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“Local families share why they chose Whispering Hills.
There are traditional cemeteries everywhere, but they didn’t feel like a place my mom or family would want to be, with row after row of tombstones. What we’ve experienced at Whispering Hills is worlds apart from traditional cemeteries and settings.”
“I chose Whispering Hills because I’ll be surrounded by towering trees, not tombstones. This place is so beautiful and doesn’t feel like a cemetery at all.”
“I had my husband Wayne’s ashes in an urn on a shelf in my home for two years. I just didn’t know what to do until I found Whispering Hills. It’s the perfect place—and I’ll be buried there one day too.”
W hispering Hills is a natural cemetery at the heart of a memorial nature preserve, a short drive away in LaGrange, Georgia. Take a tour and see why so many families throughout Coweta county, the South, and beyond are choosing Whispering Hills. Call to schedule your free tour at 706-884-7435, and visit us at 3550 Mooty Bridge Road, LaGrange. 706-884-7435
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Publishers C. Clayton Neely
Elizabeth C. Neely
Editor Jackie Kennedy
Creative Director Sonya Studt
Graphic Designers
Emily Hernandez
Erin Scott
Contributing Writers Jeffrey Cullen Dean
Melissa Jackson
Frances Kidd
Jennifer London
Neil Monroe
Caroline Nicholson
Will Thomas
Contributing Photographers Jackie Kennedy
Beth Neely
Advertising Manager Misha Benson
Advertising Sales Representative Abby Grizzard
Digital Marketing Specialist Sarah Reeves
51 | To Bury or Not to Bury?
That’s the question when it comes to handling the body of a loved one after death. Options include burial, cremation, green burials and more. By Frances Kidd 57 | The Art of Casket Wraps
When the Coweta coroner’s son and parents were killed in 2022, he experienced grief from the other side of his profession. By Jackie
The best time to plan for end-of-life is before the end arrives, according to a local funeral director, estate attorney and fi nancial planner. By Neil Monroe and Jackie Kennedy
Service vans aren’t the only containers wrapped these days. Caskets are, too, with photo collages and imagery designed to celebrate the life lived. By Melissa Jackson
This special section salutes Coweta’s police and sheriff ’s departments, fi re rescue and emergency medical services, and 911 operators who deal with life and death issues as part of their daily routine. By Will Thomas and Jeffrey Cullen Dean
At Georgia Bone & Joint, our sports medicine doctors take a team approach in helping you return to your favorite sports and activities. Our sports medicine doctors are trained in the treatment and care of sports-related injuries and conditions, such as torn ligaments (ACL & MCL), torn cartilage (meniscus), joint instability, muscle weakness, sprains, and fractures. With this advanced training, our physicians have the experience and expertise to assess, diagnose, and treat your sports medicine injur y individually to your needs.
This issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine, our first Death (and Life) Issue, has been six years in the making. Let me explain.
It was at Redneck Gourmet in the fall of 2019 when I first talked with John Daviston of McKoon Funeral Home and Crematory about devoting an issue of NCM to evolving funeral traditions and end-of-life planning. He thought it a worthy topic and shared some recent funeral trends that were compelling. We agreed to circle back in the spring and discuss further.
But spring 2020 brought Covid-19. With death and grief, chaos and confusion around the globe, it was not the right time to devote an issue to end-of-life. We tabled the idea.
A year and a half later, as Covid was subsiding, we tossed around the idea again. But when Co-Publisher Beth Neely’s mother died in December 2021, it was put on pause.
The following December, as we were about to revisit the topic, my son died. Dealing with that gutwrenching blow, I lacked the ability to publicly consider death when it consumed every facet of my private life. We put the idea back on the shelf, where it sat for two more years.
In late 2024, we brought it up again. Even though fate had repeatedly sought to destroy our dedication to this topic, we somehow couldn’t let go of the idea. In fact, due to our personal experiences, doing a death-themed issue moved from being what we considered a good idea to becoming an obligation. We’d walked through the dark valley, and maybe we’d seen some light we could shine to help others.
And so, after six years, we finally present The Death (and Life) Issue.
To say this was a passion project is not an exaggeration. To say thinking about the stories in it kept us up at nights is not a lie. To say we’ll have the mental or emotional capacity to consider this theme again is, well, uncertain. Quite frankly, this one has been exhausting.
Yet – and this is what I’d hoped in 2019, but afterward feared impossible – it’s also been exhilarating. Again, let me explain.
This issue, more than most, has prompted an excitement that has been contagious. On the front side of publication, the enthusiasm has been almost palpable. Our advertisers, writers and those they interviewed have expressed appreciation for our willingness to broach this subject. They agreed that this is an important topic to explore in that it’s the one sure thing we all have in common: We will die. And most of us will experience the death of a loved one.
To examine what we do with that, where it takes us and how we might steer that direction is a worthy investigation.
We hope that you, our readers, respond to this issue as favorably as those who helped us put it together. To those on the frontside, we can’t thank you enough. To all, we hope you gain something that helps you – in life, and in death.
Jackie Kennedy, Editor magazine@newnan.com
Frances Kidd is a Newnan native who spent most of her adult years working as a nonprofit and marketing consultant. Although she’s an avid traveler, she never lost her Southern accent. If she’s not in Georgia, you can find her out in the country in Italy.
Jennifer London and Mysha Dziedzic are a mother-daughter duo who live and write in Newnan. Here, they celebrate London’s first place win for Best Newnan-Coweta Magazine Feature at the 2025 Best of Coweta Reception.
Jeffrey Cullen Dean is a reporter for The Newnan Times-Herald. When he isn’t working, he can be found practicing aikido or at the movies.
Caroline Nicholson loves disappearing behind a good book and falling into fictional worlds. She has a Master of Arts in English from the University of West Georgia. In time, she hopes to publish her own young-adult novel.
Melissa Jackson teaches writing and literature at University of West GeorgiaNewnan. Her poetry collections include “Cameo,” “Sweet Aegis” and “Paper Birds.”
Have a story idea?
Share your ideas with us by writing to magazine@newnan.com.
Will Thomas is a Newnan native and reporter for The Newnan Times-Herald. When he’s not working, he can be found running around downtown or hanging out with his two cats.
Neil Monroe is a retired corporate communicator who worked with Southern Company, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola Enterprises. He and his wife, Rayleen, live in Sharpsburg where they enjoy tennis, golf and grandchildren.
Beth Neely is co-publisher of The Newnan Times-Herald and Newnan-Coweta Magazine. She and her husband Clay stay busy raising their two children and enjoy traveling whenever and wherever they can.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you always for giving my small ad a great location in your magazine. In the July-August 2025 edition, thank you for sharing my recipe for Chocolate Mousse. I don’t make it as often as I used to when we did more entertaining; however, I make it every year when I host my bunco team who always look forward to it. Also, I present it in the same type of vintage dishes as you have shown. Yesterday, I received a text from one of the members of Senoia Variety Club, of which I am a member, who said she saw the recipe and it looked delicious, and she would definitely be preparing it.
Your magazine is truly amazing, and I look forward to each new issue, which I also point out to folks who have just moved into our area. I have always been interested in history and am a charter member of Senoia Area Historical Society, so I really enjoyed the article spotlighting Senoia United Methodist Church where I attend. The article on April Anderson is so deserving as she is all of that and much more.
Kudos to your staff and freelance writers, – Nancy Roy, Senoia
Newnan-Coweta Magazine announces its eighth annual Bake Your Best Christmas Cookie Contest with judging set for Sept. 19.
We’ll have two categories this year: Traditional Cookies and Decorated Cookies.
First, second and third place prizes will be awarded in each category with one fi rst place winner named Grand Prize Champion. Winners and their recipes will be featured in our November/December Holiday issue!
Entrants must submit six to 12 cookies with the recipe and the
entrant’s name, phone number and email address, plus the category they are entering: Traditional or Decorated.
All entries must be brought to Newnan-Coweta Magazine offices at 16 Jefferson Street in Newnan on Thursday, Sept. 18, between 2 and 5 p.m. or on Friday, Sept. 19, between 9 a.m. and 12 noon.
An independent panel of judges will make their decisions based on cookie taste and appearance. Winners will be contacted the week of Sept. 22 and awarded a holiday gift basket packed with prizes from our generous local business sponsors.
Written and Photographed by JACKIE KENNEDY
or Newnan-Coweta Magazine’s first Death (and Life) Issue, we wanted a cover that expresses the passion of both. We chose a man and a dove.
On the cover, Jarmaine Elder Sr., pastor of Prevailing Grace Ministries in Newnan, prepares to release a dove, a gesture that symbolizes the human soul set free upon death. It’s a ritual that brings comfort to some as they say earthly farewells to their loved ones.
“Doves are symbolic of peace, love, serenity,” says Elder, noting the Biblical dove that brought an olive branch to the ark to signify peace and renewal.
Technically, the dove on our cover is a pigeon; it’s one of more than 100 bred, raised, trained and cared for by Benjamin Smith, owner of Sellers Smith Funeral Homes in Newnan. Of those, about 60 are bred white to resemble doves, according to Smith, who says dove releases have been a consistent part of the business for more than a decade.
“We do them for most of our services and other funeral homes rent them,” he says, noting that the birds also appear at weddings, birthdays and other events. “They’re released from wherever they are, and they fly back to me.”
Home for the homing pigeons is a coop loft at the funeral home property on Greenville Street. When released, the birds immediately head home, typically arriving back in 20 to 30 minutes if the event is in or near Newnan. If in Atlanta, it may take the birds closer to 45 minutes to return to their loft apartment.
“Sometimes hawks might throw them off course, out of their radius, and we might not see them back for a day or so,” says Smith, noting that on rare occasions, they don’t come back. “It’s typically due to predators, or sometimes they do lose their way.”
Caring for the menagerie of birds is an everyday chore, according to Smith, who says doves for funerals are popular with families who cherish the symbolism.
“We let the family hold the birds, usually in a box or cage,” he says. “The family gathers in a circle or half circle, we say a few words, and the family releases them. It represents the soul of their loved one set free, flying to heaven.” NCM
The Guinness World Records Book had nothing on Grandpa’s muskmelons. Born in Wisconsin, he was a WWII vet who fought in China and India where his comrades nicknamed him Bucky. Bucky loved gardening, fishing, hunting and his family.
Nothing went to waste. He loved eating venison and bear and freshly caught fish for breakfast. He loved blood sausage. He even ate brain sandwiches and organs; he actually was jolly about it. I remember coming home to a turtle hanging upside down from a tree so the blood could drain into a bucket; that was my harrowing introduction to turtle soup. To be frank, this scarred me for years.
Food was his love language – be it growing it, catching it, hunting it, eating it or sharing it.
I remember one time we went to the market to buy some milk. Grandpa brought a box brimming with garden vegetables to the grocery store – where they sold vegetables. I was confused, and so was the checkout teller when he bestowed to her (a stranger) the bounty from his garden. These acts of generosity were his trademark.
His station wagon smelled like tomatoes and ripe cantaloupe, which grew to the size of basketballs and melted like cotton candy in your mouth. It was through him we were introduced to many of our neighbors, for he would go around to every house welcoming himself by sharing his homegrown cornucopias alongside bonus bags of frozen fish from his cooler. He never expected anything in return, unless it was a beer. Bucky liked his beer.
In a twist of irony, my grandpa was diagnosed with stomach cancer in his early 60s. Out of all the C words, it affected the one organ he enjoyed the most. Not given a promising prognosis, he chose to spend his remaining time at home with his garden outside and his family inside.
As far as I know, Grandpa wasn’t a “traditional” religious man. Perhaps it was the horrors of war that led him to that path. Instead, he chose to worship nature and the earth, animals and humans, spreading his smile and harvests like saintly sunshine.
During his final days, he stayed on the couch under the picture window in the living room. He had been unconscious for days. My grandma suddenly heard him cry out her name. It was 10 a.m. She went in to find him alert, proclaiming, “Brush my teeth.” Grateful for this sudden bout of consciousness, she gently did what he asked.
11 a.m. “Anna, clean my fingernails.” Surprised again, she scrubbed them clean. On the hour, for the next few hours, Grandpa had a new routine: “Comb my hair.” “Wash my feet.” “Shave my face.”
As the clock rang three, my grandpa said “Open the curtains.” Grandma asked, “Whatever for?”
“I want to look good. I’m going on a trip,” my grandpa said. And with that final explanation, his body said goodbye.
That word “jolly.” That was my grandpa. He was jolly about living and oddly jolly about dying in those last hours. Excited to look his best, somehow he knew an adventure was on the horizon. Despite not being traditionally religious, he had a secret recipe: his faith.
This is what gives me hope; this has become my faith – that for all of us there is an open window, a window where the wind guides our departed loved ones to an unknown garden where muskmelons grow giant and vegetables shout, “I love you.”
Some days, the window will unlock and we will feel them by our side. Opening the curtains, we honor the brief harvest that they magically managed to share. NCM
Minnesota made yet Newnan Strong, Faith Farrell is involved with Newnan Theatre Company and Backstreet Arts. Her artwork can be viewed at faithfarrellart.com.
Reviewed by GLENDA HARRIS
ALand More Kind Than Home” by Wiley Cash is an amazing story and so compelling that you may read through it quickly, but you’ll want to slow down and savor the skill and heart of this author.
Cash won multiple awards and accolades for this, his debut novel. He has since written three more books. He is one of those writers you simply must read everything they have written, because you’re sure to love it.
The setting for this first novel is a small town in the Appalachian Mountains during the mid-1980s. Christopher, whose nickname is Stump, is a young boy who has been mute since birth. Other than the strong bond he has with his big brother Jess, his life has been difficult and confusing.
