This is the toughest column I’ve ever had to write, but it’s one I need to do. The past couple of years have been hard on this community. We’ve lost a lot of good people, people that defined Colquitt for the great town it is. Four weeks ago, this hit extra close to home. My mother passed away. We knew the time was coming, but you’re never really ready when it gets here. I’m very thankful for the outpouring of love and support given to my family during this time.

Mama led a good, mostly happy life. She raised her five kids, and when I became a single parent, she helped me raise my three. She loved music and used to play piano for the church. In her later years, she still played for the Jolly Elders. I like to think I inherited some of her talent. Not for piano, but I do play drums every Sunday morning at First Baptist.

She ran our dry cleaners for many years. Probably her favorite story to tell about me was when she left me behind once while delivering clothes. I was around 10 years old. At the Everett home, on the Blakely highway, she dropped me off at the front of the house to take the clothes to the door while she drove to the back to turn around. I was waiting for her and the van at the driveway. As I reached for the door handle, she passed me, turned right onto the highway, and proceeded to head back to town. I don’t remember it as being too funny. Mama, on the other hand, couldn’t tell the story without crying in laughter. What’s so funny about a 10-year-old future mayor running down the center of the highway, waving his arms and screaming?

I also lost my campaign manager. I’ve never liked the politics part of governing and never could get into campaigning for myself. Don’t get me wrong. I like being mayor. I just don’t like politicking. Mama hated to see me criticized in the paper and absolutely despised the “As You See It” column. She always pleaded with me to not run for office. When I ran anyway, she was the one to call friends to make sure they voted for her son. She didn’t want to see me lose.

I guess many of us have questions and sometimes doubts about what awaits us after this world. Mama had been mostly out of it, almost comatose, for many weeks. Three days before she died, she became alert and happy. She was talking up a storm and even singing. She was able to say goodbye to most of her family. That morning, she woke up in a good mood, ate a good breakfast and eased into Heaven. She saw Heaven three days before she died and liked what she saw. I’ll bet she’s playing piano for some Jolly Elders, right now, and it’s sounding pretty good!

You can e-mail me at: candyzar@bellsouth.net, write me at PO Box 276, or fax me at 758-2595. We have council meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. I encourage everyone to attend. If you’d like to address the council, call by the prior Thursday and ask to be put on the agenda. You can also reach me at home at 758-3259 or at City Hall at 758-1004.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Jerry Chapman