Curves. (January 2023 Chair's Column)

Curves.

Late Sunday afternoon, in the twilight of the day in South Bulloch County, I was driving home from a quick trip to the grocery store.  My son Lucas was about to return to Mercer University for the start of his Spring Semester, so I had to get him a few extra things for his apartment – basically, a bunch of processed food and cheese sticks.

As I drove out of the greater Brooklet metro, I began a turn around a big curve just outside of Brooklet, with pine trees and picked cotton on either side of the road and the sun setting in front of me.  I’ve taken that curve hundreds of times, and on this day I thought back to those drives, usually taking the kids to kindergarten or elementary school, or visiting my grandparents.  It’s funny how the simplest things cause nostalgia to grab our hearts and minds. I’m particularly susceptible to sentimentality, as y’all probably know or can tell – GEDA does that for me, too.

But as I look at the calendar at the beginning of another year, I’m reminded that we have the excitement of a new year ahead of us.  In just a couple of weeks, we’ll be coming together at our State Capitol to meet and greet policy makers, women and men who will consider ideas that could have huge impacts on our State and the work that we do.  It’s nice to look wistfully back at the past from time to time, but we have to turn back to the front and drive around that curve, ready to meet and tackle whatever is around it.

I’m so thankful to be serving as your Chair for one more year, and I look forward to seeing you all soon.