Birthday wishes to Janice Johnson, March 16, Bronx, N.Y.; Sharon Johnson, March 16, Scuffletown; Alice Allen, March 17, Keysville; Clifton Newcomb, March 18, Chase City; Iris Walker, March 18, Charlotte Court House; Maryann Rosso, March 18, Cullen; Kaley Moon, March 18, Saxe, daughter of Laura and Jimmy Moon; Ama Gee, March 19, Orange, N.J.; Gary Foster, March 19, Chase City; Charles Pulliam Jr., March 19, Fort Mitchell; Caleb Trent, March 19, Farmville; T’amiyah Houchens, March 19, Chase City; Edna Gee Spencer, March 22, Charlotte Court House.

Happy birthday! I hope your day is a blast.

Get well wishes to all of the sick and shut-in. I hope you are well and up soon. You are in our prayers.

Anniversary wishes to Mae and Vernard Townsend, March 18, on 38 years of marriage. They have two children and six grandchildren, Rice. The warmest of warm wishes are sent to such a lovely couple. Happy anniversary.

Sympathy to all of the families who have lost a loved one recently. Sympathy to the family of Donna Simpson, of Drakes Branch. May God’s love comfort each heart and each home in your time of need. Our prayers and good wishes go out to you and you have our deepest sympathy.

Thought for the week: Start each day with a happy thought.

Experience

Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement. Few people even scratch the surface, much less exhaust the contemplation of their own experience. Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.

Experience teaches only the teachable. Experience is the teacher of all things. Experience is the only prophet of a wise man or woman. Experience is the only thing you cannot get for free. Experience enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

Bitter experience has taught us how fundamental our values are and how great the mission they represent. When you have really exhausted an experience, you always revere and love it.

News is due by 1 p.m. on Saturday. News can be submitted by calling Virginia Freeman at (434) 568-0596.

Virginia Freeman is a community columnist for The Charlotte Gazette. She can be reached at vstars@pure.net.