A FRIEND DIES
Wednesday, the 21st of April, 2004, started out like any regular day - as though there really is such - busy with projects meant to make life more like how we want it to be, until my wife and I received a phone call mid-afternoon informing us that a very special friend was at home perhaps suffering from a stroke, and her daughters were trying to reach me for medical advice (I'm an RN). I called their home and after talking for a bit, determined it did sound like a stroke.
You'd have to know our friend to really understand the situation. She has for as long as we've known her practiced a deep form of acceptance. Things were never good or bad - they just were what they were and didn't need our often impotent or ill-understood interventions. We knew only too well she would include this situation in her philosophy, although at this very moment she was ill-equipped to express it. However, earlier that day she had declined her daughters' suggestion to call 911 and requested to stay home to rest.
My wife and I determined to go see her and her daughters to support however we could. By the time we got there things had taken a decided turn for the worse and our friend was having seizures and was totally unconscious. Her beautiful, faithful daughters were faced with the classic bad decision -

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go against their mother's wishes and call 911, or hold to her wishes and forever second guess "what if something could have been done." The decision was made to call 911, and in a very short time the Oglethorpe EMS was there preparing her for transport to Saint Mary's Hospital.
Working as a nurse, I know all too well these situations can quickly develop a life of their own, leading to unwanted circumstances, and this loomed all the more possible given our friend's personal bent in life. However, the EMS technicians listened and truly intuited what the family wanted and didn't want. Once at St. Mary's the emergency room staff responded in a professional and compassionate manner. The CT scan showed what we had suspected - a massive irresolvable inter-cranial hemorrhage.
It was like being in a dream. Here lay our closest friend balanced on the very edge of this world and the next, and yet all we could think of was our friend's wishes to be at home. We pleaded our case with the hospital for taking her home and like the true angels we are constantly surrounded by, St. Mary's staff made that possible.
Our friend's name is?/was? Dell Ratcliffe, and on that ambulance ride back to her farm she did pass from this life with one of her daughters and my wife at her side, surrounded by love. Dell was one of the most private people we've ever known, and yet she has touched the lives of literally thousands of people in our community as a teacher, herbalist, animal communicator, plant rescuer, aromatherapist, nature artist, herbal craftsperson, beader, fabric artist and more. She was a truly creative being who was able to take the smallest events in her life and weave them into beautiful stories. By sharing them with others she generated experiences that became treasured memories for those of us fortunate to have known her.
Dell was wise but humble, steady on her course, but accepting of others, never met anyone who wasn't a friend, and had an enduring love for all things natural. She loved plants and animals and surrounded herself with both. She gave selflessly of her vast knowledge of both, and as a community resource, a deeply devoted mother and an incredible friend, she will be unforgettable and irreplaceable.
We love you Dell, wherever you are.
Rick and Kristina White
Dewey Rose

FALSE PROPHETS
Last night I watched "The Jesus Factor," revealing to what extent President Bush's spiritual beliefs affect his political decisions. I, too, was conditioned as a child to believe in Jesus and in the Christian Bible. As I grew older I began to question conditioning and the resulting divisions it forms between human beings. I read about the bloody history of religious organizations to which man continues to cling and in which he insists on believing because of his conditioning fears and insecurity, arrogance and greed. I visited different churches and studied many doctrines. I read about religions around the world. I found that all were limited by human thought and that unequivocal love was confined merely to the inner circle of each. In honesty, I had to admit that each was formed on the limited beliefs and thoughts of some person or persons. They were not based on the instant and selfless action that can be lived only in the timeless, living present and that arises from a heart undivided by and free of the conditioning of the brain. In this unorganized, living religion there can be no place for "Either you are with me or you are against me." There are no such thoughts and division in such a heart. It is only in a world of such understanding that there can be peace. The genuinely loving person wears no psychological label of any kind. In his heart these divisions are non existent. He is neither Christian nor Jew, Mormon nor whatever. He is of no nation but of all nations of this whole beautiful earth. He "belongs" to no race. Labels are for convenience only.
The Christian Bible is a literal book composed of words. The spiritual understanding must come from the heart of the reader. One must be aware that "The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life." In truth there is no lying and deception, no retaliation, no returning of terrorism for terrorism, no greed for oil and a life lived for pleasure and opulence, no willful destruction of the very necessary health-yielding, natural habitats, no violence upon the innocent, no murder. One is not like Christ when these characteristics are present. Claiming to be like Jesus or any other so-called spiritual being is just imitative, not genuine. It causes one to be hypocritical and self-righteous, and unfortunately capable of very great cruelty as is witnessed in the world now.
Sally Walker
Watkinsville

