By Peggy Walker 

Before “Today’s Special,” my article was entitled “It’s Friday.” But when The Panolian returned to being a weekly paper with a Wednesday publication date it was no longer Friday. “It’s Wednesday” didn’t have quite the same ring to it so it became “Today’s Special” and my writing day changed to Monday. And it has been ever since.

On one occasion then-editor Rita Howell filled in for me and asked the question, “What Day is it?” I’ve had many days to write about and recently had the occasion to look back over my saved articles.  She told me I could write about anything I wanted to when she invited me to resume the weekly article started when I became an Extension Agent in 1994.  Okay I told her and that was 2011.

I’ve written about everything from avocado and azaleas to zucchini and zoos, with mushrooms, marjoram and mistletoe in the middle. Because any day is a good day for learning, my default article has always been an educational topic, much like the first 13 years of writing as an Extension Agent.

But for these last 11 years, I’ve made it much more personal. And after looking back at my articles this week I realized how lucky I am to have recorded all the major events in my life, so many events that I might have forgotten, detailed accounts of vacations and day trips, plus so much about all the most important people in our lives. Little did I realize that I have been keeping a journal of my life.

Good days. Topics have run from rehearsal suppers to weddings to birth announcements, birthday parties and adventures in babysitting.  I’ve told you about our furry friends and I’ve probably written too much about gardening. But Rita’s words gave me license to write about anything I thought you readers might enjoy from my life.  And, somewhere along the way I learned, too, that writers should write about what they know. That’s all I’ve done. (Ricky Swindle and Johnny Pace you made my day when you commented on the radio last week that reading my articles was like sitting down in the living room and talking with me, thank you. That’s the way I wanted it to be.)

Every day. I loved our 37 years in Batesville and wrote about many local things, from the Polar Express, to Batesville Feed & Seed, to Springfest, the Coon Dog Show, the Bill Lipscomb Memorial Rodeo, and of course, Friday night lights!  I truly miss all these good things and the people that make Batesville such a great place.

Tough days, too. You can’t take the good without the bad. My articles couldn’t always be lighthearted because life is not. So, I’ve shared my sadness too in “obituaries” written in memory of the dearest on earth to us: DW’s mom and his sister Charlene, my mother and our son Nicholas. And not to forget, sweet memories of those special animals which were also family. And for the past two years, DW has faced some scary health issues but today he has a clean bill of health. Life always presents something to write about.

Holidays were always fun to write about. I have worn Thanksgiving out through the years, because it is a big event for us. Together we’ve hidden Easter eggs, grocery shopped, cooked, been on vacation, taken day trips, celebrated anniversaries, tailgated, read books, packed, moved and unpacked.

And then there were recipes, hundreds of them, which I’ve shared over the years.  Recipes from our