The Ledger

By Becky Holland

There are days when it feels like everyone is frustrated about something.

The water bill didn’t arrive.

The road needs paving.

A business closed.

A project is taking longer than expected.

Someone didn’t return a phone call.

A meeting didn’t go the way we hoped.

A Facebook post rubbed us the wrong way.

If you spend enough time online, you can start to believe that’s all there is.

But one of the blessings of running a local newspaper is that I get to spend a lot of time away from Facebook and out in the community.

And what I see there tells a different story.

I see library employees planning summer programs for children.

I see volunteers organizing events that most people never realize took months of work.

I see coaches spending evenings and weekends with young athletes.

I see business owners taking risks and opening their doors every morning, hoping enough customers walk through them to keep the lights on.

I see caregivers helping loved ones through difficult seasons.

I see pastors praying with families.

I see teachers preparing for another school year.

I see people quietly doing good work that rarely receives recognition.

That’s not to say our community doesn’t have problems.

It does.

Every community does.

We should ask questions. We should expect answers. We should work to improve things.

But sometimes I think we forget that communities are built by imperfect people.

None of us get everything right.

Not city governments.

Not businesses.

Not nonprofits.

Not churches.

Not newspapers.

Not even the people writing columns.

The strength of a community isn’t found in the absence of problems.

It’s found in the willingness of people to keep showing up despite them.

That’s something I see every day in Cochran and Bleckley County.

People keep showing up.

They coach the team.

They stock the shelves.

They unlock the office.

They answer the phone.

They volunteer for the event.

They visit the nursing home.

They open the business.

They serve the customer.

They help the neighbor.

Most of the time, nobody writes a headline about it.

But maybe we should.

Because while problems may get the attention, it’s the people who keep showing up that keep a community moving forward.

And from where I sit, that’s still the story of Cochran and Bleckley County.