WHERE WAS BUSH?
On Sunday, April 25, one million people - perhaps the largest single demonstration in the history of this country - marched in Washington, DC to protest attacks on women's reproductive rights. One million. That's how many people came. And how many other millions remained in how many hundreds of thousands of homes, enabling the marchers by taking care of houses, children, pets, jobs?
Why wasn't President Bush there? He should have been standing next to Whoopi Goldberg when she held up a two-cent wire coat hanger, yelling above the din of approval: "This should not be the only option! Never again!" Why didn't the president come outside to meet his constituency face-to-face? President Bush can neither represent nor serve people he won't even acknowledge, will not meet and cannot hear. His absence, which can only be disdain for the public, is a disgrace.
Perhaps he thinks these one million people and the millions more who supported them were just another focus group, like the millions of people who marched and demonstrated against the invasion of Iraq.
Such dismissive neglect from the president is unconscionable. He ought to have stood in humility before one million people from every state in the union, representing every race and religion and more than 1,400 groups whose agendas include civil rights, healthcare, feminism, and the environment.
Any president, but particularly this president, must be obligated - if not by conscience and character, then by law - to face such an assembly.
Where was President Bush? Where were members of the Congress? Their absence is disgraceful. Shame on Bush. Shame on every Senator and Congressperson who did not demand his attendance, nor attend themselves. Shame on us for letting our democracy come to this, for letting the behavioral bar of our public servants be dropped into the sewer.
In November, I hope we care enough about ourselves and our country to elect a new president, one whose arrogance does not daily disgrace the most vital tenet of our democracy: of the people, by the people, for the people.
Robert Rabbin
Mill Valley, CA

THANKS, ATHENS
75 degrees. A perfect April evening. People parked their cars and sauntered towards the center of Athens: College and Washington. I passed a parking garage where colorful bikers registered for a road race. A Charter Communications rep worked a booth and beckoned me to register for a free gift. She smiled and assured me that she also missed the 316 exit on her way to Athens. I smiled back and felt the tension leaving my body.
Young mothers carried little ones toward the music and rides. I settled onto an empty space on a brick ledge. A perfect view of the stage and attractive college co-eds collecting on the scene.
A 30-something male twirled his date and sang, "Oh the 118, drivin' down the 118" in sync with those on-stage. A little boy ditched his hot dog and jumped up to dance. The red-haired guitar player delivered a fiery solo. A college buddy from the crowd whooped loudly in appreciation. A silver-haired man beside me grinned at his silver-haired wife, remembering himself decades ago. The corner of College and Washington. April 23.
A perfect blend: townies young and old and college students. On this occasion it worked. Round tables, comfortable chairs, refreshments from street vendors, quality free musical performances, no lines, no hassles.
For an evening this college town captured the moment. A positive performance for some civic planners. I drove home on 316, humming "The 118" and feeling content. This Athens town delivered a miracle!
Anonymous College Mom
Roswell

SAME NAME
Ever notice how there is a tendency for local businesses (especially bars and clubs) to "recycle" old-school Athens titles? I suppose it all started with "The Last Resort," followed by "Lunch Paper" and "Tasty World." Let's not forget the "Uptown Lounge" or "Flicker."
A brand new bar on Clayton recently opened called "Allgood." Word on the street is that yet another new bar will open in the old "Lunch Paper" space, calling itself "Big Shot."
What's the dang deal? Are we scraping for new ideas? Does anybody out there have a shred of originality left? What's next? "Stitchcraft?" "Tyrone's?" "Club Gaga?" Actually, "Club Gaga" is pretty good!
Sound as ever.
K. Aguar
Athens