Browsing: OurMSVoices

For many years I wrote a weekly restaurant review that had one caveat, I couldn’t write about the same restaurant twice.  That’s 52 new restaurants a year! So, yes, I think it is fair to say that the coast has a plethora of good places to eat. We have local po-boy places, a hand full of good Vietnamese shops, Greek, fine dining with some of the best steaks ever (Thirty-Two) and even a few places that make crazy good fried baloney sandwiches!

Every Christmas, I find myself thinking less about what’s under the tree and more about what surrounds it. The familiar faces, the shared stories, the traditions that don’t come from a store but from years of being passed down. As the season slows just enough for us to notice, it becomes clear that the most meaningful gifts are often the ones we didn’t realize we were being given all along.

One of the things I miss most about Mississippi is the beautiful, uniquely southern way Christmas is celebrated. Since this will be my first Christmas in Boston, I’ve been contemplating ways to make it feel a little more like home while embracing a new season in my life. 

There is something special about ringing a Salvation Army Bell during the holidays. As a volunteer Bell-Ringer, I am always inspired by the thoughtfulness of those that make their way to the kettle to deposit whatever they have to give. Whether it is a folded bill or a handful of change, the spirit of giving is apparent in her or his own way.

Throughout our nation’s history, countless Mississippians have served in the military, both at home and abroad. Even before attaining official statehood in 1817, many Mississippians joined the militia during the War of 1812

Every Veterans Day I have one particular vet that I think a lot about. He was a man I admired in so many ways and still am amazed at is achievements. He grew up in a profoundly poor family in the Mississippi Delta in a shack with no running water, no electricity and no inside toilet. They were often hungry. I am fond of saying poverty either makes you or breaks you. and this country boy hated the Delta so bad as soon as he got a chance to get out, he did. The quickest way out was to join the army. For the first time in his life, he had new, clean clothes, a comfortable bed to sleep in and all the food he wanted to eat.

Rain lightly falling on the asphalt and concrete. Grey sky with clouds hovering over. Bostonites walking hurriedly with Columbia® and Patagonia® jackets. Mississippians, it is officially cold in Massachusetts. 

There’s something about Mississippi that has always felt like a table big enough for everyone. Whether it’s a church potluck, a backyard barbecue, or a casserole left on a neighbor’s porch after a hard week, food has always been how we show love here. But lately, many of our Mississippi families are quietly facing something that’s hard to imagine—empty shelves and empty stomachs.

Vardaman, Mississippi, will always be home to me. 

Granted, my family only moved there when I was 11 years old, but for me, it is the place where I first learned the meaning of community, and the first place where I felt like a member of a community. My lifelong friendships were forged there during the last, sweet days of my childhood. I also learned the importance of having and being an integral part of a church family back there in Vardaman. And that childhood church home was where I married my husband over 46 years ago. 

It’s officially been over a month since my departure from Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Boston, Massachusetts. I’d be lying if I said the unfamiliar hasn’t been quite daunting at times. Tall buildings. Different cuisine. Walking— lots and lots of walking. 

So, we’re nearing the midway point of the football season, and it’s been an interesting one so far. Local colleges are rolling along quite well; local high schools, not so much. Maybe that has something to do with the nicknames/mascots—we’ll get into that in a minute.

Neurodegenerative diseases remain among the most complex and least understood conditions in modern medicine, with few effective treatments available for patients and families facing diagnoses such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and frontotemporal dementias (FTDs). At The University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Vijay Rangachari, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been investigating the molecular mechanisms that underlie these disorders, particularly how certain proteins misfold and aggregate in the brain to drive disease progression.

Every September, Jackson’s historic streets and stately trees come alive with one of my favorite celebrations of the year—the Mississippi Book Festival. Known affectionately as the “literary lawn party,” this gathering is more than an event; it’s a love letter to stories, storytellers, and the people who cherish them.

When people ask where I was during Hurricane Katrina, the memories come rushing back. Like many along the Mississippi Gulf…

August 29, 2005, was an unforgettable day for most Mississippians, even for those of us who lived way up in the Northeastern corner of the state. 

People were not the only creatures impacted by Hurricane Katrina. And although helping people recover was the priority, we soon turned to helping our feathered friends. As it turned out, these efforts provided folks with a diversion from their toils at home, and a reason for hope, that normal could return, including their own backyards.