Joe Rector

By Joe Rector joerector@comcast.net We all woke up this morning hoping that the news wasn’t true, that we’d just had a bad dream. However, with the sunlight came the realization that Dolly Parton is gone. Just like it was hard to believe that she was 80, the fact that the world has lost a shining star became a reality. For those of us here in East Tennessee, the news that our favorite person is gone stings almost too much to bear.

By Joe Rector Once upon a time, a little boy was born into two families as their first grandchild. Of course, those grandparents doted on the little boy and showered him with enough love and gifts until he needed nothing. His wise parents lived in a different city and made sure that visits were limited so that they had time to become a family and develop a life for themselves. When he became a toddler, each set of grandparents was allowed to spend time with him.

By Joe Rector I swore that Saturday morning would be the time I slept in and took the entire day easy. I hate it when I lie to myself like that. Amy had signed up to help our church, Beaver Ridge United Methodist, the church at the red light in Karns, distribute bags at the middle school. What we all forget is that many children return to school with a sense of doom.