Historical April–May 2020 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Leave it to me, and the Skinker-DeBalivere Times to have milestone birthdays in the midst of a worldwide crisis, and I wish I meant the 2020 Presidential election.
With all the angst, and uncertainty engulfing our lives, I was tempted to write an obituary, instead of a column.
But like the Times, I have faith in Mankind, so we press on.
The Skinker DeBalivere Times turns fifty this year, and I’ll be sixty on June 8th, just in time for opening day of the baseball season. What has been said before remains true today; hope springs eternal in the human breast. Being a columnist for the Times is the ultimate act of self quarantining.
I sit at the keyboard alone, accompanied only by my thoughts, which I scrub often, and try to keep clean. I’ve never had a problem with social distancing; the only question being, is it me, or them, keeping the distance? Since I’ve started writing the column, I think the question has been answered.
The Times and I were born in the crucible of conflict and change.
The old guard gave way to a new generation, unimpressed with the status quo. Wars, riots and corruption altered the landscape of our society.
A generation born with the notion that all men and women should have an even chance grew up in an age of possibility. Honestly, that last statement might only apply to the Skinker-DeBalivere Times. Like Peter Pan, I peaked when I was eight, but I married well and caught the last ship out of Neverland. One of us can be proud to have served their community for the last fifty years.
The other one is proud to have snagged a 24 pack of soft, squeezable Charmin at Target. One of us has eloquently chronicled the history of our community, and the lives of its people.
The other one wrote a letter trying to get out of jury duty. One of us is forging ahead, confronting uncertainty, confident in its expression, and comfortable with its past.
The other one colors their hair, and wears sweat pants all the time. I’m pretty sure you can figure out who is who, but I’ll give you a hint. I’m wearing sweat pants right now. What the Skinker-DeBalivere Times does so wonderfully is to bind our community together.
I think of it as the thread that stitches the different patches into one beautiful quilt. I’ve only been a columnist for about three years, but five times a year I’ve felt the needle as I’m staring at a deadline and a blank page.
I think that’s worth celebrating.
I pray the storm will soon pass, and a rainbow will lead us to a bright future.
We may run out of that 24 pack of Charmin, but we’ll always have the Skinker-DeBalivere Times. Happy birthday Skinker-Debalivere Times and me (June, 8th)!
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April–May 2020.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2020_04.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
