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etraytin · 6 years

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HEADCANONS FOR JOSH AND DONNA'S WEDDING

Okay, so last night I was kinda freaking out about the whole moving-again thing, so extra thanks to everybody who liked my post and gave me that virtual “there, there,” because that did help. :D Today I have sorted some paperwork and eaten an egg sandwich and I’m feeling some better, so obviously it is time to get back to my favorite moving-procrastination activity: writing headcanons!

Josh and Donna’s wedding is something I’ve never written because I’m kinda terrible at writing weddings and avoid it when I can. That said, I did do one pre-wedding fic, Personnel Matters. that deals with the apportionment of maidly and manly wedding duties. I think it turned out pretty funny, but I will be ignoring it for the purposes of this headcanon.

Once Josh and Donna get going on thewhole romance train, they move along at a reasonable clip. Notsuper-fast, they are trying to run a country after all, but once theyget things talked out in Hawaii, there's a certain feeling that theyknow the endgame that they are heading for. This is very helpful forJosh, especially, who freaks out over the engagement only about 60%as much as he might have otherwise (which is still a fair amount).They get engaged about six months into the Santos administration,once the first and second hundred days are behind them, then have thewedding six months later, just before things really rev up formidterms. Some might see that sort of political calculus asunromantic, but Donna and Josh have both lived their lives to therhythms of politics for many years and it never even occurs to eitherof them to do otherwise.

Donna hires a wedding planner to takecare of all the actual details. Given their respective positions andthe sort of people they'll be inviting, certain standards need to bemet and she is way too busy to do it herself, despite formidableorganizational skills. Between her salary, Josh's salary, and herparents wanting to chip in, they can afford to do things up properly.The whole “His and hers” matching Chiefs of Staff thing hasgotten a lot of traction in some of the news outlets, but they limitpress access to a few friendly reporters and one photography teamfrom Vanity Fair, who have been quite favorable to the newadministration and have earned Josh's grudging appreciation. There'snot quite as much protocol as at, say, Ellie Bartlet's wedding, butwith two presidents and a bunch of other VIPs attending, security isgoing to be tight. They settle on the Hay Adams Hotel in DC for bothceremony and reception, even though it invites teasing about neitherof them being able to get away from work (it's in eyesight of theWhite House!), because it's a gorgeous event space that understandshow to handle this sort of function.

The ceremony itself is a bit of acultural mix. Neither Josh nor Donna are particularly observant intheir religious lives, but both of them have deep cultural roots andfamilies they want to honor. Toby helps Josh create a beautifullylettered ketubah, and it turns out Margaret has a friend who doesmanuscript illumination in their spare time because of course shedoes. So that's taken care of, and the chuppah cannot be open to thesky because of security concerns but it's still gorgeous (thank you,wedding planner!) and decorated with many, many flowers. They smashthe glass as well, a specially-designed smashing-glass, much to thedelight of the youngest members of the crowd. Most of the rest of theceremony is pretty standard Midwestern Protestant, rings and a unitycandle and a big procession with the wedding march playing.

Toby's twins serving as ring-bearer andflower girl and Peter and Miranda as junior attendants becauseMiranda idolizes Donna and wasabsolutelydesperate to be in the wedding. Donna's sister is her maid of honorbecause friendship doesn't count as much as blood when it comes towho stands where on one's wedding day, but she gets Stephanie Gaulttoo, plus Annabeth and Margaret and CJ, once she works up the nerveto ask. Josh isn't sure he knows five guys who'll stand up for him,but he recruits Sam for his best man, of course, then gets Toby,Charlie, Danny Concannon and, because my poor little fanficcer'sbrain has it as quasi-canon that these guys are old friends, MattSkinner. (This was a huge thing in a lot of early-season fanfic I'veread, and I just sort of absorbed it as true despite a lack of realtextual evidence. I like it anyway!) Donna teases that if Josh gotWill Bailey as well, he could reenact the time when they all gotdrunk and threw snowballs at her apartment, but Josh points out boththat Will was merely substituting in for Sam anyway and that weddingparties have a strict one-congressman limit and he'd hate to jinxWill's run. Donna does allow that, Congressman limit or no, thatmight be entirely too many speechwriters for one wedding party as shedoes hope to have a chance to do things like dance and eat at thereception.

