Page 4 - Winter 2022

s| AROUND MAIN STREET New addition
is blessing
By Michael Prochaska
We did it! After nine months of ultrasounds and eventually feeling the dramatic kicks, we caught the glimpse of a tiny head and a precious face. And just like that, we brought a baby into this world.
In a way, though, giving birth is otherworldly. We felt the Holy Spirit’s mighty presence as we wrapped Marilyn “Mary” Louise Prochaska in our arms.
No words can do it justice. The best way to describe it was through the tears descending from my incredulous and spellbound eyes.
Before labor, we felt God’s safeguarding touch on Mary Louise one day in church. In the second week of Advent, as the soothing melody of “Savior of the Nations, Come” came from the choir, Amanda felt the baby awake from its slumber. Mary Louise kicked with joy to the dulcet sounds of the hymns. She kicked so hard that not only could we feel her jubilant dance, but we could see the impression of her feet on Amanda’s stomach. Our little one had not yet seen the world, but she was hearing it.
It reminded us of Luke 1:41: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
And what Mary Louise was hearing was beautiful and holy. Of course, she had been jiving to some Beatles and Taylor Swift for months, but it was at that very moment that it really sunk in that she was no longer just a dot on an ultrasound. She was our daughter, and she was a child of God.
God’s great wonder of a birth, of course, is rooted in the love of two people. Amanda and I may have had to wait longer than we wanted to have a child, but we always had each other. And what a blessing it is to have our vows lived out every day.
In addition to the weddings of two daughters of Sheriff James Hale, this issue has some amazing tales of family leading us to live out the best versions of ourselves.
Oconee County Middle School eighth grade softball and basketball star Taylor Saxon credits her family for the way she views her hearing loss as an advantage, rather than a disadvantage.
North Oconee High School track and softball athletes Caroline and Lily Branch consider themselves lucky for bonding as sisters and as teammates.
This issue also has several amazing stories about the capacity for our beloved animal friends—particularly horses—to become an integral part of our family.
Amanda McCoy recently created the Athens Area Horse Community. And after years of leading different lives, JJ Henderson got down on one knee and proposed to his high school sweet heart, Keri Keehn, at Classic City Clydesdales.
Although Amanda and I are not well acquainted with horses, our baby, Mary Louise, was introduced to the wagging tail of a dog and a curious purring cat as soon as she got home from the hospital.
Our family is now complete.
sMichael Prochaska is editor of OCONEE THE MAGAZINE and The Oconee Enterprise newspaper in Watkinsville, Ga.
Volume 12, Number 3 Winter 2022
Supplement to The Oconee Enterprise Publisher
Maridee Williams
Editor
Michael Prochaska
Advertising Director
Maridee Williams
Contributing Writers
Wendy Cooper Joshua Darnell
Emily Dozier
Nancy Belle Hansford Justin Hubbard
Popi Márquez
Cyndee Perdue Moore Michael Prochaska
Contributing Photographers
Joshua Darnell
Nancy Belle Hansford
Justin Hubbard
Maura Davidson Photography Mark Parsons
Michael Prochaska
Graphic Design
Allyn R. Jenkins Arlette Revells George H. Windate
Sales Representatives
Tracy Harmon Maridee Williams
Circulation
Maridee Williams
OCONEE THE MAGAZINE is published quarterly plus a holiday bonus issue
by Oconee Enterprise, Inc. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without express written consent of the publisher. This includes advertisements designed and produced by OCONEE THE MAGAZINE.
OCONEE THE MAGAZINE accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork, and none will be returned without a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Address inquiries to:
P.O. Box 535, Watkinsville, GA 30677 or oconeethemagazine@gmail.com
© 2022 Oconee Enterprise, Inc. All rights reserved.
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