, angry, uncertain times, life goes on.
At the start of this new year, let’s put down our phones and pay attention to the people and life around us. Talk with your restaurant servers or those in front or behind you in line. Listen to someone who has opened a new business or gone after a dream.
So many things pull us apart, but food, conversations face to face, and Mardi Gras brings us back together.
