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THE JOURNEY / 2015 WINTER
THE $6,000
Pinhole Dr. Ray Russell President, RaysWeather.com
Follow-up to the Summer 2015 Edition
I
was honored to be a part of the Summer, 2015 edition of The Journey Magazine. Countless people have commented about the article. It was a story about me that few people in Boone knew, but one I wanted to tell. Many thanks go to Ben Cox for carefully crafting the article and to his staff for the photography and production. And thanks for the hundreds of kind words that have come from so many. For several days, I could not go anywhere in the area without someone I did not know stopping me to say they enjoyed the article. As a follow-up, Rhonda and I returned to Ashland, MS, last summer for a brief visit. It was the first return since we left in 1980. We visited two couples who were among our best friends there. Wow, had they become old! We remembered good times, and a few not so good events. All three families had been through so much in 35 years, but
both of the other couples are now grandparents in strong, extended Christian families. These two men were my close friends in Ashland. One had been a church elder for many years, and the other had been a State Senator in Mississippi for 12 years. Upon retirement from the State Senate, his closest election was decided by a 65%-35% vote. He was beloved in his community and district for being an uncharacteristically honest and independent voice in Jackson, Mississippi (not surprisingly, this angered both political parties!). I felt honored to have been a part of both of their lives. The visit this summer vindicated a difficult time for me, when I was a 23-year-old minister in a tiny, poor, southern town. More Stories to Tell I’m a storyteller at heart, looking for meaning in the mundane. I was thrilled that The Journey asked me to contribute an article in the Summer 2015 issue. So here’s another story… As many know, Rhonda and I had a wild idea to move from Boone, NC, to Abilene, TX, in 2001. Abilene was nice enough; we made good friends; we could have finished our careers there. But the draw of cool air, lush mountains, and friends in Boone brought us back in 2002.
