Griffin Speaks
ALABAMA THE BEAUTIFUL
I was standing in line at a local fast food restaurant when I overheard two elderly ladies discussing the events that occurred on September 11. It was an interesting conversation that ended with one of the ladies proclaiming that Alabama was the safest place on earth, because "nobody wants to come to Alabama, not even the Terrorist!
My spirit was dampened after hearing such derogatory remarks about such a beautiful State. I shared the statement with an old friend, who immediately proceeded to tell me the joke about the greyhound. It goes something like this: "ITS SO BAD IN ALABAMA THAT THE GREYHOUND ON THE SIDE OF THE BUS GOES ON THE INSIDE WHEN THE BUS HITS THE ALABAMA STATE LINE!"
Does our great state deserve the horrible image that it has around the world? I do not agree with persons that defame our state. Many Alabamians find ourselves constantly defending the image of our state. We defend her in different ways.
My wife and I defend her by entertaining people from around the world; giving them a first hand look at the state's beauty. Recently, we entertained my best friend C. Howie Hodges II and his beautiful wife, Atlanta socialite, Elizabeth Jackson Hodges, daughter of former three term Atlanta Mayor, Maynard Jackson. We had a ball!
When my Egyptian fighter pilots left at the end of the summer, I could tell that they were in love with Alabama. A trip to Egypt is in the forecast as soon as Debra feels comfortable enough to fly. Will we love Cairo, Egypt as much as we love Montgomery, Alabama?
So how do we entertain our houseguests? A typical visit to the Griffin household would include: A tour of Montgomery. We drive around and show our guests the beautiful neighborhoods. Everyone at the end of the tour ask: "where do these people work?" We then take our guests to the Capital City Club for lunch or dinner. Almost everyone makes the comment: " I would have never guessed that you had a place this fabulous in Montgomery, Alabama."
We then take them to meet some of the legendary people in the city. Howie and Elizabeth met two Supreme Court Justices, Justice Jean Brown and Retired Chief Justice Bo Tolbert. Chief Justice Bo Tolbert told Beth that he was having lunch with her father's good friend Georgia Governor Roy Barnes next week. They met the Parole Board, a prison Warden and numerous other governmental and business officials.
Only one specific request was made by Howie and Beth and that was Beth had to go and say hello to her Dad's good political friend Dr. Joe Reed!
We stopped by Community Congregational Church of Christ to say hello to Dr. Reed. He insisted that my guests get a bite to eat. Every fourth Sunday we have a feast at the Church.Dr. Reed was very supportive of Maynard Jackson's bid to become Chairman of the National Democratic Party. Maynard was not successful in becoming Chairman, however he did receive a very important position with the Party controlling millions of dollars.
When we left the church, Beth turned to me and said "Dr. Reed seemed to be in a jubilant mood." I said its probably because he just raised $14000.00 in ten minutes for a new church organ. I told her that whenever I tell people that I attend Community Congregational Church of Christ they then say "Oh you attend Joe Reed Church!" So now I just say, I attend Joe Reed Church.
Come visit us its a great family! We are across the street from Bellingrath Junior High School on South Court Street.
Our bad image would eventually dissipate if more Alabamians would open their homes to people living outside the state. We should encourage them to visit. I believe that this is the promised land that Dr. King was talking about in his I have been to the Mountain Top and I have seen the Promised Land..." Montgomery, Alabama is that promised land!
