Dear Editor,

I received a card back in February of this year. Its first words were: “Your Life Is a Gift.” This morning it dropped out of a book I was reading and those five words got me to thinking. Life is a gift. Our lives are gifts.

One day several years ago, my grandson and I were walking around E.A.R.T.H. Park and enjoyed seeing and doing different things when we came upon a man walking around the park also with his granddaughters. He had one leg and was walking with crutches. We got to talking a while and then my grandson and I continued walking and my grandson said, ‘That poor man,’ I said to him, “no, Caleb, he’s rich man. He is out here in the fresh air walking around this beautiful park with his two granddaughters. I said it again, “he’s rich.’”

“ I’ve been thinking about that today. We all are rich; not monetarily, but we live here in America. For one thing, we are breathing, for another thing, we have beautiful places like Hartselle and Alabama and Decatur and so on. It’s what we make of the life we have. Now my question is: What kind of life will alcohol bring?

We lived in Hartselle several years and we enjoyed living there. We had the opportunity to move into a 2-bedroom apartment at Wesley Acres in Decatur and that was the reason for moving. But I just hate to see alcohol becoming a part of life in Hartselle, a City of Southern Hospitality with blue ribbon schools and wonderful, loving neighbors.

I just picked up a story, or article, written by Brent Maze back in May of this year. He was talking about the Hartselle Tigers baseball team. He was saying “It doesn’t matter whether you are the leadoff batter or the ninth batter, everyone contributes, and that’s the definition of a good team. Everyone does his job for the greater good.”

Like a church sign says this week: Life is not a remote. Get up an change it.”

Please, everyone vote no on alcohol. Life is a gift. Let’s ask and thank God to help us to live this life, a life that would honor and glorify God.

Joan Jenkins