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Editorials/Columns
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Do You Believe In Miracles?
n a world that often
seems to be overwhelmed by chaos, sometimes you need a feel good story to come along and remind you that there’s still a God in the uni- verse who hasn’t abandoned His post. And, for me, that confirmation came after read- ing a piece by TaMaryn Wa- ters in the USA Today about the remarkable case of “Baby Charlie.”
Last May, on a morning when the temperature dipped below 50 degrees, someone left Charlie in the bed of a Nissan pickup truck parked inside of an apartment com- plex in Tallahassee. Needless to say, it was a rough begin- ning for a newborn who’d only come into this world 7 days prior.
Fortunately, Charlie’s dire circumstances wouldn’t last long as help arrived in the form of an attentive 22-year- old college student, who dis- covered Charlie after hearing his faint cries, and an EMT who, on an intuition, decided to place a baby warming mattress in his truck (for the first time in his ca- reer) that morning before be- ginning his shift.
They were two Angels, in human form, who seemed to be placed in the right places at the right times in order to assist in Charlie’s rescue.
But, of course, that’s just the beginning of what makes Charlie’s story so special.
Waiting on Charlie to ar- rive at the hospital was a woman named Lorraine Nichols, a Respiratory Spe- cialist who works at several medical centers in the North- west Florida region. That day she was assigned to work at Tallahassee Memorial’s Emergency Room.
What makes Nichols presence in Charlie’s tale of survival so significant is that she and her husband had been desperately attempting to have a child. As a survivor of two bouts with cancer, Nichols was advised by her physician to stop the in-vitro fertilization procedure be- cause the hormones she was taking put her at risk of hav- ing the cancer return.
For Nichols and her hus- band, Charles, adoption was also a challenge due to a long waiting list that projected that it would be several years before a child was available. Considering the couple’s ages, 47 and 67, time wasn’t something that they could af- ford to waste... Enter Baby Charlie.
What were the chances that a woman with a barren womb and a motherless child would find each other at the exact moment in their lives
when they needed each other the most? But that’s exactly what happened.
Charlie was brought to the hospital and Nichols was charged with saving his young life. In the end she ac- complished her mission in more ways than one.
Ultimately, after some calls to child protective serv- ices, Nichols and her hus- band were given custody of Charlie and have since adopted him. They gave him a family and he gave them an opportunity to live their dream of raising a child to- gether. A slam-dunk win for both sides.
What makes this miracu- lous event even more remark- able is that Charlie’s dark complexion matches his mother’s perfectly. While no one still knows where Char- lie came from, he seems to have arrived custom designed from Mrs. Nichols’ prayers.
Could this all be just a co- incidence? A child left to die, found by a young woman who just happened to be walking through a parking lot, helped to the hospital by a intuitive paramedic who was in pos- session of a life-saving con- traption that he never carries and delivered to a woman longing for a child but unable to have one? I don’t think so.
They say that God works in mysterious ways and, as far I’m concerned, the fact that Charlie is even alive today is living proof of that truth. If this doesn’t give you a reason to get on your knees, I don’t know what will.
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Like Job: The Sad Continuing Saga Of The Bill Cosby Family
efore we editorialize one word, let us join what
we know are voices worldwide in conveying con- dolences to both Bill and Camille Cosby on the un- timely death of their daughter, Ensa. As such, her death joins the demise of her brother, Ennis, killed by a carjacker 11 years earlier.
Added to the woes that have continuously stung Mr. Cosby’s life like hornets, one might certainly wonder what else in God’s name could happen? With Ensa’s death, the question is answered.
And shall we journalists – as obviously a-religious as any profession needs to remain – nevertheless, draw editorial comparisons between comedian Bill Cosby and the Biblical Job?
For, we know Bill Cosby. But, Job might well be a symbolic, contrived character created to describe a possible human condition . . . the unavoidable reality of hard luck. And what about David, another tainted Bible character who might well have been a creation to depict the fact that God chooses us more readily than we choose God?
We don’t know David the King, but we know Cosby the comedian, the actor, the father, the accused alleged sex offender, the human being, and the once again, be- reaved father.
So, we pause to send universal condolences to the Cosby family, looking beyond Mr. Cosby, the man and his imperfections, but to a fellow child of God.
To Ensa Cosby, who struggled with health issues for a while, and ultimately loss her battle to kidney failure, we say ‘Rest in peace’, child, ‘for earth has no sorrow, that heaven cannot cure.’
Letter To The Editor
State Legislator Has Common Sense Solutions To Limit Gun Tragedies
This has been a difficult month for Floridians and especially Floridians who are parents. The tragedy in Parkland was every parents’ worst nightmare. The lives of 17 families are shattered because of yet another senseless act of evil by a very mentally unstable per- son.
As a State legislator, the question for me is how do we take action immediately to insure to the best of our ability it doesn’t happen again.
I believe in the following immediate common sense solutions:
• Raise the age to purchase a weapon to 21. That would have prevented this young monster from buying the gun he used to kill 17 peo-
ple.
• Implement a mandatory 3- day waiting period for all gun purchases. We already have this rule in Hillsbo- rough County and it should apply statewide.
• Make sure anyone with a history of mental problems that might lead them to vio- lent outbursts cannot pur- chase a gun. This could be done with enhanced back- ground checks.
• Outlaw bump stocks and any other device that can convert a semi-automatic weapon to an automatic weapon, and outlaw all au- tomatic weapons.
• Put a sworn law enforce- ment resource officer in every school in Florida so there is someone trained at each school to respond to a
crisis.
I am willing to have a
conversation about limiting high capacity magazines, but these proposals above would do the most to en- hance the safety of our stu- dents.
And, they could all be implemented by the start of the 2018 school year.
They are common sense, immediate and should be bipartisan.
I hope my colleagues across the aisle will join us in searching for and finding common ground on keeping our kids safe. Tragedies like these should not be used to try to score political points; they should be used to come together and find solutions.
Shawn Harrison, State Representative CD 63
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