Josh'smom doesn't meet Donna's parents until just a few days before theceremony, but the two moms have been conversing by phone for monthsand they all get along like gangbusters. It is apparently very easyto bond over children who do not call or visit enough and who need tobe a lot more proactive on the whole grandchildren issue. Before theend of the wedding week, the Mosses are making plans to vacation inWest Palm Beach during the winter when nobody wants to be inWisconsin anyway. Donna's younger sister is more than happy to bepaired up with Sam during the wedding party activities, enough thatDonna has to warn her off with threats of brutal lawyer retaliationfrom Sam's fiance (who is in reality a sweetheart and slightlysocially awkward but Little Sis doesn't need to know that.) To staveoff any fights, she blithely foists her sister off onto Bram instead,who turns out to be a perfectly adequate substitute. There are many,many other Moss relatives as well, far more than Josh can keep trackof. It's a little weird when his side of the family has a photo withjust him, Donna, his mom and a couple of cousins, but then he and hismom both get folded into the dozens of people cramming together forthe Moss family photo and it's actually kind of nice.

AsDonna had feared, the reception involves a whole lot of speeches andtoasts. Turns out when you invite a president to your wedding youhave to let him speak, and when you invite two presidents they bothget to speak, and when two of your groomsmen have written speechesfor the president they are going to have surreptitious littleslapfights over grammar while one of them is trying to talk. By thetime all those speeches are done, Donna's sister is too intimidatedto speak at all, and has also finished a glass and a half ofchampagne. CJ gracefully steps in and delivers the maid of honortoast with all the poise of a press secretary and the wit of Josh'shonorary big sister, and the extemporaneous speech is probably thebest received of the whole night. After that, everybody finally getsto eat.

The Secret Service will not allow the use of the rooftopbalcony for dancing, but from inside the ballroom they can still seethe White House in the distace, which is kind of nice, all thingsconsidered. It seems fitting. Josh and Donna disappear after a couplehours of dancing and the compulsory throwing-of-Donna's-accessories(she puts the garter around her ankle just before the toss and makesJosh take it off with his hands, thank you!), both of which arescored by Donna's speedy and highly competitive extended family. Theyhead off for a Hawaiian honeymoon to do all the stuff Donna pickedout of the guidebook on the first trip but they didn't have a chanceto do, while the rest of the guests close the place down, dancing andcelebrating till late. It's really quite something!

#the west wing #headcanons #fanfiction #josh x donna #josh lyman #donna moss #joshuallyman

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the-record-columns · 6 years

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Feb. 13, 2019: Columns

She gave much, but asked little

Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in a slightly different form on Feb. 17, 2009)

Willa Mae Lankford

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

Lifelong Millers Creek resident Willa Mae Lankford, widow of Sammie Lankford died Thursday, February 12 (2009).

Willa Mae died as she lived, peacefully, and surrounded by those who loved her.

Her son, Jerry Lankford, is the editor of The Record. What follows was adapted from remarks I made at Willa Mae’s funeral service on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at the Arbor Grove United Methodist Church in Purlear. The service was conducted by Rev. Ed McKinney, and special music was provided by David Johnson, Eric Ellis, and Keith Watts, longtime friends of the Lankford family.

***

David, Eric, and Keith make that music look easy, don’t they, but it sure isn’t. As they played, I couldn’t help but remember the little half-smile that would come over Willa Mae’s face, much like the one on this page, when she would listen to her son, Jerry, or one of her grandchildren play music. She enjoyed listening, then combined that enjoyment with the feeling of pride only a mother and grandmother can know.

I actually came to know Willa Mae Lankford because of her son, Jerry, and much of what I say today revolves around that.

A bit over 10 years ago (20 years now), a man stopped me and asked when I was going to turn Thursday Magazine into a newspaper—I replied that I was looking for the right person to do just that. He inquired further, and I told him I was looking for a man in his 30’s who had newspaper experience outside Wilkes County, and who might be in a situation with aging parents or something and looking to settle back down in Wilkes.

“I know that man,” he replied, “I know exactly that man.”

In my mind I said “Sure you do,” and told him just to have that fella call me.

Well folks, about four hours later, that very same day, I got a phone call from a man who identified himself as Jerry Lankford, and who began the conversation with, “I understand you might like to start a newspaper.”

