It promises to be a little bittersweet for me, this one
does. For the first time in over 20 years, my first move won’t be to find my
niece, the late Candy Jones. She always represented her firm in the exhibition hall
and we would enjoy greetings and visiting mutual friends. Right now, I can hear
her yelling to her friends, “Ya’ll come over here and meet my uncle.” Cancer
ended her career earlier this year and there will be a great hole in things
this week.
That sums up the joy of these conferences to me. For nearly
three days, I greet and visit with a subset of the finest individuals in the
world. Oh, and I visit with some ghosts, as well. Some are real ghosts, who’ve
left this life. Some are just memories of friends moved into other careers,
other endeavors, or just a well-deserved retirement. In all, our state has been
lucky to call these people its servants.
Oh, and the League staff. Let’s not forget them. What a crew
of talented professionals. They even extend to me the courtesy of being an associate.
They could just as easily think of me as the crazy old uncle that drifts through
from time to time mumbling war stories.
I’ll report later on anything interesting, like the time
former Forrest City Mayor, and minor legend, Danny Ferguson and I were standing
at the edge of things watching the crowd. He turns to me and says, “Remember
when we use to stand here and say, ‘Look at all them old goats’ and laugh?”
“Yeah,” I said, half-listening.
“Know what?”
“What?”
“We are the old goats now.”
“So, this old goat is headed to be with a group I proudly
call friends: the public servants of our state. It’s not easy serving in office
these days, and there certainly isn’t any great profit in it. They do it out of
a sense of duty, a love of their cities, and a feeling of obligation to a great
state and country.
These are things that old goats appreciate more than most.
See yah.
 |
| Friends like these folks from Twin Groves, Arkansas. I get paid to go visit them. |
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