Columns

My name is Tammy Weidman and I am running for the one-year term on the City Council. I have been a resident of Grand Saline for 19 years. My family and I moved here from the Metroplex We chose to move here to raise our children so that they would be more than just a number. I wanted everyone to know their name as an individual and for them to have many opportunities for extracurricular activities as well as volunteering. This town offered the quality of life that we sought.

Let’s have a show of hands. At the start of this National Football League (NFL) season, how many of you actually predicted that the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams would be battling Sunday (today) to determine the winner of Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles? Don’t feel bad because I did not pick this matchup either.

Last week First Husband and I drove to Dallas. This was not a pleasure trip, but a doctor’s appointment. He’s a great doctor and I really like him, but I swear, if we have to go back to Dallas again ever I might have to smack somebody.

By the time I completed a dozen trips around the sun, the notion had become ingrained in me that certain possessions were needed; no, were essential; no, were vital for self-actualization as a maturing male. Of course, this ingraining came about primarily through interactions with my school peers but the desire for these possessions was powerfully reinforced by the youth-devoured media of the day — which then included comic books, funny papers, picture shows, and that burgeoning monster called “TV”. And for my core group of mates, the primary possession craved was a BB gun, despite the forceful objections of our parents. And because I was hopelessly immersed in the cowboy culture of the day, my shooting iron had to be a lever-action carbine, like Jimmy Stewart wielded in the movie “Winchester ’73.”

I have a confession to make. I’m still trying to put away our outdoor Christmas décor. It seems that every time I get started, it either rains, or another cold front blows through. Weather in our Lone Star State is always unpredictable, but this time I’m going to wear a jacket and tape an umbrella to my back and do it for sure.

For those who don’t keep up with the news, recently in north Texas, there have been eight school superintendents who have announced they are quitting or retiring immediately or at the end of the school year. According to news outlets, most of the separations were self-initiated and without questions of malfeasance related to the job or the law. The number of exits in a threemonth window is much higher than typical superintendent attrition statistics.