Opinion

Did you know that in addition to September being the start of the fall season, it is also Fall Prevention Awareness month? Falls can happen to anyone, and this is what happened to me. The worst fall I ever had occurred when I was a sophomore in college.

One thing is clear following the community meeting on Thursday — a significant portion of the community is tired of being burglarized. About 100 people attended the spur-of-themoment meeting, organized by Cassville resident Donnie Stumpff via one Facebook post and on 24 hours notice.

Unintended consequence is a term I have heard many times as a journalist. While it can be used both positively and negatively, it typically is used to explain an unfavorable situation as the result of a newly implemented policy.

While rummaging through my cluttered basement in preparation for an upcoming garage sale, a weighty realization washed over me. What was I planning to do with all of this stuff? It was a wake up reminder of how easily possessions accumulate in our lives.

The present age has sometimes been labeled as “post-modern,” “post-industrial,” “post-literal,” and even “post-scientific.” Although it doesn’t most often arrive in the printed word, in many ways, we live in the age of the narrative. It is easily visible in the way we communicate the weather report.

I broke out my hard hat again last week for an exciting event on the south side of the Cassville High School campus, the official groundbreaking for what I thought was a new pickleball stadium.

Last week I stopped into a Cassville convenience store for a drink and was met with the most common encounter I have with children when it comes to my congenital amputation. For those who do not know me personally or have not seen me in person, I have a congenital (from birth) amputation a few inches below my left elbow.

With September being suicide prevention month and me being one that that has dealt with loss of loved ones, I wanted to write on what needs to be reminded most of all in our schools. I just recently dealt with learning of one of my family members experiencing those hurtful words of,”Why don’t you go kill yourself.” These words was spoken from a child to another.

It’s mid September, and local schools are about to hit the onemonth mark of their school year. Time definitely flies.

As we get older and we begin to watch the next generations change some of the things that we hold dear, we begin to grumble. So often I hear complaint after complaint about where the country is headed and how if things don’t change, we are headed for disaster.