The author allows subtle suspense to build with Stump increasingly feeling more confused. He sees and hears things just enough to be concerned, even scared, but he doesn’t understand what’s going on. Soon, a tragedy rocks his world.
Wiley Cash writes with warmth and in the vernacular of the place and time. Although this story is both sad and disturbing, it springs from a compassionate heart and is well done.
Beautifully written, “A Land More Kind Than Home” is a fairly quick read. I recommend this story for all fans of Southern fiction and those who enjoy reading about family relationships and drama.
“A Land More Kind Than Home”by Wiley Cash; published by William Morrow Paperbacks in 2013; 309 pages; ★★★★★
Read a good book lately?
Share your favorite new read with Newnan-Coweta Magazine by writing a book review for possible publication in an upcoming issue. Keep your review at 200-300 words and please include the author’s name, page count and date of publication.
Send your review with your contact information to magazine@newnan.com or mail to Newnan-Coweta Magazine, 16 Jefferson St., Newnan, GA 30263.
Written by JACKIE KENNEDY
At a time when it seems almost everything on Earth has changed over the past few decades, death remains the one constant that every human being will face. But services to honor those dead have evolved tremendously in recent years.
While the wakes of yore gave way to yesterday’s visitations, in 2025, there may not be either. Funeral attendees are as likely to hear pop songs as hymns. Once-private and one-time events, today’s services might be livestreamed to the other side of the globe and viewed over and over again on YouTube.
Even solemnity, once expected as the standard at every homegoing service, may be absent in today’s celebrations of life.
For those immersed in funeral work – the pastors who lead services and funeral home directors who arrange those events – the phenomenon of a fantastically expanding array of ways to memorialize the departed is part of a routine day. For the rest, evolving funeral trends are worth exploring because, sooner or later, we or someone we love will need that service.
At Roscoe Jenkins Funeral Home in Newnan, partner and funeral director Linette Ward views a shift from traditional funerals to celebrations of life as one of the most marked changes in her industry. The shift
to celebrations in Coweta County started to gain momentum in the early 2000s but accelerated over the last 10 to 15 years, according to Ward.
“Many families prefer this approach because it focuses on honoring the individuality and spirit of their loved one, not just mourning their passing,” she says. “It gives people space to share stories, play meaningful music, and incorporate colors or symbols that represent the person’s personality.”
In fact, “personalization” has become a buzzword in the funeral business.
“Personalization is huge, and we encourage it,” says Ward. “Of course, it’s sad because you’re going to miss your loved one, but most of the services we see focus on the beautiful life the deceased lived as an honor to that person you’re celebrating, and it’s a comfort to their family.”
Also called “themed” services, these events are tailormade to be as unique as the person whose life is celebrated by incorporating décor, music and mementos that tell their story, according to Ward. She says Roscoe Jenkins has handled many such services, including a Garden of Memories service for an avid gardener. Ward recalls, “We displayed her gardening tools and handed out seed packets for guests to plant in her memory.”
The funeral home also conducted a New Orleans Jazz Celebration for a New Orleans native with the service featuring a second line parade and Mardi Gras memorabilia. A sports-themed memorial for a lifelong football fan invited all attendees to wear his team’s colors.
Hutch Murphey of Arthur Murphey Florist in Newnan is familiar with personalized funerals. His business has created plenty of themed floral arrangements.
“For outdoorsmen, we’ve done themed sprays with deer antlers or fishing poles,” says Murphey. “For a big Braves fan or Bulldogs fan, we incorporate that
into the flowers. We’ve worked sewing or knitting or tennis into floral arrangements, too.”
Over the years, as more obituaries include the deceased’s favorite cause or charity for supporters to contribute to “in lieu of flowers,” sales of funeral flowers on those occasions has decreased, but there’s still plenty of business, according to Murphey.
“Certain people will always send flowers,” he says, noting it’s still common for people to send living plants and floral arrangements. Standing sprays are most common at funerals; for cremations, plants and smaller baskets are seen more, according to Murphey, who says “People
want to send something to show their respects, and flowers shine a light in a sad time.”
Along with holding personalized services, capturing them for posterity has become essential, according to Ward, who notes that livestreaming and filming of services, once rare, is now commonplace. The rapid advance of this is partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic that brought to funerals immediate disruption – and the need for immediate solutions.
“Attendance was limited, making filming, livestreaming and online memorials essential,”
While numerous changes have accompanied the funeral industry in recent years‚ one thing remains much the same: People still show their respects by sending plant baskets‚ flower bouquets or sprays.
says Ward. “Families had to adapt quickly to smaller gatherings, sometimes postponing larger celebrations until later.”
What began out of necessity gained steam because of convenience.
“This has become invaluable for families with loved ones across the country or overseas,” says Ward. “It allows everyone to participate in real time, even if they can’t travel. Filming the service allows families to go back and view the service if they can’t view in real time.”
Other ways technology has permeated the funeral business involve digital memorials.
“Social media tribute pages, online guestbooks and video slideshows are now common ways to share photos, stories and condolences,” says Ward. “They create a lasting space where friends and family can connect.”
Even QR codes have entered the digital basket of goodies.
“We’ve seen more families include QR codes on programs or headstones,” says Ward. “When
scanned, these link to online photo galleries, tribute videos or written remembrances, making the memorial interactive and easily accessible.”
Ward feels certain that the future of funeral services will continue blending tradition with personalization.
“Families want meaningful ways to say goodbye, and our role is to help create those moments with care, respect and love,” she says.
Another evolution she’s witnessed in her work at Roscoe Jenkins Funeral Home, according to Ward, is the growing popularity of cremation.
“It has become increasingly common over the last decade, and in our area, it’s now almost equal with traditional burial,” she says. “Families often choose cremation for financial reasons, flexibility in planning or personal beliefs.”
John Daviston, owner of McKoon Funeral Home and Crematory in Newnan, says that while cremation was rare a half-century ago, it now outpaces traditional burial at McKoon.
The funeral home in downtown Newnan experienced a trend toward cremation in the 1990s and, in 2000, added its own crematory. At that time, cremation represented about 18% of their services, says Daviston, noting that cremation now accounts for more than 60%.
“We’re in the first generation of the movement toward cremation,” he says. “For many families, this is the first time they’ve dealt with cremation.”
Daviston also notes a shift to more life celebrations, saying, “We’ve arranged memorials in homes and churches, even hired bands to help in the celebration of a life.”
Local funeral home directors agree that, while changes already were in progress, the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the evolution of funeral practices. Changes brought about by necessity then have become commonplace now. One such change involves the timing of services, according to Daviston, who says McKoon once held most funerals a few days after a loved one’s passing, either in a church or the funeral chapel, followed by a graveside service. That still happens but less often.
“We find that families today are often scattered far and wide across the country,” he says. “Rather than an immediate service that might require sudden travel, families can schedule a memorial service at a time convenient to them.”
Daviston cited a recent Saturday when four memorial services were held at the McKoon chapel. In each case, more than a month had elapsed since the family member had died.
Matt Sapp, pastor at Central Baptist Church in Newnan, also sees more cremations than burials now, as well as services delayed several days, or even weeks, after a death.
“Not often do you have the funeral three days after death; it could be a week later or a month,” Sapp says, noting how the pandemic played into that transition.
“To have the death of a loved one during Covid was terrible; you couldn’t hug each other or shake hands, and there were only graveside services with seats set far apart. It was just weird during Covid.”
Several changes made then to accommodate families remain in place, according to Sapp, who says that while traditional funerals made a comeback, more intimate graveside services have remained popular since Covid.
“These are usually for family and close friends,” he says. “It’s a stressful time for families, and these
smaller services remove the burden of hosting a large service on top of the grief and stress that goes with losing loved ones.”
Central Baptist continues to hold mostly traditional funeral services, but visitations the night before are increasingly rare, according to Sapp.
Regardless of what type of funeral is held, or when, or where, he says there’s one thing that helps grieving families the most: “I see how important their Christian community is for support in their time of need, and it’s not just the church but the hope of our faith.”
Sapp defines that hope as: “the hope of life after death, eternal communion with God, and a hope for reunion when we’ll all be together again.”
“When we work with people who don’t have that, it seems awfully hard and lonely,” says the pastor. “I know there’s community support and family support, but some established connection with faith and a faith community makes all the difference in the world. There’s the ritual and tradition of a funeral service in a sanctuary that’s familiar. Without that, a funeral can seem foreign and sterile and confusing. With it, there’s comfort.”
NCM
Written and Photographed by JACKIE KENNEDY
He’s a big man. Broad-shouldered. Solid. You might call him burly – until you look in his face. That’s when you see Santa Claus.
It’s not that he grew his beard out to intentionally favor the jolly old elf, but that’s what happened. Look close, and you might see his eyes twinkle. Lean in and listen to his soft, calming voice, and you’re compelled to read him your Christmas wish list.
It’s not a bad combination for a coroner: solid as a rock and tough as nails, but warm and approachable, too.
That’s Coweta Coroner Richard Hawk.
The job of a county coroner is to determine the cause and manner of death. An elected official, he joins local – and sometimes state or federal – investigators to assess death scenes, especially where crimes are believed to have occurred, in order to determine how a person died. All have input, but the coroner has the final word.
Richard never intended to become coroner. For 30
years, he worked as a paramedic, part of that time in Coweta County, five years with Grady Memorial in Atlanta, 13 years with the air medical industry as a paramedic onboard a helicopter. He was working with a helicopter service when then-coroner Ray Yeager called him some 15 years ago with a job offer.
“He said he needed a deputy coroner, said pray about it and call me back,” says Richard. “I said: ‘I deal with living people. I don’t work with dead people.’ I didn’t want to do it.”
But about that time, the service he’d worked with was bought out and the new company dropped employee insurance. Richard did what Yeager had asked: He prayed about it, then called him back and took the job. Two years later, when Yeager chose to step down, Richard ran for the office of coroner and was elected in 2012.
The coroner’s phone “rings off the hook,” according to Richard, who applauds the county’s four deputy coroners who make the job manageable. Calls come in not only from first responders but from family members checking on the status of their loved one’s case.
Former Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager met Richard when he was deputy coroner.
“From then until now, he has served the citizens of Coweta with dedication, compassion and
professionalism,” says Mike Yeager. “Due to its nature, the job has got to be tough, but Richard has a true servant’s heart and a strong commitment to assist families.”
What leads the coroner to respond to scenes that would repel most? What changed his initial reluctance to “work with dead people”?
“I realized people need hope. Th at’s what really drives me: People need hope in this dire situation,” says Richard. “To help families know somebody cares, that’s what it’s about. It’s hard times for people. It’s not just a death; grief is involved and emotions are involved.”
He speaks from experience.
April 8, 2022
It was spring break 2022 in Coweta County. Richard’s 17-year-old son Luke, then a senior at East Coweta High School, had opted to skip the beach and stay home to help his grandparents, Tommy and Evelyn Hawk, at the family business, Lock, Stock & Barrel Shooting Range in Grantville. On the evening of April 8, when Luke didn’t show up for supper, his dad went looking for him at the shooting range. Th ere, he discovered his son and both parents dead from multiple gunshots.
Fast-forward to December 2024: Th e killer was tried in Newnan, found guilty on three counts of malice murder, and sentenced to three life sentences without possibility of parole.
Rewind back to April 2022: In shock, Richard dialed 911. As help arrived, the man charged with determining cause and manner in such situations stepped aside, handing over investigative work to his deputies and other agencies.
Th at day, the coroner was a bereaved family member.
Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood was one of the fi rst at the scene. He says he’ll never forget, or fail to appreciate, what Richard did that evening.
“He was telling me what was going on and I embraced him,” says Wood. “He hugged me, and I started crying. And then he starts comforting me.
Th at’s stuck with me.”
Wood doesn’t remember the words his elected peer said. It’s the actions he recalls.
“He was more concerned about other people than himself,” the sheriff says. “I couldn’t imagine.”
Richard, his wife Donna and their daughter Audrey were shaken to the core. Th ey turned where they always do in times of trouble: to God.
“If I didn’t know for a fact that my mom, my dad and my son were saved by grace through faith and that they’re in heaven, I’d be curled up in a corner sucking my thumb,” says Richard. “I don’t have to be that way, though, because God’s grace is suffi cient, and I know where they are and that I’ll see them again.”
Th e coroner says he’s gained hope and peace from being able to use his story to better assist others.
“It made me realize a couple of things: Life on earth is short,” he says. “As Christians, we’re here to work for Christ and tell others about him. This made me realize I’m not doing that enough. And, it’s given me a deeper emotional connection with families: I understand what they’re going through. I know the hurt.”
Richard credits God with making a way for him to handle the unimaginable.
“God had prepared me with my work as a paramedic and dealing with death as a coroner,” he says. “And about 13 months before it happened, I’d started teaching a class on the death investigation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and how he was crucified. I think that’s what prepared me more than anything – seeing what God did with his own son, the things our Lord went through to take our sins on himself. That’s powerful.”
After his family’s tragedy, Richard says he felt more committed than ever “to give people the hope I have in John 3:16: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall have everlasting life.’ That is hope.”
That hope and grace have sustained his family, according to the coroner.
“There are a lot of hard days,” he says. “You don’t realize how quickly emotions wear you out. We can be cleaning the house and find something of Luke’s and that pretty much destroys our cleaning mood. We wind up sitting down, spent emotionally, and can’t do anything else. At least that’s the way it feels. But God’s grace is abundant.”