The rest, as I like to say, is history. Very soon, after Jerry began working with us, The Record began publishing and thankfully, continues to do so. There is an aside I must tell on Jerry, however. We agreed that he was to give a two week notice to his employer the following Friday. That afternoon, he came by my office to tell me when he gave his notice that they sent him home on the spot. I told him not to worry, just come on in on Monday and we would just start work a little earlier than planned. So you see, his first day at work on his new job was a day off. Pretty good deal, huh.

Particularly in the earliest years of The Record, circumstances called for me to spend many, many late hours with Jerry Lankford. Anytime we were anywhere near Kite Road in Millers Creek, we would stop in for a visit with his mother. As long as I knew her, she was in fragile health. As the years went by, more and more things went wrong and she became noticeably weaker and weaker.

But her spirit remained strong. I never heard her complain, in fact, she was always asking how I was doing—most especially after I suffered a stroke some years ago.

And, she stayed busy.

Unable to get around very well, she was always making something with her hands. I guess it was from all those years at the City Florist, working and talking with that wonderful gaggle of ladies who we all knew by sight, if not by name. In fact, one of the gifts I enjoy most came from Willa Mae—not counting Jerry, of course. One day he brought me a package about the size of a bowling ball and said simply, “My mother made this for you.” Inside was a multi-sided quilted star. “It is to be used as a doorstop.” Jerry said.

It was amazing.

You can look and look and you can’t find a starting place, or a stopping place, and I still have no idea how she put that thing together, but it’s beautiful, and remains one of the most noticed items in my home, and a gift I’ll always treasure.

And that was Willa Mae.

She gave much of herself and asked for little.

She loved her husband, her children, and her grandchildren.

And she loved the people of Arbor Grove Methodist Church so much.

To Ellen, Mike (now also deceased), and to my good friend, Jerry, I must be honest and tell you that nothing will ever be quite the same for you again. But hold on to those wonderful memories of your mother, indeed, wrap yourselves in them, for they will carry you through a lot.

Willa Mae Lankford—a kind and caring soul if ever there was one.

Clearly, she rests in peace.

Willa Mae Lankford

Nov. 9, 1926 – Feb. 12, 2009

Gentlemen of the Jury…

By HEATHER DEAN

Record Reporter

Next week I will be performing with Alleghany Community Theatre as they present “12 Angry Jurors” in the historic courthouses of Sparta, N.C., and Independence, Va.

Readers may remember the original title of “12 Angry Men,” a stage play written by Reginald Rose, which was also adapted to a 1957 movie starring Henry Fonda.

Over the years the title has changed in production as women have been allowed to be seen as competent jurors. But that wasn’t always the case.

Even though women have served on juries for over 100 years, it was considered more of a novelty, which quickly turned to critique, with national newspapers lamenting that “men would be only too happy to cede the burden of jury service to women, if only female jurors could be trusted to endure the gruesome business.” And so the “woman of the jury experiment” began. The results? Good female jurors were conscientious and committed to justice, just like their male counterparts (gasp!).

For those not familiar with the show, the plot revolves around the murder trail of a Latino teenager accused of murdering his abusive father. His conviction would mean execution by electric chair. The case seems open and shut with a murder weapon and witnesses to place the boy at the scene of the crime. One lone juror, attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

As the case unfolds more is learned about each juror, in some cases, the paranoia and prejudices that expose the ugliness of white privilege and imagined American supremacy.

I play juror 11, an immigrant watchmaker and naturalized American citizen who demonstrates a strong patriotic pride. (George Voskovec had this part in the 1957 film).

Voskovec was a Czech actor, writer, dramatist, and director who became an American citizen in 1955.

I am the fourth to cast a not guilty vote, but not without repercussion. Prejudice runs amok among the jurors, and my character at one point is questioned because I am not a “real American.” One juror even throws up the fact that I ran for my life during the Second World War, taking advantage of the American Immigration system, doubtful that I was really a refugee, and that I had no right to come over here, or even serve on a jury, and I certainly did not get to tell them how the Constitution works. She follows this up with a threat to “knock my GD middle-eastern head off” if I don’t shut up. Needless to say, our characters have quite a row after that exchange. In fact, a lot of murder threats get thrown around to other jurors, making our task at hand seem like the background noise to the real issue of the intricate divisiveness of human nature when questioned with what it is to “be a good American.”

