Happy Birthday wishes to John Gee, Sept. 12, Farmville; Hazel Brogdon, Sept. 12, Randolph; Nicholas Foster, Sept. 13, Cumming, Georgia; Tamica White, Sept. 13, Charlotte Court House; Lewis A. Carter, Sept. 13, Keysville; Twins Denny Walton and Danny Walton, Sept. 14, Drakes Branch; Melvin Snead, Sept. 14, Richmond; Linda Foster, Sept. 15, Saxe; Mildred Mosley, Sept. 16, Culpeper; Frances Clark, Sept. 16, Keysville; Joanne Claiborne, Sept. 17, Drakes Branch; Richard Brogdon, Sept. 17, Pataskalo, Ohio; Michelle Brogdon, Sept. 18, South Boston; Evelyn White, Sept. 18, Hawkins, New York. I wish all of you many more happy birthdays. Happy birthday!

Get well wishes to all of the sick and shut-in.

I hope all of you are well soon, up and about. You are in our prayers for a quick recovery. Sympathy to all of the families who lost a loved one recently. Our heartfelt prayers and good wishes go out to all of you in your time of need. You have our deepest sympathy.

Thought for the week: Do what makes you happy and let go of the stress.

EMOTIONS

I always channel my emotions into my work. I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, enjoy them and dominate them. The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it.

Negative emotions like loneliness, envy and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life, they’re big, flashing signs that something needs to change. The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is of the unknown.

If you want to have a life that is worth living, a life that expresses your deepest feelings, emotions, cares and dreams, you have to fight for it.

News is due by noon Friday. Any news received after this time will not be included in this column. News can be submitted by calling (434) 568-0596.

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