Born and raised in Sharpsburg, Richard, 55, has lived in Coweta all his life. He graduated from East Coweta High School in 1988, in the last graduating class at the old school building on Highway 16. He went to Columbus College and worked at Newnan Hospital as a respiratory therapist where he developed a love for emergency room work. He became an emergency medical technician, then a paramedic, and worked for both Coweta EMS and Troup County EMS.
All these years, his work has focused on serving others.
At the coroner’s office, the workload has more than doubled since he took office 13 years ago, when the office received 180-200 death calls per year. Today, it’s between 450 and 500. Most of what his office responds to are deaths with natural causes. But the increase?
“There’s no rhyme or reason,” says Richard. “You can’t track death. I’ve tried.”
“I realized people need hope. That’s what really drives me: People need hope in this dire situation.”
– Richard Hawk
At the county morgue inside the coroner’s office, 14 bodies await their final disposition. They remain there for various reasons, from family disputes to abandonment. Richard hopes to have each of these cases settled, and the bodies properly committed, by this time next year.
“The job demands and record keeping have increased,” says the coroner, noting that he or his deputies may be called into court on criminal cases, but it doesn’t happen often. “In homicides, the forensic pathologist is usually the one who testifies.”
Richard himself teaches a forensic class at a local high school. His desk is piled high with books on anatomy, ancient funeralizing methods and theology. Among a dozen thick hardbacks is a tiny paperback that’s meant the world to him. It’s titled “How to Get Through What You’ll Never Get Over.”
“It’s helped a lot, so much that we bought a case of them, and I give them to any family whose death I work,” says Richard.
Arriving at death scenes sometimes feels supercharged now, according to the coroner: “It wasn’t always this bad, but now for me the worst part
of a call sometimes is when you see the family feeling the emotions. Ever since April 8, 2022, I feel the emotions with them.”
A few times, he’s had to step away.
“I may be crying, and they don’t need to see that because it’s not about me and my emotions but about them and what they’re feeling,” he says.
Always, he asks the family if he can pray with them before he leaves, says Richard, “because I know prayer helps.”
The most gratifying part of his job, he says, is being there for people: “It’s knowing you can care for people and love them and show them there is still love in this world. We had a saying in EMS and flying: ‘If you treat every patient the way you treat the person you love the most, you’ll never do harm.’ If I treat every decedent as if they’re my loved one and my family member, I will always treat their family right.”
The coroner offers practical advice regarding funerals: “Make prearrangements. At least have a funeral home in mind. We see people who have never thought about death, and it catches them off guard. Do some homework and make some prearrangments.”
Richard Hawk has seen a lot and heard it all, both as a coroner working with grieving families – and as a father and son who grieves.
“People say you’ll get closure, that everything gets better with time: Those are some of the biggest lies the devil tells,” he says. “It gets different with time, but there will always be some form of grief.”
A deacon at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Newnan, he sometimes fills in to preach when the pastor’s out. There, and in his coroner job, says Richard, he works for Christ.
“God put me in this position,” he says. “When you’re working for the Lord, it’s easy to do your job. If you’re walking in fellowship with him, he carries you through. At the minimum, he’s holding your hand and walking beside you, but I know a lot of times he’s toted me through things.”
Richard thinks about the young man who killed his family members. By law, he’s not able to contact him and wonders if the inmate will ever reach out.
“I’d love to be able to tell him about the Lord,” says Richard. “I pray about it. If the Lord wants me to talk to him, he’ll open that door.”
In the meantime, he keeps doing his job in the manner that Sheriff Wood calls “amazing.”
“It’s the way he carries himself, the way he cares and shows he cares,” says the sheriff. “His job is not just to pronounce someone deceased; his job is to be the advocate for the family, and Richard really does that well. He’s been through it himself, so he can empathize. It’s amazing to see how he handles not only the death part, but the people, the families and everyone involved, even us. I respect that his faith is out front and he’s not afraid to share it with anybody. He doesn’t force it on them. He just shows compassion for each and every person.”
It’s the kind of compelling compassion that makes you want to read him your Christmas wish list.
And that’s what kids have been doing each December since his son and parents died. That’s when Richard and Donna Hawk started dressing as Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus to the delight of youngsters and their parents.
ABOVE
“Will I ever stop grieving? No, I’ll probably grieve for the rest of my life,” says Coweta’s coroner. “Do I have PTSD? Yes, I probably have PTSD. But God has me. So, I will love God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength.” NCM
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Georgia chapter is based in Atlanta. While the chapter’s main goal is to eliminate loss of life from suicide, they also offer support to those who have lost someone to suicide. Email ccurtin@afsp.org or cpiatt@ afsp.org, or call 404.275.3316 or 470.514.7667.
Bereaved Parents of the USA helps grieving parents and their families by providing support, encouragement and understanding. The North East Georgia Chapter can be contacted at 706.255.7643.
There’s a good bit of support available for people who have lost loved ones to death, although the trick can be, simply, knowing about it. Following is a list, by no means definitive, of resources available to Cowetans. Big thanks to our writers and this issue’s story subjects who contributed to this list.
Grief Recovery After a Substance
Passing (GRASP) is a local support group for those who have lost a loved one to substance abuse. The group meets monthly at Coweta FORCE in Newnan. For more, email ruddpr@gmail.com.
Kate’s Club is a nonprofit that helps children, teens and young adults facing life after the death of a parent, sibling, caregiver or someone important to them. Sunday Club House and Thursday Family Night meetings are held at Southcrest Church in Newnan. See Katesclub.org.
e Compassionate Friends (TCF) support groups are for parents, siblings and other family members who have lost children. In Coweta, TCF of West Georgia meets at Community Christian Church in Sharpsburg the fi rst Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. Email cfofwestga@gmail.com or call 770.301.5970, 770.301.3990 or 734.635.3227.
GriefShare support groups help those recently bereaved learn what to expect in the days ahead and provides tips on navigating through life while coping with grief. See griefshare.org for more information. In Coweta County, GriefShare groups meet at:
• Cornerstone United Methodist Church, Newnan, Thursdays at 7 p.m.
• Coweta Community Church, Newnan, Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Crossroads Church, Newnan, Tuesdays at 7 p.m.
• Faith Lutheran Church, Sharpsburg, Tuesdays at 10 a.m.
• First Baptist Church, Newnan, Wednesdays at 7 p.m.
• Southwest Christian Church, Newnan, Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m.
• Turin Methodist Church, Turin, Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.
Rachel’s Gift, Inc. collaborates with hospitals to provide bereavement care for parents who lose a child to miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. Programs include Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Groups and Keepsake Boxes at partnering hospitals, including Piedmont Newnan Hospital. For information, contact 470.278.1956 or info@rachelsgift.org.
Bereaved Parents USA: bereavedparentsusa.org
Jason Tuttle: letterstozachary.com (See page 45.) e Love Always Project: lovealwaysproject.org
National Alliance for Children’s Grief: nacg.org
Megan Devine: @Refugeingrief on Instagram
Your funeral home: Most funeral home websites feature a section with grief support resources.
“A Grief Observed,” by C.S. Lewis
“Heaven,” by Randy Alcorn
“Hope that Endures Devotional,” by Michelle Cox
“How to Get Th rough What You’ll Never Get Over,” by Bill Prater
“What Grieving People Wish You Knew,” by Nancy Guthrie
There is sometimes undertainty regarding terms related to funerals and burials. Our brief list touches on a few that may cause confusion.
Casket vs. Co n: Aren’t they the same thing? Actually, no. They’re similar in that each is a container in which a human body is buried, but their shapes are different. What most of us are familiar with are caskets, which are rectangular boxes in which the deceased is placed for viewing and/or burial. Coffi ns are used for the same thing, but they have six sides with the top part wider than the lower half.
Cremation Jewelry: In recent years, jewelry crafted with ashes of the deceased has become increasingly popular. Ashes may be placed in a clear locket and hung on a necklace or used in another piece of jewelry. A relatively new trend is turning cremation ashes into a diamond; it’s an expensive and lengthy process that involves pressurizing the ashes to create memorial jewelry.
Terramation: Th is word, not recognized yet by spellcheck, means: human, or body, composting. An earth-friendly
alternative to traditional cremation and burial, it involves transforming human remains into fertile soil in a 60 to 90 day timespan. The process became legal in Georgia on July 1 of this year. For more, see our story on page 51.
Vault: Also called a grave liner, a vault is a container required by most cemeteries to encase the casket or urn when it’s placed in the grave.
Viewing vs. Visitation: Both of these may take place in the funeral home prior to the funeral or celebration of life. A viewing is typically a private event that provides immediate family members and closest friends opportunity to view their loved one in the casket and to say their fi nal goodbyes. The visitation is usually open to the public with visitors coming to the funeral home, church or wherever it’s held to speak with and provide support to the bereaved. NCM
Due to the popularity of our specials sections, “Remembering the Fallen” and “Salute to Veterans,” The Newnan Times-Herald is proudly announcing a unique opportunity to have your veteran’s picture published in an all-new magazine, “Tribute to Veterans.” This full-color commemorative keepsake will be included in the November 8th edition of The Newnan Times-Herald.
$25 per veteran Submission Deadline will be Friday, October 17, 2025
Veteran’s Name:
Military Branch: or Paypal: billing@newnan.com or pay online. Go to www.times-herald.com, scroll to the bottom and select “Services,” “Subscription Services,” scroll past the subscription options and you will see Site > Forms > Subscriptions Services. Select “Pay Bill.” Fill out the information and submit. Your account number would be 1.
applicable, circle any that apply: KIA, POW, MIA , Purple Heart , Bronze Star or list others:
It’s ok ay to want it all. Because you can have it all. Beautiful surroundings. Great friends. Good times. Safety and security. Stress-free convenience. Enjoyable food. The safety net of a Life Plan Community. And the list goes on. All of it checked of f by Wesley Woods of Newnan.
Written by NEIL MONROE and JACKIE KENNEDY
Modern life is filled with challenges: work, school, bills, family and trying to stay healthy. In fact, we’re focused on the here and now so much that we might ignore an intractable issue that can make life, well, miserable for those we care about the most: What happens when we die?
What happens to our money, our house, our children? What about our remains? For nearly everyone, the first thing we feel when a family member dies is a bit of panic. We don’t know what to do or how to manage the remains of our loved ones. So, we call a funeral home.
Planning a service you won’t attend
John Daviston, owner of McKoon Funeral Home and Crematory, a Newnan institution since 1907, has been answering such calls and responding to the needs of grieving families for most of his life.
“In the funeral business, we’re blessed to be able to help people in a dire time of need,” says Daviston. “There are always so many questions, so many things that must be done, regardless of how prepared or unprepared a family might be.”
While funeral homes are equipped to arrange services whether or not arrangements are made prior, preplanning a funeral can be helpful to family members left behind.
“It’s important to preplan so that your family knows exactly what to do,” says Daviston, noting that arrangements made ahead of time might include choosing everything from a casket and burial site to what songs are played at the service and who serves as pallbearers. “Sometimes telling people what you want is not good enough. Will they remember the specifics?”
2.
Writing it down in a plan that’s kept at your local funeral home can relieve family of the guesswork that might accompany the death of a loved one. At McKoon, even before staff members go to the site of the deceased, they check their prearrangement files, according to Daviston. If arrangements have been made, they’re able to comfort the family by letting them know all that’s left to decide is the date and time.
“With preplanning, essentially the road path is already there,” says Daviston, noting that on almost a daily basis, someone visits the funeral home to discuss making prearrangements.
At McKoon, that service is free of charge, although some opt to prepay their casket or urn.
“Prepayment is not the most important part,” Daviston says. “What’s most important is getting your wishes and desires in print so your loved ones know what to do after death occurs.”
Another advantage to preplanning is that it allows people to alter their plans as changes occur in their life. At McKoon, Daviston had a standing appointment each spring with a
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client to review her service arrangements and update them as she saw fit.
“She’d add pictures to her photo portfolio for her future video or make other changes,” says Daviston. “That’s the beauty of doing this ahead of time. If you hear a new song you like, call and add it to your prearrangements.”
While the average age for those who preplan a celebration of life is over 60, more younger people are choosing to plan ahead, according to Daviston.
After a family has buried its loved one, the next task often involves coping with business affairs, paying bills and settling an estate.
For most, the specter of meeting these challenges can be downright scary. But with planning – by putting in place a roadmap for family to follow the way after our death – we can avoid serious complications that our loved ones otherwise might face.
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From creating wills and/or trusts to detailed estate planning, a little preparation and forethought can make leaving this earth a far easier thing for those we leave behind, according to Michael Hill, a partner with the Newnan law firm of Glover & Davis.
“Addressing these issues is important for everyone,” says Hill. “A will establishes your desires as to how things you leave behind will be handled. If you die without a will, everything you own or have will be distributed according to state law. In the end, it’s far easier and better to have parameters set through a will for your estate. It allows you to designate asset distribution and to designate a conservator or guardian for your children.”
Consulting with an attorney can also determine if you and your family might
benefit from more detailed strategies, such as establishing a trust that controls your assets as you get older. These kinds of strategies are often executed in a collaborative process with a family’s financial planner.
“As attorneys, we aren’t able to look at growth strategies or investment allocations for your assets,” Hill says. “That’s clearly the job of the financial planner. But working together, we can spot legal pitfalls that can create serious issues for your family or the estate you leave behind.”
When it comes to dodging potential financial pitfalls, Brett Moore, managing partner and senior wealth advisor with RBM Wealth Management Group in Newnan, agrees with Hill on the importance of consulting with a
financial planner. He says early, and continual, financial planning can make all the difference during end-of-life years.
Moore, an Accredited Estate Planner®, points to three critical areas where families most often make costly mistakes: beneficiary coordination, changing tax and inheritance laws, and improper insurance/ long-term care planning.