This play is both eye opening and disheartening to me. Even though human compassion wins in the end, kind of, the relentless diatribe of how of a kid literally from the wrong side of the tracks, because of his skin color, his nationality, and his lack of being able to speak English is ENOUGH for the many of this jury to dismiss him and actually be happy about sending him to his demise, to keep the country “clean.”

The absolute prejudice shown in the 50’s is still being shown today, most recently with a supposed crisis at the border. The vitriol spouted in this play is the same we still hear on national news 60 years later. I get chill bumps at some of the lines realizing that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and that we have a humanitarian duty to make sure the cruel side of history stops with us.

To quote Henry Fonda’s character’s closing line “Let them live.”

12 Angry Jurors is presented by Alleghany Community Theatre and Alleghany Arts Council and is directed by Danny Linehan. Tickets are $8 adults, $5 students. Friday Feb. 22, and Saturday Feb. 23, shows are at 7 p.m. at the Alleghany Courthouse, 12 N Main St Sparta, NC 28675. Sunday Feb. 24, show is at 2 p.m., at the Old Grayson courthouse in Independence, Virginia, 107 E Main St, Independence, VA 24348.

Cast includes: Foreman (An assistant football coach): Lori Hirschy; Juror Two (A shy bank clerk): Beka Perry; Juror Three (Small business owner): Kevin Bennett; Juror Four (Stock Broker): Brant Burgiss; Juror Five (EMT in a Harlem Hospital): Zach Weaver; Juror Six ( Housepainter): Charlie Scott; Juror Seven (Marmalade salesman): Laura Kennedy; Juror Eight (Architect): Danny Linehan; Juror Nine (Elderly Retiree): Marion Adams; Juror Ten (Mechanic): Donny McCall; Juror Eleven (Immigrant Watchmaker): Heather Dean; Juror Twelve (Marketing Agent): Michael Bridges.

Anti-Semitic Strategy at the UN

By EARL COX

Special to The Record

At first glance, the recent G-77 gathering seemed like a “Saturday Night Live” parody of the UN’ s largest bloc. The new chairman, with rehearsed political correctness, to smiles and applause, called on “all states” (except his) to end the “epidemic” of terrorism and “work with us to put an end to this scourge.”

The speaker was Palestinian Authority President and PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas— infamous inciter and propagator of violence and terror against the sovereign State of Israel, and bankroller of Palestinian terrorism to the tune of more than US $138 million to terrorist prisoners and ex-convicts in 2018 alone.

Abbas’s chairmanship, which violates G-77 principles and the UN Charter, is the latest blight on the UN’s eroded legitimacy and credibility. Created to safeguard world peace, security, human rights, and the sovereign equality of states by peaceful dispute resolution, the UN has been hijacked by an anti-Semitic, terror-tainted political agenda—discrediting itself by violating its own charter.

How did this sorry state of affairs develop? And what can be done by those states who are committed to the UN’s ethical, democratic founding principles?

Anti-Semitism at the UN began not randomly, but as a deliberate strategy. Some historians believe it started after Israel won the Six-Day War in June 1967, damaging Russian prestige at home and abroad. The Soviets, enraged by Israel’s defeat of its proxies Egypt and Syria, retaliated, aiming its Cold War weapons of propaganda and disinformation against the Jewish State—by a state-sponsored vilification campaign against Israel and Jews, and then at the UN, where it forged a political alliance with Arab and Third World states. Starting in 1969, the General Assembly produced multiple resolutions affirming the “inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

Russia uses language for totalitarian social control, said historian Joel Fishman. Following the Six-Day War, the selected vocabulary was published in the party newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in October 1967: “Zionism is dedicated to genocide, racism, treachery, aggression, and annexation ...attributes of fascists.” In 1975, the Soviet- Arab bloc passed GA Resolution 3379, “Zionism is Racism."

But historian Joel Fishman said Resolution 3379 was brewing in 1964—before the Six-Day War. In March of that year, the U.S.proposed that the UN recognize anti-Semitism as a form of racism along with apartheid and Nazism. The Soviets stonewalled, because they were, after all, anti-Semites who persecuted Soviet Jews, Fishman said. They threatened the United States to drop the proposal or face a Russian amendment condemning Zionism and Nazism—thus equating the two.

