I had a great week last week, and it left me feeling like a very lucky man. Here’s what happened:
On Tuesday night, my friend Mike stopped by for dinner on his way to a jobsite in North Carolina. Mike and I were roommates in college, and I consider him to be a brother. It was great to visit with him, even if it was only for a few hours as he made his way to work.
Wednesday night, my little brother Nathan visited. He had been at SAU on a work trip and needed to leave the next morning for the University of Arkansas at Monticello. That meant he got to come see his big brother in El Dorado. I showed him the downtown Christmas lights and, after power was restored to west El Dorado, we enjoyed a quiet night staying warm indoors watching TV shows.
Then Thursday, my twin brother Joshua came to town.
There’s two things that are important for you to understand for the purposes of this column. 1) Josh loves Christmas and 2) People love to see Josh and I together. Something about twins just makes people smile. I can’t tell you how many times people have looked at us and asked “Are you guys twins?” To which Josh usually replies “cousins” or “I just met this guy.” It almost always gets a chuckle, regardless of how corny it seems in print. So Thursday night I took Josh to see the Christmas tree and the downtown lights: he loved it. What a magical place El Dorado is during Christmas! We also saw the Christmas tree inside of the courthouse, decorated with ornaments from El Dorado students that reflect our community. It’s a beautiful tree.
Friday we watched “Knives Out” at Star Cinema (a modern whodunnit that provides a fresh take on the genre while paying homage to the movies that preceded it, I highly recommend) and then ate some cauliflower crust pizza at Main Street Pizza. It was a perfect lazy day.
Saturday morning, Josh and I started at the American Legion for the annual Olison-Buggs Meat Giveaway. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Mae Olison, Rance Olison’s widow, and other members of the family. It’s an amazing event, where individuals in need have an opportunity to walk away with a ham or turkey (or raccoon). It was quite uplifting. Josh met plenty of El Dorado folks, including Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer (“She gave me a hug!” he said afterward with a smile). Then we visited the El Dorado Veggie Club and El Dorado Fire Department’s community plant-based potluck. Fire Chief Chad Mosby and Paula Shackelford were kind enough to invite us out, and we enjoyed chowing down on the delicious vegan options, particularly the chickpea, mushroom and tomato curry. And, yes, the irony of going from a meat giveaway to a veggie club event was not lost on us.
After an afternoon of shopping, we returned to my house loaded with Christmas decorations and proceeded to put up the fake tree (I still think I’m going to get a real one today, but we’ll see) and fill the house with holiday cheer. After watching the Dallas Mavericks dominate the New Orleans Pelicans (Go Mavs!), Josh packed up and headed back to Texas.
It’s never easy watching a loved one drive away. I feel like I miss them more intensely after they come to visit. But I remind myself that having a strong relationship with so many friends and family is a privilege, and the fact that so many live so close by means I’m quite a lucky man. Thank you, El Dorado, for giving Josh a great Christmas weekend!
This is probably the last time Josh and I will hang out one-on-one before his son is born in February. I can’t wait for Baby Slink to come, but I also feel like this weekend was kind of an end of an era. Our lives are continuing to change. And that’s okay. The future is full of good times, precious moments and plenty of Christmas lights.
Caleb Slinkard is the managing editor of the El Dorado News-Times. He previously served as editor of two dailies and four weeklies in Oklahoma and Texas. To contact him, email [email protected].