Moore highlights the importance of keeping beneficiary designations up to date on retirement accounts and life insurance.
“People assume their will controls everything, but beneficiary forms override your will, and that’s where we see major problems,” he says. “Your will or trust may be a perfectly written document, but if you don’t take it to your financial planner and line up all your investments and insurance with what the lawyer did, there could be trouble.”
Naming the wrong beneficiary, or forgetting to update one, can unintentionally disinherit those you love, according to Moore.
Keeping current on tax laws is another major concern, he says.
While the current federal estate tax only affects estates above $13.99 million, Moore warns that this limit could shrink quickly depending on legislation. Meanwhile, non-spouses who inherit a retirement account fall under the new required minimum distribution rules, forcing heirs to take withdrawals over a shortened time frame – and potentially increasing their tax burden, he says. Moore notes that life insurance with the tax-free death benefit, as well as early investment planning, can help offset this burden.
“Coordinating investment strategy, legal documents and insurance – ideally with both a financial planner and an estate attorney – gives families the best chance to minimize taxes, protect inheritances and even carve out charitable gifts that reflect their values,” says Moore.
Just as the insurance industry continues to evolve, long-term care coverage has changed dramatically in recent years, according to Moore.
“Long-term care costs are one of the fastest ways to erode a family’s assets,” he says. “The good news is that insurance options have evolved from traditional ‘use it or lose it’ plans to hybrid policies tied to life insurance or annuity-based products.”
He notes that understanding these tools before care is needed can help families avoid spending down assets, preserve legacy goals, and reduce financial burden on their children – all good things to consider when making end-of-life plans. NCM
Grief is intimate and complex, yet it finds solace in shared presence and quiet acts of care. Parmer Monument and Stone, a familyowned monument curation company based in LaGrange at 2134 West Point Road, recently expanded with the addition of their new location in Newnan at 1201 Lower Fayetteville Road, which opened in June. Parmer Monument has served the families of West Georgia and East Alabama, including Coweta County, with care, expertise and professionalism since 1966. The new location in Newnan provides more convenience for the families in Coweta and surrounding areas and features the same family attentiveness and support while providing ease for those in search of monument services.
Parmer offers their communities a large selection of handcrafted, unique memorials as well as on-site cemetery engraving, memorial cleaning and repair, wall installation, grave restoration, and more. From the simplest to most elaborate of monuments, each order is customized to create an individualized, everlasting memory for their customers.
“One thing we all have in common in life is that we experience loss,” says Tammy Forbus, office manager of Parmer Monument and Stone. “A monument represents a person who lived and died. It’s not simply a granite, marble or bronze monument that is expertly placed in cemeteries. To a family, this represents their loved one and provides an understanding of who this person was. This is a lasting memorial for generations to come.”
Mass-produced gravestones are often unable to match the level of customization that Parmer offers because they personally meet with their clients to hear the stories and memories of those who have passed to create a finished product that represents their legacy.
“Our goal is to make the process as easy and comfortable as possible,” says Forbus. “A lot of times, we may bring up aspects that may not have been considered, and that’s our job – to educate and then allow the family to make their choices for what they desire for their loved one.”
Families have turned and returned to Parmer for decades for their ability to create beautiful, expertly handcrafted pieces at a fair price with an understanding perspective. Visit with them at their new Newnan location. Their mission to create an everlasting memory rings true through each monument that honors those who have come before us. They are ready to serve your family with honor, respect and expertise.
• Custom monuments in granite, marble and bronze
• Upright and slant headstones
• Flat, bevel and slab markers
• Family estate monuments
• Memorial benches
• Mausoleums
• Columbaria
• On-site cemetery inscriptions, such as dates of death and epitaphs
• Cleaning and restoration
• Memorial Coins that turn monuments into living stories with photos and videos
Written by JENNIFER LONDON Photographs courtesy of JASON TUTTLE
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” – Washington Irving
Newnan residents Jason Tuttle and wife
Jennifer married in 2003 and soon started their family, first having son Zachary and then daughter Samantha.
Both children were born with special needs, but firstborn Zachary was diagnosed with Eagle Barrett Syndrome, also known as Prune Belly Syndrome, a rare congenital malformation resulting in the absence of abdominal muscles, causing the skin to wrinkle up like a prune. He was born with one kidney, had severe delays and epilepsy, and was nonverbal and wheelchair bound.
Zachary was in and out of the hospital throughout his life and extremely susceptible to respiratory illnesses, according to his father. He had several major surgeries with long recovery times, including a spinal fusion surgery in 2021. Despite the challenges his son faced, “he was always laid back, he was always happy and
smiling, even in the midst of being in the hospital,” says Jason.
Zachary had a big personality.
“He was very personable, even though he couldn’t talk he certainly talked with his eyes,” says his father. “He never met a stranger. He loved everybody.”
Zachary enjoyed music, watching sports with his dad, and participating in Special Olympics bowling and hippotherapy.
About six months after his last surgery, teenaged Zachary came down with a sudden illness. As it progressed into more serious symptoms, Zachary was taken to Scottish Rite Hospital where he died.
“The official cause of death was sepsis and cardiac arrest due to sepsis,” says Jason. “He got an infection somewhere, and it got into his bloodstream.”
Zachary died on January 28 in 2022. He was 15.
“That whole scenario is what started everything I’ve done with ‘Letters to Zachary,’” says Jason. “I’ve always been a huge proponent of counseling and therapy. I had seen a counselor for some issues I was dealing with.”
After his son died, he went back to therapy for help in processing his grief.
“I just got through dealing with some anger issues and that kind of thing, and now my son has passed away and I feel like it’s just all flooding back,” he recalls.
One day his counselor asked him if he ever considered journaling. She encouraged him to put it on the backburner as a mindfulness activity, reminding him that he didn’t have to share it with anybody, that he could write it out, burn it or delete it off his computer.
“It sat on the mental side table for nine months,” says Jason.
Then one day, while on Facebook, he saw a video that triggered memories of Zachary, and he became inconsolable. After getting through the moment, Jason decided to try his hand at journaling, turning on some music and turning to a Word document to get out everything he’d been holding in.
“If I feel like I need to drop an F-bomb in the moment because that’s how I’m feeling, that’s how I’m gonna write it,” he told himself. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it.”
He journaled several times a day for weeks, Jason recalls; he stored the writing in a folder on his computer. Eventually, he came across a Facebook group for parents who had lost a special needs child. He joined the group and noticed there were few male members; he asked the site administrator if he could post some of his journal entries and was given the go-ahead.
Summoning the courage to post one of his letters to his son, Jason said he was in a mental state that he thought might lead him to jump down someone’s throat if they disagreed with him. He posted anyway and was shocked at the influx of positive responses from group members. Continuing to post with the hope of helping other people, the inevitable healing for Tuttle began to take shape. A year into it, his wife Jennifer noticed the positive shift, according to Jason.
“Letters to Zachary” started as a Facebook page and expanded with Instagram and TikTok as well as a professional website, letterstozachary.com, and a “Letters to Zachary” coloring book. Jason also found success in the world of podcasts on the Sunsetstories podcast run by a mother who lost two children to death.
“Hers was the first podcast I did,” Jason recalls. “She was willing to give me a chance to do an episode to be able to share my story, and that’s kind of how it started.”
He has done close to 100 podcasts now, including four live episodes and two internet-based TV shows. His followers consist mostly of women, and he hopes to reach more men, encouraging them to open up about their grief. He emphasizes that whatever is shared with him stays confidential.
“Initially, I did it specifically for men,” says Jason of the “Letters to Zachary” Facebook site, which is subtitled: “A Grieving Father’s Raw Journey.”
“All I was looking for was men who I could bounce ideas off of,” he says. “There are certain things men deal with that maybe women don’t.”
Jason admits losing his son to death has changed him irreversibly.
“Like anybody in the grief world, I still have my moments,” he says. “I tell people all the time: If you’re looking for me to be who I was before my son passed, you can forget that. It’s a big change when you lose someone in your life.”
From his personal perspective, this is how Jason Tuttle puts it: “You’ve got to understand that grief sucks. With that being said, it’s difficult, but you will eventually, in a sense, get through it. You won’t be able to see it maybe that first month, six months, maybe a year, but you’ll eventually start, as we say, moving forward with the grief. Don’t let people tell you that how you’re grieving is wrong. There’s a lot of nuances to all of our grief and what we’re dealing with that other people don’t know.”
For more, visit letterstozachary.com. NCM
A letter to Zachary from his father, Jason
June 26, 2025. In this moment, my heart hurts for you to be here. My eyes long to see your face. My arms wish to feel your embrace. My ears want your laughter to break the deadening silence. I long for that which is in the past. I question the reasoning why life had you on the path you were and why life makes me endure after you are gone. I know that life is not fair, but I still question why it can’t be fair. I ask questions that I know I will never get answers to. I long for justification in an unjust world. I just want what was mine … back. Sadly, I know that’s not how it works.
So, I sit here. Quietly sorrowful as if to not wake anyone else up this morning. Tears running down my face. Sadness enveloping me. Feeling the despair of never again – all while hoping that I can somehow change what is now cemented in time. Damn. I miss you, Zachary.
Healing Bridge Clinic exists to demonstrate and communicate God’s love while providing healthcare to the uninsured residents of Fayette and the surrounding counties. Founded in 2009, the clinic is a 501(c)(3) nonprofi t organized for charitable and educational purposes. In FY24, the clinic provided more than $1.7 million in free medical care to its patients, had nearly 1,300 patient visits from 13 Georgia counties, and recorded more than 5,300 patient encounters. At no charge, residents who meet eligibility requirements can access healthcare and resources for medical intervention, health education and prevention at the Healing Bridge Clinic. All patients must be uninsured and living at or below
200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
Services provided include general medicine, cardiology, orthopedic, dermatology, women’s wellness, podiatry, physical therapy, emotional health counseling, addiction counseling, limited dental and vision, and various treatment options that include laser therapy.
The clinic is supported by five employees and more than 70 volunteers. Professional volunteers such as physicians, physician assistants, family nurse practitioners, and nurses provide healthcare services to patients while non-medical volunteers serve as intake greeters, provide spiritual care, and serve as translators and social workers.
From
From life’s biggest moments, to everyday needs, The Southern Credit Union is here with you every step of the way. Membership is open to anyone living or working in Coweta County and once you’re a member, your family is also eligible to join. We offer a full array of financial services and accounts. With competitive rates, flexible terms and local, personalized service, our loans cannot be beat.
biggest moments, to everyday needs, The Southern Credit Union is here with you every step of the way. Membership is open to anyone living or working in Coweta County and once you’re a member, your family is also eligible to join. We offer a full array of financial services and accounts. With competitive rates, flexible terms and local, personalized service, our loans cannot be beat.
Join today by stopping in one of our convenient Coweta County locations:
NEWNAN
That is the question when it comes to a final resting place
IWritten by FRANCES KIDD
t’s been said that everything old becomes new again, even, as it turns out, methods of interment.
Today, there are more options than ever for burial, including burial of the body in a casket, cremation, green burials that allow the deceased to go naturally back into the earth, and terramation (or, human composting).
Until the mid-19th century, most human burials were what we today would call green burials: Loved ones prepared the body of the deceased for burial without preservative chemicals.
Casualties of the Civil War were left where they fell, decomposing on the battlegrounds. Even if wealthy families could pay to have bodies shipped back home, the lack of refrigeration and/or embalming resulted in few bodies returning to their hometown.
Some years before the War, Frenchman Jean Gannal
published a book updating the methods used by ancient Egyptians who practiced a simple method of embalming. After the book was translated into English, Americans began learning about embalming techniques, primarily by “practicing” on deceased soldiers. According to America Alive website, a storytelling resource, about 40,000 of the approximately 650,000 soldiers who died during the Civil War were embalmed.
After President Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son died in 1862, he was embalmed, according to an article in “Smithsonian Magazine.” And after the president was assassinated, he was embalmed in anticipation of drawing large crowds of mourners as his body traveled crosscountry by train to his burial place in Springfield, Ill.
Since then, the U.S. funeral industry has ballooned to an estimated $20 billion-per-year business.
As cemetery superintendent for the City of Newnan, John Martin oversees Oak Hill and Eastview Cemeteries. His office is about a lot more than selling burial plots. His team is responsible for grounds maintenance, landscaping, repairing grave spaces, preparing grave spaces for burials, administering cemetery lot sales, and assisting the public with locating specific gravesites; all of these services are included in the price of a plot.
Martin and his staff provide a friendly and sympathetic face for the families and friends who come to his office.
“When we have families come in here, either they’re preparing for death or it’s happened,” Martin says. “We just try to have a conversation.”
They provide the same services for those who wish to bury cremated remains, or cremains.
Though there are many alternatives to traditional burial, some folks won’t have it.
“In my case, I would not consider any method other than coffi n” says lifetime Newnan resident Bill Stephens. “After all, my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and wife were in coffi ns. Call it tradition, if you will. I just do not feel comfortable being laid to rest next to my wife other than the way she was.”
Although his decision is clear, Stephens expresses respect for anyone who selects other options.
“As a believer, it doesn’t really matter what happens to my body after death,” he says. “It’s the spirit that will live on.”
Event organizer Maria Robinson says she thinks about the environmental effects traditional burial methods can have but allows she hasn’t settled on her end-of-life plans.
“I’m a researcher,” she says. “I’d have to try to understand the positives and negatives of the new methods.”
