Family, friends, our health, a roof over our heads and a meal on our table...it's not difficult to come up with reasons we are thankful this holiday season. At Bank Independent, our Helping Hands program reminds us throughout the year of not only these blessings, but also those in our community who may not share them.

I recently had the pleasure of attending the fourth annual NASA in the Park event to celebrate the long-lasting relationship between the city of Huntsville and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

And it was out of this world.

Have you ever been hungry?

Not "hungry" as in "Oh, I just had a three-course lunch and I'm already hungry again!"

I mean, hungry as in you haven't had anything at all to eat in days. Or your mom's not home because she works two jobs and the only thing in your cabinets is a box of cake mix, so you eat that. Or you want to feed your children but it's the end of the month and you have no money to buy even a jar of peanut butter.

There's a good reason the Florence Lauderdale Animal Shelter has nearly 10,800 Facebook followers.  Decatur Animal Services has almost reached the 10,000 mark, and over 17,000 Friends of Athens Limestone Animal Shelter follow the organization.

Family, friends, our health, a roof over our heads and a meal on our table...it's not difficult to come up with reasons we are thankful this holiday season. At Bank Independent, our Helping Hands program reminds us throughout the year of not only these blessings, but also those in our community who may not share them.

I must admit I am ready for Christmas music. 

Speaking for those of us who have lived in north Alabama for most or all of our lives, I think that sometimes we may take for granted the incredible treasures that make our area a destination for visitors.

Going to school out of state and having a lot of small town passion, I never miss an opportunity to interject a fun fact about my hometown in a conversation. “Did you know that Tuscumbia is the birthplace of Helen Keller?” or “Oh! This song was recorded in Muscle Shoals!”  People ask me where I got the cute top I am wearing, and I say it’s from a local shop in my hometown.

Animal shelters have been quite the controversial subject in northwest Alabama in recent years.  Across our six counties newspaper headlines and social media posts have amplified the voices of animal advocates of all kinds who are passionately fighting for funding, facilities and support for the shelters...some of which are struggling to remain viable with the limited resources they are allotted. Most shelters rely upon community donations and support from volunteer groups and rescue organization to assist them with supplies and services and to help find homes for our furry friends.  And although volunteer groups, shelter staff, and rescue organizations may disagree from time to time, when it comes right down to it, they are all working toward the same goal: to save the animals.  

The pre-Christmas tornado outbreak that ravaged our neighboring communities in Mississippi and Tennessee inevitably brought back memories of April 27, 2011 and the storms that changed the lives of so many in Franklin, Lawrence and Limestone Counties.  In the midst of the devastation, events like these tend to bring out the best in so many folks.