Community & Culture

A Calm Voice in the Dark

PHOTO BY Matt Cornelius
The day starts as I walk into the dimly lit communication center for the beginning of a 12-hour shift full of unknowns. We work in teams as system status controllers. The call takers on-shift are already on the phones assisting callers who need our help with medical emergencies, while the dispatchers are on the radios talking to the ambulance crews.

Stop, Drop and Roll

PHOTO BY Matt Cornelius
The alarm goes off at 5:00 A.M.. every third day. We work 24 hours on and 48 hours off at Texarkana Texas Fire Department; it’s a nice schedule, if you can get used to it. I get ready in the dark, trying not to disturb the wife and three sleeping boys. … My 20 minute drive to work is filled with prayer. It’s quiet out, as the rest of the world is just waking up, so I spend my time praying for my family, friends, church family, the firemen coming on duty and those working off and for the coming day.

Ark-La-Tex 100 Club Pull For Heroes

The mission of the Ark-La-Tex 100 Club is to raise funds for the dependents of our first responders lost in the line of duty. Remaining funds are used to purchase any unbudgeted but necessary life-saving equipment and additional training. …

Protect and Serve

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.—People have worked, had a lunch break, worked some more, and are now headed home to have dinner with their families. I, on the other hand, am just waking up, heading out to serve my city. Well, I would just be waking up if I was doing what is recommended for a night shift officer, but when you have an amazing family, like my beautiful wife Canah and my boy, Roman, you just don’t have time to be sleeping in that late!

Anish Sheth

PHOTO BY Jonathan Williams
Pleasant Grove alumni, Anish Sheth, graduated from The University of Texas at 19 with a degree in Government and graduated from Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law in 2001. He practiced law in both Washington D.C. and New York for international law firms. Anish also worked in international finance at the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Hong Kong. He founded and later sold World Peas Brand of plant-based snacks.

My Drift

PHOTO BY Molly Kendrick
Hang on to your HatNo one will be writing a sonnet about my Easter bonnet. As a little girl I always felt my Easter outfit was incomplete without a hat, and every year I begged my mother to buy me one. Though she was a tough sell, she usually gave in to my badgering. Hat in hand, I would happily anticipate Easter Sunday. Only on Easter Sunday would I remember the idea of wearing a hat, and the actual wearing of said hat are two completely different things. I kept trying, though, and even took a few stabs at wearing an Easter hat as an adult.

Outside the Lines

PHOTO BY Molly Kendrick
Nicole Brisco is an innovative and passionate educator, a devoted and creative mother and an award-winning artist! Each role is strongly connected, balancing and fortifying the other, to earn her the incredible success she has found in all three. … Brisco loves her role as an artist and believes it makes her a better educator. She has always been artistic, and at an early age, she remembers sitting at her mother’s feet drawing and coloring at the end of the school day.

Opportunity or Obstacle... You Choose!

PHOTO BY Molly Kendrick
Life is full of challenges. We can see some of them coming and therefore steady ourselves as we prepare for the impact. However, some of them show up out of nowhere, surprising us with no rhyme or reason, offering us a choice. On some level, we may actually seek challenges. We want to learn and grow, and it seems life’s most effective tool for growth appears in the form of our experiences. But with these, what do we co-create with that reality? What awareness do we develop because of it? What glimpse of our highest self does this give us?

A Heart Made Whole

PHOTO BY Molly Kendrick
Heart-shaped candy boxes, heart-shaped balloons, heart-shaped cookies… February really is all about the heart. Every year, we use the fourteenth to celebrate those we love and express to them how much they mean to us. However, our heart obsession is not limited to the parties and confections of Valentine’s Day. February is also National Heart Month and serves to bring awareness to the importance of heart health and the millions across the nation who suffer with heart conditions.

The Entertainer’s Home

PHOTO BY Molly Kendrick
The communal roots of talented artists find their homes in the twin cities. Growing up here, I enjoyed the music of my parents, Professor Samuel and Rosie Williamson-Collins, both singers of gospel music and pianists. After performing with the Dunbar High School Marching Band in 1968, I continued my music studies with the late Bob Ingram, former Texarkana Independent School District Supervisor of the Instrumental Music Program. I also enjoyed singing in the choir.

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December 2024
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