According to the Cremation Association of North America, scholars agree that cremation likely began during the early Stone Age in Europe and the Near East. During the late Stone Age, the practice of cremation moved across northern Europe. After Constantine’s Christianization of the Empire, earth burial replaced cremation, and for the next 1,500 years remained the accepted mode of disposition throughout Europe. America’s fi rst modern crematory was built in 1876 by Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne on land he owned in Washington, Penn.
After cremation comes the decision on what to do with the ashes. Often, the deceased has given instructions on how they should be dispersed.
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Though it’s technically a misdemeanor to spread cremated remains anywhere without permission, in many cases family members scatter ashes in places that held special meaning to the deceased.
For those wishing to travel out of space, Beyond Burials has just the thing. Ashes can be blasted into space for memorials in packages ranging from the $1,500 Starlight Memorial to the $7,500 Milky Way Memories.
Th e percentage of people shooting ashes into space may be fairly small, but the number of people choosing cremation continues to grow, according to Martin. He estimates that about 17 to 20 percent of Oak Hill Cemetery’s services are for cremations. He added that he’s sure the overall local number is higher than that since cremains from the funeral homes aren’t always buried.
Newnan resident Debbie Vines has made her defi nitive plans: “I want to be cremated, and then I want everybody to have a party.”
In his book, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” author Mark Haddon writes: “When people die they are sometimes put into coffins, which means that they don’t mix with the earth for a very long time until the wood of the coffin rots.”
Green burials speed up that process.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents surveyed in the 2024 National Funeral Directors Association’s Consumer Awareness and Preferences Report would like to explore nontoxic end-of-life alternatives, an upshoot from nearly 56 percent in 2021.
Due to growing concern about the environment, some are turning to what the funeral industry calls green burial.
According to an article in the December 2024 issue of AARP’s magazine, a green cemetery is one that has a more natural and environmentally friendly approach to end-of-life burials. Embalmed bodies, metal caskets or cement vaults are not allowed. Cremated remains, or cremains, may be buried or scattered after mixed with a special soil to encourage plant growth.
For burial, the body is placed in a biodegradable casket or shroud and lowered directly into the ground without a vault. Green burials, typically less expensive than
traditional burials, only utilize natural, biodegradable materials to allow remains to return to earth naturally.
It may be a surprise to learn that options for green burials already exist in the state of Georgia, including one right down the road in LaGrange. Whispering Hills Natural Green Cemetery features 40 acres for burials. The rolling forestland and meadows are dotted throughout with granite fieldstone markers indicating the location of graves.
“When we opened, there were about 150 green cemeteries in the U.S.” says Jean Howard who, with her brother Ralph Howard, opened the preserve in 2021. “Now, there are about 300.”
If it seemed like there couldn’t be anything beyond a green burial, the Georgia legislature earlier this year passed a law allowing and regulating what they call organic human reduction. The law went into effect in July.
Also called terramation, this process involves placing the body in a specialized vessel and using microbes and organic matter to speed up the natural decomposition of human remains. At the end of the process, families are left with nutrient-rich soil they can use to garden, plant trees or donate to conservation lands.
After about three months, the vessel is opened and the “soil” is fi ltered to remove any medical devices such as prosthetics, pacemakers or joint replacements.
In six months, the body with accompanying wood chips and straw will transform into enough soil to fi ll the bed of a pickup truck, according to the Associated Press.
Another environment-friendly option that’s emerging in the funeral business is mushroom coffi ns. Biodegradable coffi ns are made using mycelium, the root structure of fungi; burial in these organic containers speeds up the decomposition process, returning “dust to dust” in a more natural manner. Mushroom urns are available for burying cremated remains.
Another way of posthumously helping the world is to donate your body to science. In Georgia, those making end-of-life plans can donate their bodies through Body Donor Programs at Emory University School of Medicine, the Medical College of Georgia, Morehouse School of Medicine and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Georgia Campus.
Bodies are used by medical school faculty and residents to develop new surgical techniques and diagnostic procedures or to provide continuing education to physicians and other health professionals.
According to the Medical College of Georgia’s Body Donor Program website, this practice is not new. The examination of the dead to learn about the living body was fi rst practiced extensively in ancient Egypt.
Each institution may have different rules about the process. All require that the body must be cremated after scientific studies, and most institutions will cover cremation and transportation costs and return the ashes to the family.
Cowetan Jenny Lewis is an avid gardener who’s planning to utilize more than one method for her body’s disposal.
“My plan has always been to donate my body to a medical school, be cremated and then composted,” she says.
All these methods can get expensive, and prices for burial ceremonies continue to rise. When the City of Newnan announced that prices at Oak Hill Cemetery would be raised on January 1 this year, several residents made an early decision to buy space at Oak Hill, according to Cemetery Superintendent Martin.
There is burial assistance available for those who need it. According to the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Georgia, many Peach State residents
lack the fi nancial means to arrange for or pay for a simple, dignified funeral. In the most difficult cases, the deceased’s body remains unclaimed until a local government intervenes, as required by Georgia law, to arrange an indigent burial or cremation. The law ensures that every person who dies in Georgia has access to an appropriate fi nal disposition. Whenever a person dies without the ability to pay for burial or cremation, the county may cover those expenses, if they meet certain qualifications.
The Alliance, a nonprofit that advises consumers on how to obtain affordable funeral and burial arrangements, in June convened their 2025 Biennial Conference on the subject of “The Cost of Goodbye: Confronting Funeral Poverty in Our Communities.”
The choices are many for one of the most personal life decisions: what to do with your body when you’re dead. It can be up to you. NCM
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The Women's Specialists of Fayette comprise a healthcare team that understands that women have special healthcare needs throughout their lives.
Our specialists are trained in the field of women's medicine which includes obstetrical and gynecological services such as pregnancy care, family planning needs and counseling, annual examinations, and minor office surgical procedures.
In addition, specialized care is available in areas such as high risk pregnancy and gynecological/ urogynecological surgery.
Written by MELISSA JACKSON Photographs courtesy of HENSON SIGNS & GRAPHICS
In a world increasingly dominated by corporate efficiency and depersonalized technology, Jeremy Henson has found a way to bring art, compassion, and community to one of life’s most difficult moments. His work represents something deeper than decoration. It’s about ensuring that people are remembered not just for how they died, but for how they lived.
Jeremy looks like he could be the lead of a pop country band or the owner of your favorite barbecue restaurant. He’s simultaneously “all over the place”
(his description) and remarkably centered and self-reflective. His toughness quickly gives way to compassion and deep regard for the community he loves.
At any given moment, as owner of Newnan-based Henson Signs & Graphics with his wife Brandi, Jeremy works on multiple projects and oversees a dozen employees. Their business makes everything from stickers to bus wraps, but it all stops when they get a call for a casket wrap.
Custom vinyl wraps created by the Henson team transform ordinary caskets into personalized
works of art that celebrate a person’s passions and personality. NASCAR enthusiasts might be honored with their favorite driver’s car speeding around a track, complete with checkered flags and racing imagery.
Veterans’ families might request dignified tributes featuring the American flag, military insignia, or scenes from their service years. A farmer’s coffin might feature a tranquil scene of rolling fields with a tractor silhouetted against the setting sun. Sports enthusiasts may spend eternity under the logo of a favorite team, player or coach.
Jeremy says he often searches through photos of the deceased, provided by the family, to find the right combination of images. Each wrap begins with highresolution printing on durable vinyl that’s meticulously applied to every curve and corner of the casket. Henson designs frequently incorporate portraits of the deceased seamlessly blended into scenes representing their favorite activities.
Each design is customized to the individual, whether that’s a grandmother tending her prize-winning roses, a mechanic working under the hood of a classic car, or a teacher surrounded by smiling students.
The artwork, according to Jeremy, “creates a celebration of life” that turns the casket into a visual story depicting who the person was in life.
Jeremy says he never intended to wrap caskets and urns and doesn’t typically advertise it as a service he offers, but it’s become a fairly regular request.
Over the past 15 years, Henson has completed hundreds of these deeply personal projects, many of them for local families.
Located on Millard Farmer Boulevard in Newnan, the Hensons’ community-centered business creates art that markets and promotes other businesses. But it also helps grieving families honor loved ones with customwrapped caskets, according to Jeremy, who previously worked 19 years as a firefighter, most of those in Newnan.
“As a fireman, I felt like I made an impact in the community,” he recalls.
While he was skilled in fire and rescue, his background was in art – and he felt something was missing. “It wasn’t creative, and it wasn’t who I was,” he says.
When he transitioned to the graphics business in 2009, Jeremy focused on helping small businesses survive the economic downturn. What he didn’t expect was how the work would connect him to the community.
“I have been surprised at the impact and how many events that we’re involved with as a sign graphics company,” he says. “Birthdays and funerals, and all these grand openings, and closings.”
One moment that captures the
business’s impact happened when the Hensons were out for dinner.
“A child whose father had passed away came up to us, holding a picture of the casket, and thanked us, grateful and in tears,” he recalls.
In turn, the Hensons are grateful to be integral to extraordinary moments in other families’ lives. The caskets, Jeremy believes, are “part of the healing process that most people don’t realize or understand.”
While a firefighter, he witnessed unmitigated tragedy time and again. His deep connection to funeral projects stems from a genuine empathy with grieving families: “I know it goes back to trying to deal with some of the things that I saw. It’s a way to connect with others. Since I’ve seen the tragic side, I can connect with the family and provide some support in their grieving.”
Creating a custom casket wrap is unlike any other design
project Jeremy undertakes. The turnaround is necessarily quick.
“I might only have four hours,” he says. “Hopefully, I have a full day, but in the midst of that, I have to create artwork and a proof that the family can approve, and then get it in production.”
The process begins with gathering clues often including internet research and family interviews, according to Jeremy who finds out the decedent’s job, hobbies and favorite color, even if that means mining information
on social media and the internet. Through his ingenuity and curiosity, he builds customer profiles that help him craft individualized celebrations of life.
“I take all those clues and put them together to create a piece of art,” he says.
Jeremy’s goal is to make a final memory that captures the essence of who each family’s loved one was in life. Whether the service is open or closed casket, the casket itself can provide a visual, according to the Hensons.
“Wrapping the casket is a way to help others visualize aspects of a person’s life that not everyone may have known,” says Jeremy. When the business first started offering casket and urn wraps 15 years ago, it encountered resistance, according to the Hensons.
“I’ve had funeral homes say we would never sell a wrapped casket,” says Jeremy. “Eventually, they came to me and bought a wrap.”
Jeremy describes custom designs that feature photographs and montages placing the deceased in idyllic scenes depicting the lives they lived. His expertise has taken him beyond Newnan to teach manufacturers.
“A company was paying me to consult and sending me to body shops to teach them how to wrap cars,” he recalls.
“They said, ‘Hey, can you go to a casket manufacturer in Tennessee? They want somebody to teach them how to wrap caskets.’ I wasn’t the first person to wrap a casket, but I wanted to – you know – do it better.”
The most meaningful example came from Jeremy’s own family.
“We, as a family, wrapped my nephew’s casket,” he recalls. “We made it a family thing, and it really was healing for us.”
Henson was 12 when he died in an ATV accident in 2023. He lived in Harris County where he enjoyed being outdoors and was active in all kinds of sports, including football, basketball and shotgun club.
Jeremy used multiple images of Colin participating in the sports he loved to create a casket wrap for his nephew.
Jeremy also incorporated shotgun shells (from the range where Colin practiced) as inlay decorations on the casket.
Wrapping the casket was a way the Hensons bonded as a family, with Colin’s brother, cousins and family friends assisting, according to Jeremy, who says the
wraps themselves help families with their grief process and healing.
Jeremy imagines archaeologists centuries from now as they discover these embellished caskets.
“One day, they’re going to excavate some of these, and it’s going to be like the Egyptian graves,” he surmises.
“And they’ll ask, ‘Why are they ornate? Who put this art on there?’”
To learn more about coffin and urn wraps and other customized funeral products, talk with your funeral home representative or contact Jeremy Henson at Henson Graphics. NCM
KEITH BRADY WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN DEVELOPMENT/RESTORATION OF:
New City Hall
Streetscapes Program downtown
Greenville Street Park
Wadsworth Auditorium
Carnegie Library
Justice Center
1904 Courthouse Renovation
UWG Newnan Campus
Downtown Alleyway Improvement Program
Keep Newnan Beautiful
Public Safety Complex
Newnan Fire Stations & Training Center
Newnan Boys & Girls Club
Swimming Facility at Wesley Park
New Baseball Facility at Pickett Field
C.J. Smith Park
Ray Park
“The HOP”, Newnan Pickleball Court
Veterans Park
The LINC
Sprayberry Road Park
"I’m running for re-election because I love Newnan and have a passion to serve. Over the years, I’ve worked to create a community where families feel safe, connected, and proud to call home. Seeing young people return to raise their own families here tells me we are fulfilling our vision."
The heroes of Coweta County – those law enforcement officers, fire rescue and emergency responders, and 911 dispatchers who work in concert to help us in times of dire need –are not beyond need themselves.
While highly trained in their respective professions, these public service workers sometimes are taken aback by the tremendous stresses of jobs that put them on the front lines of life and death situations.
Fortunately, in Coweta, administrators at the local police departments, sheriff’s office, fire rescue and 911 recognize the potential trauma their employees face. To help these helpers, they put in place procedures and personnel to alleviate and manage
stress for those whose job is undeniably wracked with stressors.
As part of this magazine’s Death (and Life) Issue, the 2025 edition of Heroes Among Us seeks to explore the lives of local heroes who never know when they leave for work in the morning what tragedy they may encounter before their shift ends. Not knowing, they head out the door anyway to a job that has the potential to save lives – or put their own lives in harm’s way.