In October 1965, the US pushed an amendment to the final draft condemning anti-Semitism, but the Soviets insisted on adding“Zionism” to the forms of racism to condemn. After a bitter debate, a compromise struck all references to racism except apartheid. Thus, the Soviets succeeded in excluding anti-Semitism as racist without leaving behind a voting record—which could augur future charges against its own state-sponsored anti-Semitism.

The 1965 debates critically impacted evolving world opinion and international law on Israel and Zionism. “From then on, it was almost impossible to raise anti-Semitism as a human rights issue,” Fishman said. Thus Soviet political propaganda became a bridge to today’s global outbreak.

For the Soviets, the Cold War never really ended. Recent revelations of their digital disinformation and propaganda are well-publicized.

But neither has the UN been a passive instrument of Soviet manipulation. Israeli Major General (res.) Yaakov Amidror recalled how UN Secretary General U Thant endorsed President Nasser’s request to withdraw UN forces from the Sinai. Nasser replaced them with Egyptian military divisions, helping to spark the Six-Day War. And that’s just one example of UN complicity against Israel.

Israel’s concerted relationship-building with individual nations, and delegations of visiting UN ambassadors to see and experience the “real” Israel firsthand, are part of the solution to return to the UN Charter principle of friendly relations between nations. Likewise, while keeping an eye on Russia, Western democracies should continue to strengthen democratic blocs of nations to defend against the real “scourge.”

At all costs, the truth must be published. What does Israel or the US gain from “dialogue” in a tilted UN that could be better served by bilateral or Western-bloc diplomacy?

Heart to Heart

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolinas

The past few weeks have been exciting and entertaining.

The Carolinas are well known for seasonal abnormalities. It’s not odd to have near recording breaking cold weather for a few days and then Spring-like weather. Just enough to tease our spring flowering plant life and then in the twinkling of an eye it’s cold again.

So, it goes in the Carolinas, we are people with many layers, and those layers come in handy during our winter months. We also love metaphors, and a colorful story fills the need we have to be a good storyteller or a great listener. The need for both is never-ending.

While in the barber’s chair last week, Garry, my barber, had big news. It looks like he may have a brother he is just now learning about. I asked him if he was excited about having a new brother. He said he was; however, the idea is so new he is still processing the emotions that come along with such a discovery.

Josh, Garry’s son and the fellow barber said they have been invited to visit their new northern family member. Garry is not much for long-distance travel; his heart indeed is in the Carolinas, and he is not excited about venturing too far away from the land he calls home.

In the style of true Southern Hospitality, an invitation will soon be extended to the brother from afar. From what I understand hints have already been given by the new brother that suggest an invite and visit to the Carolinas would be welcomed.

Bill Barns ask for my thoughts on his new book that is in the final stages before publishing. The first sentence of Chapter One is “One beautiful, moonlit night, a young mother opossum known as Oden was out in the woods foraging for food.”

I plan to read every word.

I had the opportunity to take in a few live shows. One was an open mic night at The 1915 in Wilkesboro, and the other was at the Reeves Theater in Elkin NC. The Reeves Theater is the subject of one of our broadcast segments that we are calling The Carolina Theater Trail. The segment series will be part of our Life In The Carolinas syndicated show. Over the next few years, we will be producing segments on historically significant Theaters in the Carolinas. We have a good variety of theaters to choose, and each one plays a vital role in our charming towns in the Carolinas.

I enjoyed dinner with Ken Welborn, publisher, and friend who loves the Carolinas with a strong focus on Wilkes County. It’s never a dull visit with Ken. The food and service at Sixth and Main in North Wilkesboro is excellent. I enjoyed the crab cakes with asparagus and baby potatoes. Ken dined on and spoke well about the salmon and vegetables. I think digestion works better when you have dinner with a well-seasoned storyteller.

In celebration of February as the Heart Month, we had Dr. Julian Thomas as a guest on the Life In The Carolinas Podcast. We titled the episode Heart to Heart. The special show focused on the journey of dealing with matters of the heart. Dr. Thomas is brilliant, and his approach to healthcare is driven by promoting awareness and a passion for healing.

Wherever we find ourselves, it’s a good idea to stop for a moment and share our lives with those we are around. The love month can be demanding, but it can also be gentle, kind and full of passion.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Carl White is the Executive Producer and Host of the award-winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In The Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its 10th year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturday’s at noon and My40. The show also streams on Amazon Prime. For more information visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com. You can email Carl at [email protected].

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