Straight From The Hart

  In June 2021 I received a call from Kenny Howe telling me I had been chosen as an Honoree to be placed on the Wall of Honor at the Civic Center in November of that year.  I couldn't imagine why because I'm not a teacher or a builder or doctor or business owner, etc - the kind of things most people on the Wall are honored for.  The Chamber of Commerce just told me to submit notes about my life similar to what I would use when preparing a job resume and they would take care of the rest.  So the following is what I prepared and submitted.  PERSONAL I was born in 1943 in Lebanon and graduated from LHS in 1961. My ancestors on both my maternal and paternal sides go back over 5 generations in Laclede and Dallas County, which is also true of my husband’s family.   In 1963 I married my school and church sweetheart Milan Hart. Our daughter, Mila, who was born in 1969, is married to Terry Moore.  We have two granddaughters, Mikayla and Lorna Moore.  They live in Jefferson City. My husb

  THE TASTES OF SUMMER Tender green onion blades,  tipped at the end With a white marble bulb, their flavors do blend With soup or a sandwich, I do recommend For these are the tastes of summer. Cucumbers growing green, awaiting their turn For slicing with vinegar and sugar, I yearn So cool and refreshing, my praises they earn These too are the tastes of summer. Sun ripened tomatoes, So juicy and sweet A smidgeon of salt, such a heavenly treat Just thinking of them makes my heart skip a beat A favorite taste of summer. Hot corn on the cob with the tantalizing name Of peaches and cream, it’s in my hall of fame From one end to the other of the cob I exclaim That this is the true taste of summer. Green beans, new potatoes, cooked up in a pan Just simmering slowly all day is my plan Some salt, bacon drippings, there’s no better than The taste of fresh beans in the summer. Green lettuce wilted down with some crisp bacon bits Add some vinegar, a little sugar, it’s always a hit I have to admit

  In the course of my research on a website by the American Intercontinental University, I found interesting information in one of John Adams’ letters to a Timothy Pickering responding to Pickering’s questions about the writing of the Declaration. That’s when I picked up on a comment made by Adams when he reflected on his critique of the Declaration when Thomas Jefferson showed him his original draft. Adams wrote: “I was delighted with its high tone and the flights of oratory with which it abounded, especially that concerning Negro slavery, which, though I knew his Southern brethren would never suffer to pass in Congress, I certainly never would oppose.” That passage certainly made my ears perk up because I had never before seen a reference to a passage regarding slavery in the Declaration of Independence. My research Kthen led me to a website called BlackPast.org where I found the passage written by Jefferson in his original draft, but which indeed had been removed from the final

  Do you remember the old Red Foley country hymn.....Well I’m tired and so weary but I must travel on....? This is how I have felt for days. Physically, yes because I’m not able to sleep in my bed, and have to nap as best I can in my recliner, so my body is thoroughly exhausted. But it’s more than that. It is a mental fatigue, and an emotional fatigue. And yes even a spiritual fatigue. I’m tired of all the fussing and fighting on television and Facebook and even in the print media when you try to read it. I don’t know who to believe anymore. The Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blame the Democrats. We are so fractured as a nation.  The races are divided.  The generations are fighting each other.  Parents and schools are at war.  There are so many cultural and lifestyle  arguments.  Crime is rampant.  We need to get together and save our republic. Benjamin Franklin wondered aloud if we would be able to keep it.  These days I am wondering the same. Our monuments and st