Thanksgiving and Beyond!!

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  This was the first year that I have not made the journey to the Land of Milk and Honey to eat at my Mother's table.  Instead, the family came to me!  Both families (Angie's and mine) came to Augusta and we celebrated at our house.  It seems appropriate that this new tradition started this year seeing that we have had so much change accompany this segment of our lives.  New city. New house.  New Schools.  New jobs.  New Career.  These are some of the changes that we celebrate this year!  Like everything in my life, I usually can't appreciate things until I am through them and I gain the perspective that only time offers.  My new Thanksgiving Celebration was no different.  I love when my family has the chance to share the same space and this year I was able to enjoy both sides of my family at the same time!  We had PLENTY of food and plenty of LAUGHTER!!  (I truly believe that you need both to live and grow.)  I was surrounded by people that I love and people who love me.  I soaked up the sound of my children's laughter while watching my parent's love for them over-flow.  I watched my wife co-ordinate an unimaginable amount of Chaos into an event that seemed completely planned and well thought out!  (I am so thankful that she said "Yes" so many years ago)  I ate and ate and ate.  My mom, mother-in-law, aunt-in-law, wife and both sister-in-laws put out a spread that could have fed a third world country for a month!  I am always surprised at how much food we have and I realize how blessed that I am to have it.  Between the food, the decor, and the people that populated it . . . Southern Living didn't have anything on us!  This year I have so much to be thankful for . . . and I am.

Larry Munson

They say that memories and feelings are often associated with smells or sounds and I have to agree.  All it takes is a warm day with the smells of Fall and fresh cut grass and I am carried to memories of football games and the sights and sounds associated with them.  I can remember when I was just a young kid getting so excited when someone produced a football and wanted to play.  At my house we were Bulldog and Falcons fans and there were ALWAYS footballs lying around for us to throw.  (This is one thing that I made sure to duplicate when I started my own family.)  We hated Tech, anybody from Florida, Tennessee, Auburn and anybody who liked them.  I don't know if I have ANY memories of a Georgia game without a radio blaring "The Voice of the Georgia Bulldogs" calling the plays and painting the picture!  It would be a sad day when many years from then he would retire and I would be forced to listen to others attempt to do what he had done effortlessly.

I remember a Saturday afternoon when I was a young boy.  My dad and I were out at an archery club in Hazlehurst.  It was a warm sunny day and while my Dad was working on a project I was shooting my bow and listening to the Georgia game on the radio.  Larry Munson was calling the game with his sideline announcer Loran giving us the "inside" scoop down on the sidelines.  I remember hearing about a freshman running back being put in the game and then Larry had one of his "moments".  Everyone knows what happened next.  Herschel Walker proceeded to run over Tennessee players and made his initial entrance into Georgia folklore.  Larry called it the way I felt.  I think that is what made him so special.  I loved Georgia.  He loved Georgia. We both hurt when they lost and celebrated when they were victorious.  He could convey the passion that we felt about the game in a way that wasn't forced or scripted.  It was like he was sitting next to you in the stands and he was one of your 80,000 closest friends.  I am not one to want anyone's autograph.  I could care less about a signature and to my knowledge do not have a single one but I always wanted one from him.  He died last night.  I feel like I lost more than my chance for his autograph.  I feel like I lost a part of my childhood.

The Boy's Weekend

I survived another Boy's Weekend!!  For the uninitiated (or uninvited) this is an annual weekend where I gather with some of my Mercer University Sigma Nu pledge brothers.  We have been doing this for many years (the actual number is up for hot debate around the campfire) and it usually consists of about 5 of us. For the past few years we have been meeting in Hazlehurst at my place at the river and we would hunt, eat, play cards, and do other Manly things.  This year we decided to branch out and headed up to Toccoa, Ga. and do some trout fishing and camp out . . . what in the hell were we thinking!!  Camping is for younger men who have not been spoiled by big screen T.V's during football season, central heat and air, clean sheets (Thanks Angie!!), and a roof over their heads during a rain storm.  I have always said that my wife's idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn without a pool and now I am at a point where I may need to add my name to that list.  It's not that I don't enjoy the drinking, cooking, fishing, standing by the fire and telling stories it is just that after I am done with these things I wouldn't mind a hot shower and warm bed!  With all of that said . . . I had a wonderful time.  I love that you have people that come into your life that change who you are.  These are some of those people.  We have experienced life together.  We have done some VERY stupid things and then laughed about them.  We have went through triumphs and tragedies together.  We have celebrated weddings, births, birthdays, and career changes.  We know that with only one phone call four other people will be praying for you or coming to arrange for your bail.  I can't imagine life without them.  We consist of one Dentist, one Dentist-to-be, one Pharmacist, one Insurance guy, and one . . . well we really don't know how to describe what he does but it pays real well, requires a ton of travel and lets him hunt/fish ALL year!  I spend all year waiting for our time together and then when it finally gets here . . . poof . . . it's gone.  We always threaten to get together more but the reality is that Life gets in the way.  I am not arguing because I truly love my Life but I do wish we had more time together.  For now I will just know that for the next 361 days we will just email, text, and phone to check on each other or to give each other a little good natured hell!

