December 6, 2007 by debbie.

The unthinkable happened in our quiet little community of Jackson, MO.  Actually this murder happened about 2 blocks from our secure little home….almost in my backyard.  That’s too close for comfort!  Who would have thought it!  This sleepy little community is like Mayberry, USA, on the weekend, the business district (pretty much one block) rolls the sidewalks up at noon, forcing everyone to either shop at the super WalMart or go to Cape Girardeau, MO. Many times people still leave their front doors unlocked, kids play outside unattended, spring, summer & fall sees families picnicking in the park.  This peace was all shattered, Monday, December 3, 2007.  All the details have not yet been revealed, but it seems an exparte order had been filed against a husband and he could not deal with it, so a couple of hours later he shot his wife, her 16 yr old son, and their 2 other children, one 4 yrs and the other a toddler, he then killed himself.  The toddler was dead at the scene, the mother fled to the sheriff’s office for help, the 16 yr old died about 2 days later.  At this point in time the mother and 4 yr old have survived. 

My opinion has always been if someone is in such a rage then just kill themselves and end their apparent misery……do not take innocent children down with them!  What a waste of our precious young people. 

I am a real estate professional, because of this, I am constantly asked if a particular area is a “safe place to live”.  Legally I cannot answer that, I have to direct prospective clients to statistics so they can arrive at their own opinion. 

I am still happy to say that Jackson, MO, is not a violent community.  Yes, there are occasionally violent happenings, but they are truly a rarity.  Unfortunately as time progresses all things change and history repeats itself, however, it would be a wonderful thing to be able to cling to sanity, even if it’s for a few fleeting years!

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August 28, 2007 by debbie.

I just have a express some feelings about our local Cape County Transit.  We take care of my 86 year old mother and she has thoroughly enjoyed using the transit to commute to Dr. appts & exercises classes.  She currently lives in Jackson, but needs to get to Cape for most activities.  Throughout the last year there have been major shakeups in management and firing of longtime, qualified personnel.

It seems a real shame that the stable forces of our community, who are getting older, are being raped with the high prices to go to and from Cape to Jackson.  I drive a vehicle and I just don’t think it costs $20 (per person) to drive from Jackson to Cape and back.  I have almost come to the conclusion that perhaps I should quit my job and start shuttling senior citizens around to appts, seems there’s plenty of money in that!

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August 7, 2007 by debbie.

I am a transplant to Southeast Missouri (SEMO).  I have grown to love the area, but it wasn’t always like that for me. 

I am an Iowa girl, yes, corn fed and corn bred.  Moving to Southeast Missouri was a huge change for me.  I went to a high school where the graduating class was approximately 30 people!  It was a very small, tightly knit farm community.  As I look back on that little town it wasn’t a bad thing.  We read about farmers helping out their fellow farmers when there was a need…..believe me, it really happened.  I know if I stepped back in that community right now it would be the same way still.  That kind of community spirit is instilled in the family system in that little corner of the world.  Yes, people knew your business, after all we had a party line….. Bet I lost a few of you there!!  We had to share our phone with other people in our “four mile square”!  When you would pick up the phone there could be someone else on the line and you would have to wait your turn.  I think there were a few people who would pick up the phone and continue to listen to find out what was going on in other people’s lives!!  As I write this I am smiling!  It just makes me laugh inside to think about all the eavesdropping that went on!  You know I hadn’t thought about that in ages!

I lived in the Northwest corner of Iowa, right up by the Minnesota, South Dakota & Nebraska border.  If you want me to discuss “cold” I can talk about that till the cows come home.  When my husband made his first trip to Iowa I had attempted to explain the bitter cold……words cannot always express what a person has to experience!!  Needless to say, a Southeast Missouri boy had a hard time with Northwest Iowa weather!  He never believed me when I told him a blizzard could come up without a moments notice.  Because the land is so flat and the wind blows all the time, a few flakes of snow could become a raging blizzard in no time at all.  Farmers would literally tie themselves with a rope to the house so they could get out to the barn and do chores and still find their way back to the house……absolutely NO visibility with a bad blizzard.  Whole herds of cattle would die in the fields because they couldn’t find the barn.  My husband saw that first hand.  One year when we went to see my parents there were frozen carcasses of cattle still in the field after a recent blizzard…..my husband then became a believer!!

Then I moved to Souheast Missouri……BIG Culture Shock for me.  #1 People talked “funny”.  Sometimes I had no idea what they were saying.  I didn’t know people ate such things as grits and biscuits and gravy!  Dumplings were round not flat!!  People here drank soda….whereas I drank “pop”.  What was this world coming to??  Now when I go back to Iowa I talk funny and I love biscuits, gravy & grits!…….I have become SEMOtized!

While growing up in Iowa I had an American Saddle Bred mare.  I don’t know if you are ready for this or not, but her name was Snookerdoodle……not sure where I came up with that??  Snooker and I covered alot of miles together, she was a great companion.  There was a time my family moved approximatley 20+ miles from my first home.  We didnt have a horse trailer, that was considered a luxury.  The only way I could get her to our new home was ride.  So ride I did.  We started out early in the morning, my mother packed me a sandwich, Snooker and I rode all day.  I shared my sandwich with her and we made it to our new house in the afternoon.  To this day I can remember that adventure very clearly.  It was quite an undertaking for me, but I was pretty proud that I did it.  Having a horse while I grew up really kept me out of alot of trouble.  I was always too busy with my horse to find time to get involved with the bad things life had to offer.  My parents made a smart move the day they bought me that mare!

About 2 weeks ago my husband and I took the 2 horses we now have and packed them into our trailer and drove over to Giant City State Park in Illinois.  We tacked up and rode the 12 mile trail……it wasn’t 20+ miles, but once again, I was proud of our accomplishment of 12 miles!  I can’t help but think what it must have been like for people about 150 years ago (that really wasn’t that long ago!!) Can you imagine traversing the trails from St Louis to CA…….Now that would be an accomplishment!!

As I read back through my column today I can’t help but wonder what would happen around here if the “party line” phone system came back…..that could be VERY interesting!!

Talk to ya later!

debbie

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