OPINION: Can Susan have a do-over?

Since we can’t have that, I’m thinking maybe a do-over button would be good. You couldn’t solve a problem, but you could avoid one just by running the film back: undoing something you did incorrectly. So if you bumped someone’s car while you were pulling into a parking space, you could undo the damage and try parking again. Park more carefully, perhaps, or park somewhere else.
Not that that always works either. A friend of mine got pulled over in downtown Commerce once for driving above the speed limit. She pulled into one of those diagonal parking spaces in front of the drugstore, so flustered and upset that the officer relented and said kindly, “Don’t worry. I’ll just give you a warning this time.” Relieved and grateful, and with her heart still pounding, she backed out of the space — right into his police car!

Like my friend the speedy driver, I was flustered — in my case, last Saturday, at the library’s grand opening. In fact, the last time I can recall being that “verklempt” (that’s the Yiddish word for ‘overcome with emotion’) in a happy way was at my wedding in 1996. As was true at my wedding, people came from far and near; there were flowers; several generations were represented; old friends and new turned up; and there was a ceremony, followed by food.

But the library’s opening was on a far grander scale: the fulfillment of a dream that people had been working toward for decades. We were standing on the shoulders of those who had gone before and paved the way — Anne Rogers most particularly (and she was there), but also Dot Hardman, Janette Barber, Julia Jones, Olga Lacey, Wallace Nelson, Paden Hendrick, Frances Griffin, Annie Mae Cochran, Richard Chambers, and so many, many others.

And in the grip of these powerful feelings, I didn’t say — but should have — what an important role our former city manager, Clarence Bryant, played in making this dream a reality; how quickly his successor, Pete Pyrzenski, stepped into that role; how unfailingly Mark Beardsley, our Commerce News editor, has covered the library’s story over many years; or how generous the whole Hardman family has been, with a grant of $75,000 from their foundation, and with historical materials being searched out and either donated or loaned to the History Room. As our city councilman Darren Owensby said, my cup just overflowed, resulting (in my case) in a few spills. But maybe this column is my do-over? In which case, I just want to say three things to everyone in Commerce: Thank you, and God bless you, and I’ll see you at the library!

Susan Harper is retired, lives in Commerce and volunteers with the Commerce Public Library and the Jackson County Literacy Program.