Today's Opinions

I've been kidding myself and anyone else who has asked me in the last month about my son going off to school.

"Ah, it'll be party time at the Barnes's," I feigned. "He's ready. This is what I've raised him for over the last 18 years. He'll be fine. I'll be fine."

Moms, have you made similar statements of denial?

I know there have been many mothers who have forged this trail long before me, and there'll be many more after me. However, this is it for me. My last.

My husband and I are officially "empty nesters."

To the editor:

Last week I lost a friend. Three or four times a week when I would go outside in the evening to water my flowers, he would be there waiting for me. He was funny, charming, beautiful, a flirt, and a bit of a moocher.

I would put my watering can down and go back into the house to get him a treat. He waited on the sidewalk for me and, sometimes performed a few tricks for me. He always made me smile. Then he walked beside me to his bowl for a treat. I looked forward to seeing him. He belonged to my neighbors and his name was Buddy.

To the editor:

As a truck driver, I wonder how a city or state can claim a bridge unsafe. If the U.S. 27 bridge over the railroad tracks on the north end of town is now said to be a 15 ton bridge, where are the DETOUR signs? Where are the signs stating that this bridge is unsafe for trucks?