The Palisadian-Post presents an homage to Will Rogers’ column, “Will Rogers Says,” with a column by Palisadian Jimmy Dunne—on life in the “greatest town in America.”

‘Christmas Cards’

I finally got around to going through our Christmas basket of cards tonight.

I always love that moment. It’s gotta be the right moment.

They’re just so wonderful. So thoughtful of all those folks to send their card.

Going through ’em, I was reminded of an old frat brother, Frank Ramsey. From Madisonville—a town smack in the ribs of Kentucky.

It’s one of those great old towns that’s an hour and a half away from anywhere else you’d ever want to be.

Frank’s dad was an absolute legendary Kentucky basketball player, who went on to win seven championship rings with the Celtics. But in the heartland of Kentucky, Frank’s dad was pretty much a christened saint.

As I was winding down my senior year in college, he was our guest speaker at some dinner event at the fraternity house for all of us knuckleheads.

To start off his toast, in an incredibly thick, relaxed, confident, genuine Madisonville, Kentucky accent he said, “Boys, listen good. You are who your friends are.”

I just wish I could describe the way and the pace that he said that sentence.

With his heartfelt, make you bleed, Hopkins County accent, it took longer for him to say the word “friends” than it did for me to slug down my third Rebel Yell and coke.

What he went on to say was how the friends you choose in your life, become in many ways a mirror of who you are.

Because you borrow a little bit from all of them, and because they borrow a little bit from you.

I think he was right. It’s easy to look back at those childhood pals, or early girlfriends who meant the world, or those friends along the way that may not be close to you now, but they were shooting stars. They were all there with you—for a precious moment along the way.

And there are some friends that didn’t show who you wanted to be—but showed you who you didn’t want to be.

They all mattered.

They all added up. They’re all a little bit of the soup of you.

And they’re all mixed in. Some just a smidgen of seasoning, but they’re all in the soup.

Shaping your beliefs. Your passions. Your dreams. Your style …

They challenge you. They hurt you. They inspire you. They root for you. They warn you. They test you.

Friends.

And if you’re really, really lucky, there are a few that even love you.

It’s funny how all the messages on those Christmas cards keep trying to come up with some new, clever, hipper, funner way of saying “Merry Christmas.”

The truth is, I kind of wish the cards didn’t have any words on ’em at all. Just the pictures. Just that little line on the card where your friend handwrites something like, “I’m thinking of you.”

They’re saying, no matter where they are in this world, no matter how far away—we matter to them.

Enough that they took one of their cards, not a big pile of cards, and picked us. Wrote our name out on the envelope.  Licked a stamp.  And stuck it in their town’s mailbox.

Just so we could have a moment remembering those days.  Those times with them.

I think they know, when we open up their card, and take that moment, that wonderful, lovely, quiet moment to look deep in their eyes on that card, they know … we’ll remember.

We’ll remember when we were on the same beautiful road. That same road, taking it all in—but looking ahead.

Goodbye, my Christmas cards.

Goodbye ’till we meet again.

Jimmy Dunne is modern-day Renaissance Man; a hit songwriter (28 million hit records), screenwriter/ producer of hit television series, award-winning author, an entrepreneur—and a Palisadian “Citizen of the Year.” You can reach him at j@jimmydunne.com.