We recognize this, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you do. You truly are our heroes.
Jackie Kennedy, Editor Newnan-Coweta Magazine
Written and Photographed by JEFFREY CULLEN-DEAN
Gasoline brings back memories for Newnan Police Captain Jody Stanford.
Two similar incidents from his job as a police officer come to mind when he fills up his car. He’s never talked about them with his wife, but she knows there were things related to gasoline that happened at work. They both involved self-immolation.
Stanford watched a man douse himself with five gallons of gasoline and light a fire. From the waist up, he was on fire, according to Stanford.
Officers made attempts to talk the man down, but it didn’t work. Stanford kicked the man to the ground to put the fire out, and the man survived. The second incident also involved a suicide attempt.
Stanford and other officers were tracking the man’s vehicle because he had left a note.
By the time Stanford arrived, the man had filled the inside of his car with gasoline and lit it.
“When I pulled up to him, he’d already done it,” Stanford says. “That stays with me.”
Law enforcement officers (LEOs) seldom speak with their loved ones about the grief and trauma that results from their jobs, according to Stanford. Instead, he says, they generally prefer to talk to one another about the difficult incidents that weigh on their minds.
Vehicle fatalities were the first experiences with job-related deaths for Senoia Police Chief Jason Edens and Assistant Police Chief Steve Tomlin.
“It was five fatalities on one vehicle and that was in 1993,” Edens says. “Three of them were children. I was the first one on the scene. You never forget the first one. It’s just something that sticks with you.”
At the end of his first shift as a police officer is when Newnan Police Chief Brent Blankenship watched someone die. He was working the night shift, and it happened about 5 a.m. A man had been stabbed to death.
“I was 22 years old, and he passed right there,” Blankenship says.
“It’s easier to speak with someone on shift because they’re going to understand what you’re going through,” says Coweta County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brittany Doss. “A lot of them have been through and witnessed the same things we have.”
In her 10-year career, Doss says she’s seen infant and elderly deaths, has been a part of two officerinvolved shootings, and worked the night the sheriff’s office lost deputy Eric Minix in a 2024 wreck during a high-speed chase. She was also present last year at a fatal house fire that claimed the lives of six people, including a child she had tried to resuscitate.
Considering job experiences like these, compartmentalizing is key to the job, according to Doss. She says that after she responds to an incident, she may need to step away in order to keep her composure. About five years ago, she spent several hours on the scene of a child’s death. She recalls crying afterward, and she considered leaving the profession.
“But after I got that out, I said, ‘It’s time to go to the next scene,’” she recalls. “This job makes you kind of numb about everything because we see so much. You have to be able to separate your feelings. If you get yourself wrapped up into it, it’s going to eat you alive.”
Doss says she doesn’t remember her first encounter with death on the job. Neither does Sheriff Lenn Wood, but he thinks it was most likely an infant death scene. For Wood, the most difficult incidents on the job are when children are involved.
Events following that death were unceremonious, Blankenship recalls. He went home and tried to get some sleep. He came back to work the next day and completed paperwork for the incident. At the time, the culture among LEOs didn’t encourage discussing on-the-job trauma. It was viewed as a sign of weakness, Blankenship says.
Today, law enforcement agencies have peer support groups for officers to turn to after traumatic incidents. These groups include officers trained to provide trauma counseling.
After the fatal house fire last year, CCSO coordinated its peer support groups and brought in outside counselors for everyone who’d been on the scene.
About five years ago, the Senoia Police Department lost an officer to suicide. Counselors were made available for the other officers. Edens and Tomlin foster an open-door policy.
“If any employee is having a problem at work or home and talks to us, they don’t have to worry about their job being on the line,” says Tomlin.
“I’ll share stories from my past or things I have messed up on,” Eden adds.
An officer’s suicide in 2019 also encouraged mental health services at the Newnan Police Department. The department’s previous chief, Buster Meadows, planted the seeds for mental health care at the department, according to Stanford, and Blankenship pushed it further when he took over in 2021.
Wood encourages supervisors at CCSO to reach out if they see behavioral changes in deputies or jail personnel. He says he wants staff to support one another, to watch out for one another and pay extra attention if someone has clashes between their personal life and professional life, such as a divorce, financial trouble or death in the family.
After a deputy sought a counselor, Wood says he saw how much it helped him, so he encourages his deputies to seek counseling or to reach out to friends and family. Officers do their best to show compassion and support when breaking bad news to victims’ families, which was critical for Coweta deputies last year when Deputy Eric Minix was killed. Sheriff Wood, along with deputies, went to Minix’s home to tell his wife Trina. When she came to the door and saw him, she knew it wasn’t good.
“I didn’t have to tell her anything,” says Wood. Afterwards, he assembled on- and off-duty deputies to discuss the incident.
“We said, ‘Okay, we just need to talk about it,’” the sheriff recalls. “Some of them wouldn’t say anything, but we all eventually got to talking and laughing, [remembering] good things about Eric. I think that helped a lot… I think it helped us all.” NCM
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Coweta-Newnan O ice
1201 Lower Fayetteville Road 770-254-8333 • Coweta.BHHSGeorgia.com
Carriage House
Country Antiques, Gifts, Collectibles
7412 East Highway, Senoia 770-599-6321 • carriagehousesenoia.com
City of Hope
600 Celebrate Life Parkway, Newnan 833-282-2285 • cancercenter.com
Coweta Charter Academy
K-8 Tuition-Free School
6675 East Highway 16, Senoia cowetacharter.org
Odyssey Charter School
14 St. John Circle, Newnan 770-400-1000 • piedmont.org
Piedmont Newnan Hospital
745 Poplar Road, Newnan odysseycharterschool.net
The Salvation Army
Newnan Service Center
670 Je erson Street, Newnan 770-251-8181 • facebook.com/TSANewnan
Southern Crescent Women’s Health
Locations in Newnan, Fayetteville & Stockbridge 770-991-2200 • scwhobgyn.com
Wesley Woods
2280 Highway 29, Newnan 770-683-6833 • wesleywoods.org
White Oak Golden K Kiwanis Club
Newnan • whiteoakgoldenk.org
Calling 911 is often a daunting task, but the team in charge of the phones for Coweta County’s 911 services do everything they can to make difficult situations as easy as possible.
Behind the nameless voices are regular members of the community – mothers, fathers, neighbors – but when the headsets are on and the calls are coming in, a switch is flipped. They become the front line of emergency response in Coweta. It’s a responsibility they don’t take lightly.
Answering the call
“You’ve got to be resilient,” 911 Communications Officer Starr Gomez says. “You hear all these things, and you have to remember, it’s not you. You have to be grounded. You have to be able to be there for that person.”
At Coweta County’s 911 Administration Office, Gomez answers incoming 911 calls, gathers caller information, and dispatches emergency services all across the county.
She started the position two and a half years ago after moving to Newnan from Brooklyn, N.Y. When she saw the job description on the County’s website, she was intrigued.
“I grew up in the ’90s, and that’s when the show ‘COPS’ was all the rage, and all the little kids wanted to be the offi cer,” Gomez says. “I wanted to be the lady that he’s talking to. I wanted to be the 911 operator.”
Gomez joined the team, but before taking any calls, she needed the proper training. For the fi rst fi ve to six weeks, new employees don’t take calls. Instead, they learn the fundamentals: how the phone systems work, how to respond to high stress calls, and how to locate callers. Th ey complete multiple certifi cations along the way.
“I can walk someone through CPR,” Gomez says. “I can walk someone through bleeding control measures or how to administer naloxone.”
Once the proper training and certifi cations are completed, communications offi cers are assigned a “best friend” who accompanies them for training for the next few months. New recruits take calls under the supervision of their best friend and the communications training offi cer to ensure proper protocol is followed. After their supervisory period is complete, communications offi cers operate their stations alone, but the job remains a team eff ort.
A minimum of 10 people are always in the call room, including one supervisor, a floor supervisor, two assistant supervisors and a training officer, according to Gomez.
“Even if you’re the one taking a phone call, as a team, there’s always someone who can call another agency if we need them,” she says. “There’s always someone who can help you if you’ve never had that kind of situation, especially if you’re a newer dispatcher.”
The 911 shifts are 12 hours long. Communications officers alternate between 36- and 48-hour weeks, according to Assistant 911/EMA Director Nic Burgess.
Due to the nature of their job, communications officers often experience a lack of closure with their calls. Once the proper authorities are dispatched, many operators never find out what happened next.
“Sometimes I don’t want to know, especially if it’s a hard call,” Gomez says. “But there are days I just hope that person’s okay.”
Dealing with the lack of closure and other stressors can easily overwhelm, according to Gomez, who manages the stress through self-care techniques, like talking with her fiancé or working at hobbies. She’s on the night shift, where the call load is generally smaller than during the day, but the team is still required to be on high alert. On average, the night shift deals with 75-100 calls, while the day shift answers closer to 300 calls on a busy day. With so many calls of varying severity coming in, communications officers must focus on multiple things at once.
“You have to be able to multitask,” says Gomez. “It goes really fast, but it’s almost as if time slows down when you’re on a call, especially if it’s a high priority call. You’re going to get life or death calls. You can prepare for the worst, and you get the least, or the opposite.”
The unknown aspect is a blessing and a curse, says Gomez, but she credits her training and the team dynamic for making the stress more manageable. Meeting those high-stress, life-or-death calls doesn’t get easier, though, she says: “You just get better at doing it.”
A pivotal piece of the operations at Coweta’s 911 Administration is their Peer Support Team. When the department experiences a particularly stressful or potentially traumatic situation, the team addresses those issues and provides relief to employees.
Team members complete a 40-hour training course and are required to be recertified after three years,
according to Peer Support Team Coordinator Cindy Eady. At least two team members are present each shift.
“In peer support, we are trained to look for certain things, to know when somebody’s in a bad spot, and then we can give them the right resources, whether it’s an employee assistance program counseling or a crisis counselor,” Eady says. “We are very lucky that our top down is very much watching out for our mental health.”
An operator who’s dealt with a difficult call is allowed to step out and decompress before answering more calls. For wide-scale incidents, the entire department goes through a debriefing and defusing process where those who were affected by the incident talk about their experiences.
“We deal with traumatic events,” says Eady. “We deal with all the things that happen in life – the stresses and anxiety, the job demands, all of it. We try to either talk you through things or get you the help you need.”
The team at Coweta County’s 911 Administration is all about maintaining a healthy work environment while providing the best possible emergency response.
“A lot of people don’t know who we are, but we’re your neighbors, we’re your cousins, we’re your aunts, your uncles,” says Gomez. “We’re here to help you. We wouldn’t be doing this job if we didn’t want to help our community.” NCM
Written and Photographed by WILL THOMAS
Death brought Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Captain David Pickett new life. In 2007, his father passed away. Ten days later, he lost his uncle. But instead of letting loss control his life, Pickett used it as inspiration.
“I had a moment of a lot of intense death all within two weeks,” says Pickett. “I had to step back and go, ‘What am I going to do? What am I going to be known for?’ I wanted to do something to help other people. I was told I needed to be in EMS. And there I went, and I love it every single day. I wake up every morning and see what kind of fires I can put out.”
As an EMS captain in Coweta County’s Fire Rescue, Pickett’s “fires” can vary drastically – from dealing with cardiac arrests to delivering newborn babies. Such a high-stakes field can often lead to stress, anxiety, and even trauma, but the team at Coweta’s Fire Rescue makes a conscious effort to deconstruct the stigma surrounding their occupation.
“We’re fighting hundreds of years of stigma in mental health with this. The last thing we want to do is ask for help. We’re the ones who get asked for help. We are the solvers,” says Pickett. “In the last 20 years or so, the county has really amped it up to where it’s okay to talk or ask for help.”
Before working with EMS, Pickett acquired a psychology degree, something he says comes in handy in his line of work when looking out for his coworkers, like firefighter paramedic Kyle Byrom and advanced emergency medical technician (EMT) Trevor Greene. Between the three of them is years of experience in responding to medical emergency calls throughout Coweta. But before they can ride in the ambulance, EMTs and paramedics must complete more than 200 hours of training per year, according to Greene.
“The fire department hosts classes and teaches continuing education for EMS,” Byrom adds. “We have 40 hours of continuing education units we have to get every two years to maintain our certification as an EMT or paramedic.”
Paramedics and EMTs are trained for the most severe of situations, so when the call comes, they’re prepared for anything.
“I responded to a woman giving birth and helped deliver a baby, then I came back here and responded to a fatality accident,” says Byrom. “It was whiplash. But I can tell you when you’re there, you just fall back on your training. This is what we do, and then you kind of deal with it afterwards.”
Dealing with it afterwards isn’t always easy. That’s why the department takes steps to ensure its members know they’re not alone – and that support is always available for them. When the team experiences a particularly difficult call, they make sure to communicate how they’re feeling with each other.
“It seems like for most incidents, just getting together and talking about it with people who were either there or have been through similar situations seems to diffuse a lot of the stress,” Byrom says.
Department members are trained to recognize behavior patterns and pick up when a coworker isn’t acting normally. If an individual seems to be struggling, coworkers can step in and recommend the department’s peer support group, which gives them the opportunity to talk with state-provided, licensed mental health professionals.
The department also offers employee assistance programs with mental health resources specially tailored to individuals in public safety.
The most important thing, according to Pickett, is creating a safe environment where help is only one conversation away.
