Subject: I'm From Georgia, On My Way to Heaven

                       There are some things that all Georgians should
know.
                       Coca Cola is ours, and unless you've had one in a
green six-and-a-half ounce bottle,
                        with a slight crust of ice on top, you don't know
what the real thing is.
                       And you might want to try pouring about half a pack
of salted peanuts into one sometime.
                       If it weren't for a Georgian-Crawford Long of
Jefferson---open-heart surgery would really hurt.
                       True Georgians say "ma'am and sir" and call their
mothers "mama" and their fathers 'daddy".
                       They know that y'all is perfectly good English and
never means just one person.
                       "Fixin to" is perfectly acceptable, too.
                       And if y'all don't like the way we talk, Delta
(which is also ours) is ready when you are.
                       Long before the Olympics brought the world's
greatest athletes to Atlanta,
                       we gave the world Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Walt
Frazier, Luke Appling, Johnny Mize,
                       Fran Tarkenton, Bobby Jones, Wyomia Tyus, and
Herschel Walker.
                       If you don't know who these people are, you ought to
find out before you go to bed tonight.
                       Long after the Atlanta Olympics have faded from
memory,
                       the greatest tournament in golf will still be played
in Augusta every April,
                       and on autumn Saturdays,
                       90,000 or so Red-and-Black faithful will gather in
Athens for a prayer meeting between the hedges.
                       No matter how many times the Braves play in the
World Series,
                       nothing will match the excitement of that first one.
                       The Stone Mountain carving is lots bigger than the
one on Mt. Rushmore
                       and the people etched into the side of Stone
Mountain deserve the honor.
                       It wasn't just about slavery.
                       Atlanta was called "the city too busy to hate," back
in the sixties,
                       because it really was, and we should be proud of
that fact.
                       In 1864 Sherman burned Atlanta and much of Georgia
in his March to the sea.
                       Crack cocaine is bringing more harm to Atlanta than
Sherman ever dreamed of.

                       We don't grow the most peaches, but we still deserve
to be called the "Peach State"
                       because ours are the sweetest.
                       That includes the Georgia peaches that don't grow on
trees.
                       We do produce the most peanuts, pecans, and poultry.
                       Elvis wasn't ours, but Tom DuBose, Otis Redding,
James Brown, the Allman Brothers,
                       Johnny Mercer, Joe South , Ray Charles, Bill
Anderson, Brenda Lee,
                       Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson are.
                       So are Sidney Lanier, Joel Chandler Harris, Margaret
Mitchell and Alice Walker.
                       And I still miss Lewis Grizzard every day.
                       Julia Roberts may be Georgia's prettiest movie star,
                       but Holly Hunter is the most talented.
                       Dakota Fanning may one day surpass them both.
                       FDR adopted us. His "Little White House" in Warm
Springs is exactly as it was the day he died there,  near the end of World
War II.
                       Every Georgian needs to visit Warm Springs.
                       Georgia once had three governors at the same time.
                       Lester Maddox wasn't one of them, but was elected by
the General Assembly
                       without getting a majority of the popular vote.
                       He did a good job too, God rest his soul.
                       Gone With the Wind belongs to us. We own it.
                       Not only is it by one of our own and is about us,
                       but it's also one of the great novels of all time
                       and an absolute film classic and we shouldn't
apologize for liking it.
                       WSB means "Welcome South Brother."
                       She ain't what she used to be, but she's not as bad
as the AJC has become.
                       The Brown Thrasher, the Cherokee Rose, and the Live
Oak are our symbols.
                       Proud, decent, honest people are our heritage.
                       None are as plentiful as they once were, but none
are on the endangered list, either.
                       The best barbecue in the world is served at Two
Brothers in Ball Ground, Georgia
                       but Shanes Rib Shack in Dahlonega ain't far behind.
                       The best seafood is at Jin-Rights in Brunswick and
the best sandwich of any type is at the Robyns Nest in Dahlonega.
                       The best sausage is at Stripling's in Crisp County.
                       The best fried chicken in the world was served at my
Aunt Dolly DuBose's house in Smithville,
                       Georgia and the best biscuits I ever ate were served
at my Aunt Pete Williford's in Bartow, Georgia.
                       Grits is groceries and sugar doesn't belong in
cornbread.
                       God intended for iced tea to be served sweet.
                       And lastly, Georgia ain't exactly heaven, but it
will do until I get there.