About Me

I am a 41 year-old Freshman Dental Student at Georgia Health Sciences University.  More importantly, I am a husband, father, brother and son to a wonderful family that I absolutely adore.  I was raised in a small South Georgia town affectionately known to many as The Land of Milk and Honey (you probably have read about it in the Bible).  Some simply call it Hazlehurst, Georgia.  I love where I am from and feel blessed to have grown up in an area where you know everyone and/or are related to them!! I truly believe that the eccentric and colorful characters that have flavored my life can only be found in Southern Literature or small Southern towns.  I have had TWO College careers and have enjoyed both in their own ways.  My first trip through the realms of academia I majored in English and spent time at Mercer University and then at The University of Georgia where I graduated not summa cum laude but Thank the Lawdy!  I then had to grow up.  I use that phrase loosely because I ask you . . . Can Peter Pan ever truly grow up?  I have worked in sales (lumber, pallets, mulch, coffee, cabinets, etc.) and have been relatively successful doing so.  I have owned my own businesses the most recent of which was a cabinet shop that I founded with my Brother.  This is where my journey took a sharp left!  On October 31, 2009 the cabinet shop burned and my life was sent spinning and skidding into a completely new direction.  The fire was a complete and total loss.  My brother (Brian) and I lost almost everything.  I say almost because although I lost all of my material wealth I still had the most important things . . . My Faith, my health, my family, and the grit that was instilled in me by my parents.  Material things will come and go but these things . . . these most often under-appreciated things . . . are worth more than gold.  It was at this point that my Second College Career began!  Brian and I decided that instead of a tragedy that this fire was actually a blessing.  It is not often that you get the opportunity to change directions in life and try a new path.  A path that had at one point in your life been unobtainable.  We decided that we were going to become Dentists!  We did not reach this decision without a tremendous amount of research and soul searching.  I truly believe that God has a plan for you and if you will just get out of the way he will lead you to where he wants you to be.  This has been proven time and time again during my life but especially so during this time in my life.  We went and spoke with the Dean of Admissions at the Dental School.  This little pixie of a lady with a warm smile was named Dr. Carol Hanes.  She listened to our story and looked at our grades (which were not very good!) and then gave us our next challenge.  She said, "Guys you definitely have an uphill battle but what you need to do is go back and take all of our pre-requisites and make straight A's.  If you make a B you need to go back to building cabinets!"  We drove back home and we made a pact that we would do whatever it took but that we were NOT going back to building cabinets.  We registered at South Georgia College in Douglas, Georgia and we never made another B.  I will never forget the look on the Registrar Office personnel's face when we blasted in there and registered for all of these classes and told them we were going to become Dentists . . . Priceless!!  I want to say right now that the people at that small college were so instrumental in our success.  They truly cared about our goals and our education.  They were willing to put in whatever time that we needed so that we could go to the next level prepared.  I will always be in their debt.  We took the DAT and applied to Dental School with absolutely NO hope that we stood a chance on our first attempt!  You can't imagine our surprise when we were invited to interview!!  Out of 300-400 applications they only interviewed 172 for only 80 spots.  I will never forget where I was when I found out that I had been accepted.  My wife (Angie) and I were in a Hallmark gift shop in Macon, Georgia buying Christmas when my phone rang.  I saw it was an Augusta number and thought it was one of my buddies calling to give me an update and/or encouragement.  Imagine my surprise when the voice said "Ken this is Dr. Hanes."  I asked her did I need to sit down and she said yes.  I thought "Oh no I didn't make it."  She then said, "You may want to sit down so that you can jump back up because you have been accepted!!"  I vaguely remember opening the door to the shop and screaming to Angie that we were in!  I am sure that I scared the bejesus out of all the shoppers but THAT was not on my mind!  I then asked her "I know you can't probably tell me but did my Brother make it?"  She said, "I can't tell you that but don't call him because he is my next call!"  I believe that this may have been one of the happiest days of my life and that's saying something!!  Our tour of Universities continued to the sleepy little city of Statesboro, Georgia where we attended Georgia Southern the home of the Eagles.  We had one semester there where we were introduced to Genetics, Micro-Anatomy, and most importantly to Biochemistry!!  All of this has led to here . . . Augusta, Georgia . . . home of the Georgia Health Sciences University.  101 days into this process and all I can say is . . . Wow.  I am blessed.