“We don’t want to go home and find out that our friend killed himself because he was too proud to talk,” Pickett says. “The best thing you can do is let them know that your door is open. Talking about it is going to be the best answer. That’s where it’s going to start. I’m a captain, but I can still walk into the chief’s office any day of the week, anytime, and go in there and blow off steam. And that’s where we have to be, no matter our rank.” NCM
With deep gratitude for the men and women who service in the City of Newnan’s Police and Fire Departments, THANK YOU for keeping our community safe.
Photographed by
As sure as the Georgia sun rises in the east and sets in the west, families grieving the loss of a loved one can count on Southern friends to show up with the gift of food.
The tradition is based on basic need: Everyone needs to eat, but the bereaved lack energy and gumption to prepare their own food. So, friends and neighbors step up with a plate of good food, a box of chicken, or a homemade pie.
One of the most traditional of Southern funeral fare is a casserole. This dinner-in-a-dish combines (almost) all four food groups to present a meal that’s hearty and delicious, just what’s needed by anyone stunned by grief and temporarily unable to work the stove.
Here, we share casseroles from “Coweta Cooks: Sharing a Legacy of our Favorite Recipes,” published by The Newnan Times-Herald in 2023. Confirming how funerals and casseroles go hand-in-hand, we include a Chicken and Broccoli Casserole submitted by McKoon Funeral Home & Crematory.
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
McKoon Funeral Home & Crematory
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli
4 large chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
2 cups cooked rice
1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
½ onion, chopped
½ cup chopped celery
Kay Cole
2 cups chicken, cooked, cooled and cut or shredded
1 (16-ounce) container sour cream
2 (10.5-ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
½ cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon poppy seed
1½ sleeves of buttery crackers, like Ritz
In large bowl, stir together chicken, sour cream and cream of chicken soup. In small bowl, mix butter and poppy seed.
Crush crackers by placing in plastic gallon bag and hitting with blunt end of a serving utensil or by smashing with a rolling pin. Add cracker crumbs to butter and poppy seed mixture, mixing well with a spoon.
Spread half of cracker mixture in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour chicken over that, and cover with the remaining cracker mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Optional: Mixture can be divided into two smaller dishes; serve one and freeze the other.
Nathan Metts, Newnan
1 whole rotisserie chicken
1½ cups frozen peas and carrots
½ cup diced celery
¾ cup diced onion
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
2/3 cup heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon celery salt
2 (9-inch) unbaked pie crusts
1 egg
Salt and pepper
Gather all ingredients and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pull meat from rotisserie chicken into bite-size pieces and place in mixing bowl. Add peas and carrots to chicken.
Saute sweet onions and celery until translucent; add to mixing bowl with chicken, peas and carrots.
Melt butter in saucepan and whisk in all-purpose flour; cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and heavy cream to roux. Stir for 5 to 10 minutes until mixture thickens. Add to chicken and vegetables mixture. Add remaining seasonings and mix together.
Place 1 pie crust in the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Pour chicken mixture over top of the bottom crust. Cover with top crust, seal the edges and cut away any excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Brush top with 1 beaten egg. Sprinkle top with coarse salt and black pepper. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Vicki Mann, Newnan
2 (6-ounce) boxes Ben’s Original wild rice
2 pounds hot, medium or mild sausage
2 cups chopped onion
2 (8-ounce) cans mushroom stems and pieces (or fresh mushrooms)
1 (10½-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10½-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
2 teaspoons Accent seasoning
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon salt, as needed
Cook rice according to directions on box. Brown sausage and drain, leaving just enough grease in skillet to saute onion. Saute onion. In large bowl, combine rice, sausage, onion and remaining ingredients. Pour into casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until bubbly.
Bonnie Annis, Newnan
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
¼ cup diced green bell pepper
1 (16-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon A1 sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (5-ounce) package elbow macaroni
1 can cream chicken soup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups sharp shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, brown ground beef with onion, and drain. Add bell pepper, tomatoes, ketchup, A1 and Worcestershire sauces. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes.
While mixture simmers, cook macaroni in a separate pot of salted boiling water just until al dente; drain. Combine meat mixture, macaroni, chicken soup, salt and pepper. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle cheese over top of casserole, and bake for 20 minutes. NCM
Written by CAROLINE NICHOLSON
Photographed by BETH NEELY
Most nonprofit organizations are founded with the goal of helping the forgotten members of our society, from shelter animals in need to homes to the elderly who struggle to care for themselves without assistance. Another undersupported and often overlooked group is the large population of men and women who selflessly chose to serve in the United States Armed Forces.
For many military personnel, the transition from active service to civilian life is harrowing. Veterans face a range of challenges, including unsupportive communities, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), disabilities and financial problems.
Piper Hill is all too familiar with each of these obstacles. After serving 17 years in the Army and reaching the rank of captain, she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a predeployment exercise in late 2002. Th is injury completely altered the course of her life; she was given two months to live and was wheelchair bound. At her lowest point, she weighed 90 pounds and spent most of her time in bed, hardly eating and wasting away. A combination of fated circumstances gave her the strength to fight not only for herself but for other veterans in similar positions.
During a visit to the Veterans Affairs office, Hill encountered a severely injured veteran who also was in a wheelchair. Hill listened as the man, surrounded by his wife and young children, was given a 10 percent chance of surviving, meaning he was not eligible for benefits.
Having gone through a similarly hopeless situation, Hill encouraged the fellow veteran to demand more benefits for himself and his family. Th is was one of many times she was faced with the reality that veterans don’t always receive the help they desperately need.
Another important factor in Hill’s journey toward starting her nonprofit and her recovery was her American bulldog, Valentine. An ex-boyfriend’s dog, with no formal training, became one of the primary aspects of her rehabilitation.
On her worst days, bed-bound and unable to get medicine for herself, Hill had Valentine retrieve her medicine. Beyond that, the two formed a bond so strong that the dog could sense when Hill was depressed and did silly things to make her laugh.
Hill points to three main factors that helped her fight back to health.
“Valentine, a good attitude, and God are the reasons I’m alive today, because I didn’t want to be here,” she says. Her love for dogs and bond with Valentine, combined with the need she saw for deeper support for veterans, led Hill to start Healing4Heroes in 2008 with the main goal of rescuing dogs, training them to be service animals, and pairing them with veterans in need.
She started by helping one veteran and one dog, but Healing4Heroes grew exponentially in the years to follow. In 2009, Hill was able to pair 16 veterans with service dogs. Almost two decades after its creation, Healing4Heroes has helped 1,950 veterans find furry best friends to aid in their recovery.
One success story involves Newnan resident Travis McNulty, a veteran who served in the U.S. Army for six years.
Like thousands of veterans, he found the transition to civilian life challenging, especially with no fellow soldiers around. In 2024, he became interested in getting a service dog, and that’s when he found Healing4Heroes. Before long, he was paired with Zeke, a German Shepherd that quickly became his best friend.
“It has been a night and day difference in my life” McNulty says of Healing4Heroes. “Before, I just felt lost and didn’t have something to give me a sense of purpose. But joining Healing4Heroes provides you with a community of service members going through the same things you do, so you don’t feel alone.”
Not only did Healing4Heroes connect McNulty with Zeke; he also met his human best friend through the nonprofit. He and fellow veteran Josh Turner, of Peachtree City, are lifelong friends now.
Turner did a 14-month deployment in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. Upon returning home, he recalls, those closest to him felt like he was a different person. Turner struggled with PTSD, anxiety, anger issues and migraines, all of which diminished his quality of life. The issues eventually got so severe that he could no longer function, but he had a family to provide for. He started the process of looking for a service dog before realizing they cost between $10,000 and $15,000, a sum his young family could not afford.
Through a chance encounter at a local business, he received a card for Healing4Heroes and learned that he
could receive a service dog through them free of charge. During the process, Turner was introduced to Lou, a 90-pound pitbull that had been trained for service but not chosen due to his large size.
Turner knew that this was the dog meant for him, and the feeling was mutual because Lou came to him and refused to go to anyone else. That was over two years ago, and the pair have been inseparable since.
According to Turner, Lou the pitbull has changed the trajectory of his life.
“My whole life has been transformed,” he says. “I’m a better father and husband. I have a lot of a sense of responsibility now that I didn’t think I would ever get back.”
After seeing the impact that Healing4Heroes had on his life, Turner now volunteers for the organization, helping train service dogs and providing fellow veterans the community they need. His daughter Adia also has become an integral part of the program, volunteering alongside her dad and sharing his deep love for animals.
Piper Hill says seeing lives change for the better makes Healing4Heroes worth every moment of effort.
“I love this country, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat, even knowing I was going to get injured because the things that we have done to build people up are amazing,” she says.
To help veterans find furever friends, visit healing4heroes.org/. NCM
The title is a psychological term representing pain from childhood that is submerged in one’s subconscious. The preferred response to these family-of-origin issues is to bring them into the open and remove their power to inflict pain and detract from the wholeness we desire to experience. Unfortunately, I wandered through life for many years not realizing one of the tigers was negatively affecting me in multiple ways. That’s behind me now, and my experience may help others deal with similar issues.
I’ve had several encounters with these beasts, but I’ll focus on only one – the relationship with my father. The immediate difficulty facing me was his death many years earlier. Thinking insight might be gained by knowing more about his background, I called my uncle. Paul answered a few questions about the family, grasped the intent of my inquiry and responded, disdain dripping, with a profane version of, “Are you trying to figure out what’s wrong with you?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Our conversation didn’t last much longer, and I didn’t obtain many answers, but, by sharing the pain of his parents’ divorce, he did try to help, and that’s as much as I should have expected from someone with so little use for emotional considerations. As my friend Steve Brown (the teacher on the Key Life radio show) observed, “When you get any help at all from an unlikely source, the principle is that if your dog can play checkers with you, don’t criticize his game.”
Before continuing with my story let’s consider you briefly: A commonly-accepted psychological principle is that our basic personalities are significantly established in our early years. If that doesn’t seem correct in your case, let me suggest you conduct this simple experiment. Try to remember the dominant emotions you felt as a child (say, before 10) and then consider whether there are similarities between the younger you and the adult version. If you think not, let me encourage you to reflect further. As someone (Gary Smalley, perhaps) wrote many years ago, “The little child you once were, you still are.”
parental love. He may not have demonstrated his affection in ways I could best receive it, but I did not doubt he loved me. That he was proud of me was another issue.
My dear wife suggested I would benefit from getting in touch with my childhood feelings about my upbringing, but I had no memories on which to draw. Eventually, I did remember an important piece of my past, but, surprisingly, the catalyst for further perception was a network television show.
The dramatic series “Picket Fences” featured the strained relationship between the lead male character and his father. This episode revolved around what happened almost 30 years previously when the son decided not to follow in his father’s
Shortly before a botched surgery took his life, my father had written me a letter.
Twenty years later, I could hardly remember what he’d written, and I searched for it frantically, wanting to know what his last communication to me was. I finally found it. He had closed by writing, “If I don’t make it, I am proud to have you for a son. I have and do love you.”
Free at last! That tiger was now vanquished. As Steve Brown (this one a pastor/counselor from Gainesville) said, “May you go in peace, not pieces.”
Written by BLUE COLE
I lost my mother in 2023. I’m not alone in this; many of us have lost loved ones over the last few years. Even before the pandemic, children have lost parents.
But this was my first, and it rocked my world. It took an already over-stressed object and very nearly broke it. There was shock at first; then sorrow so deep it etched into my bones. I couldn’t breathe, think or even speak. The whiplash effect of a very successful day followed by devastation almost brought me to my knees. If my wife hadn’t been there, I might have hit the floor.
But that’s the difference between this grief and other losses I’ve suffered. In those situations, I was the one who caught others. I was the one who held and sheltered the bereaved. I mourned as well, of course, but I was strong for everyone else. I did what I could for others, shielded them, held hands and loved them during the heartache. And over the 20-something years of my marriage, it worked. Until it didn’t.
Over the years, each loss added to the strata. My emotions around loss became crystallized, held in check because someone had to be strong. Of course it was me: I was the husband, father and oldest son. As I’ve grown up (and I use that term loosely), I have gladly taken on those roles.
But I didn’t realize how much it would cost me. I’ve always been empathetic, and as an adult, a people person, just like my mother. Reading and paying attention to people’s emotions and body language is part and parcel of my personality. I want to help, to solve and to soothe. But I couldn’t do it for myself.
As the first moments of shock passed and I pulled myself together, I slipped back into the husband/father role. I had children who’d lost a grandmother. I had a brother and a father who were hurting; aunts, devastated. So I pulled it together as best I could for as long as I could. As before, it worked, for a while. For hours instead of days, this time, but I kept it together. We brought everybody together as best we could and we soldiered on.
But I knew it wouldn’t work. This loss was different. It was foundational. This loss, and the events around it, couldn’t be shoved down. Looking back, I have more clarity: I was simply unable to repress anything else.
So I didn’t.
A couple of weeks after her death, there was my birthday, Mother’s Day and her birthday in the course of a week or so. (To top it off, I was a Mother’s Day Baby.) With our birthdays one week apart, May was a busy month. During that week, I received her final birthday present: The freedom to grieve, to mourn and to acknowledge my hurt; to recognize the impact she had, and to celebrate it. I let my emotions out, quite possibly for the first time in my life.
Do you know how hard it is to surrender? To give in, give up and realize you have to start anew?
I thought I did. Turns out I didn’t. I had to learn – and to trust that the pain was for a purpose.
Life went on, as it does, and as spring turned into summer, I found my grief right around the corner. I didn’t cross the street when it came; I welcomed it. I let it out, and… I felt better. Freer, actually, much to my surprise. I let myself feel my sorrow, hugged it and then let it leave when it needed to. As it left, I found the memories I needed: she and I, our shenanigans, holiday memories, our last few moments. I rediscovered the good behind the grief – and found a measure of peace that carried me through the summer. I found professional success, hit a political pothole or two, and made it to autumn. Each time grief approached, I knew there would be another good memory behind it. I learned to not fear the pain, the grief, and to look for the good behind it.
