I'm back from vacation, having enjoyed two weeks of Southern hospitality with my wife, Deborah, and my mother-in-law, Susan Rhodes of Roselawn.

        We headed south on Interstate 75 for Atlanta Sept. 13. Mrs. Rhodes, 89, wanted to visit Friendship Baptist Church in Crawfordsville, Ga., where she was baptized 75 years ago.

        First stop was the home of Betty Powell in Lithonia, Ga. She was the 1995 teacher of the year in Atlanta.

        Lithonia, an Atlanta suburb, has a touch of agrarian lifestyle: long, winding, narrow roads, lined by pine trees.

        For those of you who like a country breakfast, get this: Ms. Powell prepared a Southern-style breakfast of ham, bacon, sausage, salmon, grits, eggs, biscuits, butter, jelly, orange juice and coffee.

        Next stop was the house of Lorenzo and Willa Mae Cunningham, on their 200-acre farm near Greensboro, Ga. Their house is on Cunningham Road, named after Mr. Cunningham's father.

        We arrived at Friendship Baptist Church Sept. 15 in time for Sunday service.

        The sermon was a little sensitive because the minister talked about churchgoers who once were active but had strayed. I suddenly remembered I hadn't been to my church in more than a year.

        We stayed in Athens, Ga., at the home of James and Jean Rhodes, cousins.

        We arrived at the farm house of Garnett Rhodes about 5:30 p.m. Sept. 17. Garnett Rhodes, 92, was milking a cow when we arrived.

        “I think I need a couple of more cows because people just love this fresh milk,” Mr. Rhodes said, sort of a reminder that people love the things produced simply.

        There is something pleasing about farm life, perhaps a forgotten sacred domain.

        In a wooded area on Mr. Rhodes' farm, as Deborah and I chased a blue jay bird to get a picture, we found complete quietness, sort of like imagining an earth without mankind. Eerie, but peaceful.

        The fresh air, the hospitality, the message from the pulpit and, aah, the quietness, meant a special friendship to me. You know, friendship may be our country's greatest resource.

        Graham Turner, 7, a second-grader at Sands Montessori School, will say bon voyage to two stuffed Diabetes Ambassador Bears, Rufus 1 and Ruby 1 Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

        The ambassador bears will ride with NASA astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis as a way to increase awareness about diabetes and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

        Mark and Nancy Turner and their other son, Luke, 9, will travel with Graham to the center today.

        Graham was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at age 6. He received his bear from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs Sunday-Friday.

        If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, at ahowardenquirer.com or by fax at (513) 768-8340.

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