It seems one of the more troubling stories of a rough 2011 will have a happy ending.

Homes for Our Troops announced this past week that a Build Brigade will start construction at the end of January on a new home for paralyzed U.S. Army veteran Sean Gittens and his family.

After what a Homes for Our Troops spokesman calls a “ceremonial kick-off” on Jan. 27, a swarm of mostly volunteers will erect a 2,700-square-foot, handicapped-accessible home for the Gittens family on a lot on Tubman Road in Appling.

I would like to challenge everyone to a contest. Every house has a “messy” room, but I dare anybody to top mine. I not only have one trash room, I have two. Isn’t that exciting?

Before I answer my door, I make sure there aren’t any TV cameras from the Hoarders show. They could probably make a good 30-minute telecast on my holiday decorations. Talk about embarrassing your family! My grandson would probably try to get me professional help, and my granddaughter would deny that she’s related to me.

Editor:

This is in response to Barry Paschal’s Dec. 4 column, “Snob appeal in opposition,” and is an appeal to all to consider the needs of young military families in this debate.

I’m retired military, now settling down in Evans. My view of Magnolia Trace and other such projects is that they are necessary to give a helping hand to young military families who want to live in the better neighborhoods of the Fort Gordon area.

As we hit the reset button at the start of a new year, most of us likely have hopes that things will turn out better in the next 12 pages of the new wall-calendar.

But just like a book that flips to the next chapter, the old chapter doesn’t disappear. It’s still there, the plot already played out, open for re-reading at any time – but not available for editing.

Around here, 2011 is one of those years in which we’d probably like to burn the pages of that calendar and move on.