I keep having “firsts” – the first room I painted without her, the first football season without her GT earrings, the first new job I couldn’t tell her about. But I felt her pride and knew how I had to deal with it. I had to let it out and honor her impact. She would want me to focus on the good.
I can sense her exasperation now, that roll of her eyes and the toss of her head. That’s the good grief – the things that sustain you. It’s not the loss, or our hurt. It’s the moments we did have. It’s the good stuff that makes the grief so damn hard, but you have to put in the hard work before you get your rewards.
Get to the good grief. It’s there somewhere. That’s what they want us to recognize and share.
It is the loss, but it’s also what you had – and what you still have.
Are you a closet poet? Or a creator of short fiction?
Share your best work with us and we may publish it in an upcoming issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine.
Submit your work along with your name, address, email address and daytime phone number to magazine@newnan. com or mail to or drop by our office at Newnan-Coweta Magazine, 16 Jefferson St., Newnan, GA 30263.
Written by MYSHA DZIEDZIC
A snowstorm quickly approached, and a young girl found herself in her house, watching snowflakes fall gently past her window. It reminded her of powdered sugar falling from her mother’s favorite recipe, powdered sugar sprinkled over blueberry pancakes. She finds a sense of calm watching the snow fall; she wonders if her mother would’ve let her play outside.
She ran downstairs and asked her dad if she could go outside, and he replied with a brief, “Sure. Oh, and uh, take that old mutt with ya!”
She looked down at Spot, an old dog they had loved forever. They gave him all the attention until her mother passed away just that year. Suddenly, she wished that Mom was there. She would have replied with a “Sure thing! If you want, I can make us some cocoa after. I can come with you if you’d like!”
But no, of course not. He always just sat there on the living room couch, with his nose buried in his special edition golf magazines, or just slept all day. Even if she asked him to join her outside, he’d most likely say nothing because he slept so often, and did nothing, all day.
He glanced up at his daughter and paused for a moment. He then looked down at his magazine and exclaimed, “Off with ya! You goin’ or not?”
“Yes, Dad,” she quietly said, grinding her teeth. She carefully grabbed Spot, a jacket for both of them, a hat and some gloves. When she walked out, she looked up at the vortex of swirling snow, wondering about what her mother would’ve done. She felt the cold, gentle snow, like a light rain showering over her smiling face. She listened to Spot run in circles, occasionally jumping up and down. He would make a loud crunch, crunch, crunch, a brief pause as he jumped, crunch, crunch, crunch, and then he just… stood there. He growled at something, escalating to a bark.
She looked over just as a giant figure walked out of the frozen azalea bushes. It was a lumbering elk standing at least eight feet tall; it stared at her, then cocked its head. She stared wide-eyed at the creature as it bowed its head toward her. “Is it gonna charge?” she thought to herself.
It didn’t charge. She looked at the elk and was wondering where it came from when she realized that it looked as if it were made of ice? Or, at least she assumed it was, but she didn’t want to find out. Before she could finish that thought, the elk paced towards her and scooped her up with its horns. She hugged the back of the elk with one outstretched arm, and the other held Spot, who at the moment looked petrified.
The buck started a gentle trot, and the falling snow seemed to freeze in place as she looked up. She looked behind her, but when she did, she was awestruck when her house, with her dad in it, was nowhere to be found. She had no experience riding “ice elk” or even horses, for that matter. She screamed but was cut off as a sudden gust of wind blew against her cold cheeks. She looked up just in time to see a gargantuan tree materialize from the fog ahead of her. They were running straight towards it. She prepared herself for the impact, but just as they were ramming into the tree, she felt as if all gravity had been forgotten. She looked behind her and saw only what she could describe as a portal.
She glanced down at Spot, a fluffy and loving Scottish
terrier. Occasionally, he would scratch at her mom’s painting studio door, waiting to be let in so he could sit with her just one more time. But that time never came.
“Spot, remember how you always would sit on one of the painting benches with Mom, wagging your tail as she painted masterpieces?” she whispered with a smile and a small teardrop rolling down her red cheek.
After three-and-a-half months of not having her mom, she wondered if she’d forget her mom’s beautiful face. Mom always smiled through tough times and never was mad at Dad, her daughter, or even Spot. Although she loved painting, she loved nothing more than spending time cooking and working for her family. She loved her husband, daughter and Spot.
Mysha Dziedzic, 12, is a creative seventh grader in Coweta County. The passing of her father four years ago was the inspiration to penning this story of remembrance of lost loved ones and honoring the love that will be held forever.
She always looked back to the times she spent with her mom, like when she almost fell off a horse, but her mom caught her safely. She remembered the time when they went camping, and Dad managed to capture a fish bigger than Spot. They had all been happier when Mom was around, but when she passed, Dad became an emotional wreck, Spot became over-protective, and she became lonelier – and sadder.
Suddenly, she flashed back into reality, realizing that she was on the soft snow, and Spot was licking her face. She looked around, but all she saw were dizzy stars, as her mom called them. Whenever her mom fell or hit her head, she would see stars floating around. She made an inside joke of it and called them dizzy stars.
“Dizzy stars was an interesting name for those little twinkling stars you see when you…”
She looked over at Spot, who looked right back. He was talking. She responded, confused, “Hit your head or fall over?”
She stood up, regaining her balance, then looked at Spot, who answered in a gruff Scottish accent, “Rude! I could have finished that statement! Hmph!” She was completely awestricken. She looked around, then said, “Where are we?”
“Well, I’m not …” he interjected.
“And how can you talk?!” she exclaimed.
“... sure,” he finished.
She picked him up and looked at him, his eyes glinting softly in the gentle sunlight beaming down on the soft, white, fluffy snow.
Spot interrupted the still silence: “The silence is loud, and could you please stop interrupting me?”
A sudden whisper echoed through the branches, which were a baby blue in color, twinkling in the sunset.
The whisper sounded like words, English, to be exact. She could understand what they were saying: “You’ve come to a different world. You shouldn’t be here. Why did you come? Where did you come from?”
She couldn’t find answers for any of the whispers’ questions, but what she did know was that this was no longer Earth.
They walked along a winding path, spotting massive trees with orb-like vines hanging from them and displaying memories with her mother. She spotted the memory of riding a horse, camping, even finding Spot. She felt a lump in her throat, her head ached, and her eyes felt red. She swallowed back a faint sob as she watched the memories play in repeat, like a pre-recorded tape. She continued to observe her surroundings in the odd new world, making faint gasps and sobs as she held back tears.
She made her way up a hill, and when she looked over the top, she saw it. She saw what she could only describe, as she did to spot, as “massive, cool, pretty and awesome paintings at ten o’clock. Mom’s paintings!”
Spot’s little jaw dropped and he said, “Oh my goodness, I haven’t been allowed in Mom’s room for decades, and even then I somehow missed her painting these?”
“Spot, it’s only been three months,” she replied, gently finger-combing his silky fur.
She smiled. It reminded her of all the great times she had with Mom and Dad – before she felt like nothing. She gasped as she saw the willow from her front yard, the one on the hill with the tire swing hanging from its highest branch. Perched upon the tire swing was the silhouette of her mom, her and Spot, all bundled together. They were laughing, hugging and loving each other.
She wanted to run towards it, but instead, her and Spot
faded, leaving her mom sitting alone and needing someone there. She slowly walked up to her mother and tapped on her shoulder: “M, Mom?”
Her mom slowly stood up, then turned, her face shining in the dim sunset. “Hello, sweetie, I’ve missed you so much,” she said. “Everyday I watch you grow from this spot on our swing. I love you so much, and I would’ve never left you if I had the choice.” Her mother’s gentle voice filled and soothed her aching heart.
“Mom? Is it really you?” She choked on her words, gasping back sobs and blinking back tears as she said, “I miss you, Mom. I love you so so so much. I’ve always wished to see you again.”
“Yes, sweetie, it is me,” she responded. “I love you so much. I wished to see you again as well.” She stroked her daughter’s smooth hair. They hugged each other for a while, then she opened her eyes and looked at her mom’s beautiful face. She hadn’t seen it for so long. She wished she could see her forever, but she knew it wasn’t possible – taking a spirit to the human realm. She knew her mom would forever be within her heart, and she knew her mom would watch over her as her guardian angel, forever. She would be protected and guarded by her mom until she herself crossed the rainbow bridge of life. She loved her mom, and knew she would miss her so much after she went home. She also knew that her mom would never leave her.
She picked up Spot and hugged him tight. She looked up at her mom one last time. They exchanged warm smiles despite the tough situation and the freezing weather. Her mom’s voice, the last time she would hear it, spoke many gentle words. Her last words to her dear daughter were, “I love you, Beatrice, my sweet bumble-Bea.”
Written by NEIL MONROE
As a part-time freelancer, I’m always excited to see an email from Jackie Kennedy. That means she’s offering me a chance to go on an adventure to some part of our wonderful county that I almost certainly haven’t experienced. From racetracks to literary clubs, from comic book stores to an indepth look at homelessness, I’ve touched a lot of bases. But this latest assignment – what happens when we die –struck home.
I don’t think Jackie knew that I spent a good portion of my high school years working at a funeral home, but I did.
My older brother was a mortician at Herschel McDaniel Funeral Home in Fairburn. He got me a job. For more than three years, I spent every third or fourth night at the funeral home in case of a call. I parked cars, hauled flowers, answered the phone, and even assisted with the embalming process.
I also rode shotgun on emergency calls. Our hearses doubled as the local ambulance service in those days. I helped deliver a baby, quite a shock to a 16-year-old.
I saw horrendous car accidents, heard local pastors discuss the death of Martin Luther King Jr., and once got shot at as we approached a house. Thankfully, it was a shotgun, and we were just out of range.
All of this, at such an early age, has had an impact on my life. It hardened me in some ways, but more importantly, I now realize that I grew immeasurably during those years.
I learned to deal with people, to speak with practically
anyone, to value helping others whenever I could.
I stored away those experiences over the years as I embarked on a career as a newspaper editor and in corporate communications at places like Delta and Coca-Cola Enterprises.
But considering the theme of this issue, the memories came flooding back, good and bad. And then I had the wonderful chance to interview John Daviston, owner of McKoon Funeral Home and Crematory, who knew one of my bosses at Herschel McDaniel.
contributor to Newnan-Coweta Magazine and a retired corporate communicator who worked with Southern Company, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola Enterprises.
My thanks to John for taking time to talk – and thanks to my brother John, who got me the funeral home job all those years ago. It’s been a long road since those days in the late 1960s. Maybe I’ll write a book. NCM
spot for photographers to practice their hobby.
Iremember where I was when I got the phone call from my brother in January 2020. My father, the funniest person I ever met, had died in his sleep. Two months later, my mother, the kindest person I ever met, went into cardiac arrest mid-sentence and died a few hours later. By August, we got the word that my oldest brother was dead, gone as suddenly as his parents had died.
In January of last year, a buddy from work was killed in the line of duty.
By that point in my life, I’d seen the many faces of death my profession in law enforcement makes a person see: the sudden silence of a fatal car wreck, the heavy weight of a family’s cries, the finality of a stranger’s choice.
Any time you see death, it chips away at you. But 2020 broke me a bit, though not necessarily in a bad way.
Prior to 2020, while I may have responded to the carnage or been the bearer of bad news, it was not my family’s or friend’s tears; 2020 changed that. The year 2020 showed me that the show will always go on.
I vividly remember hearing cars drive past the house after Pop died and wondering to myself why all those people were going about their day when my father had just died. By the time my mother died, I got it. Their passing was hard on those whose lives they touched. To everyone else, they were just another name in the obituaries.
I learned during this time that there are two types of people on this planet: those who have their parents and those who don’t.
Grief is heavy, but it’s not the end. Anyone who has ever been around me, my family or my friends knows that we still laugh, a lot. My father had a wit so quick he’d have a quip waiting on you to finish your sentence. I like to think I make him proud in that regard, even if people don’t always recognize my hilarity.
Life can be sad. But both life and sad days are fleeting. We only have so much time on this planet. Mathematically speaking, I know that I have more yesterdays than I do tomorrows. I can be sad about that, or I can enjoy the tomorrows that I have left in this old body.
I know that my parents, my brother, my buddy and others I’ve lost along the way would want me to be happy. And I’ll ask that no tears be shed when my time comes. Throw a party instead. Light a big fire. Crank Waylon Jennings up as loud as the speakers will go and make sure there’s enough food for everyone to be miserably stuffed. And know that I got the most out of my time on this planet.
I’ve been blessed with much more than I ever deserved. NCM
Southern-born and Southern-bred, Toby Nix is a local writer who works in law enforcement.
Proud to honor the hometown heroes who keep us safe and strong.
Every day, they suit up. One to battle flames, the other to battle storms. Whether it's keeping the lights on or rushing into danger to save lives, our linemen and first responders are the heart of our communities.
Coweta-Fayette EMC is proud to serve alongside these everyday heroes — the ones who run toward the crisis when others run away.
Here's to the ones who protect, restore, and inspire.
We’re proud to share that Julie Mobley has been named Managing Broker of our Newnan-Coweta office, in addition to her ongoing leadership of our Fayetteville office.
“It’s a true honor to lead both of these dynamic teams, and to be more deeply rooted in the Southern Crescent—a place I love and believe in. These two markets have always shared a synergy, and I’m excited to strengthen that connection with even greater support, collaboration, and care.”
