January 1, 2020 the State of Mississippi will have a new governor and a new first lady of the State.
No matter who takes over the role as governor, the next first lady of the state will have some hard shoes to fill since Deborah Bryant is one of the kindest persons with a heart of service to the people of Mississippi.
In my hundreds of interactions with our First Lady of Mississippi, I have only witnessed thoughtfulness, care and kindness from Bryant. She once greeted me with a hug at the front door of the Governor’s mansion. While surprised by the hug, I was not surprised by here genuine care since I saw it first-hand in 2014. In 2014 when a tornado devastated Winston County, she was on the ground and worked tireless from that night into days later nonstop to help. She returned to Winston County many times after that to help and keep the county front and center with those who could help it recover. In 2015, Winston County presented her with the Spirit of Hope Award following the recovery work.
The help she provided Winston County is just a tiny part of the work she has done tirelessly across the state. She visited every county promoting reading in the state. Making stops in Choctaw, Webster and Winston while many other persons would have read and rushed off, she seemed to enjoy staying and talking with teachers, staff and especially students. She valued each person enough to take time to listen to each one. In her school visits, she promoted the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have done to you," and in my opinion, she lives by that rule in all interactions that I have heard about or witnessed personally.
While Deborah and Gov. Phil Bryant have two children and two grandchildren, she treats every Mississippian she meets like family.
So every Mississippian no matter their political stripes should miss at least one Bryant from the governor’s mansion in 2020.
Editor’s note: Joseph McCain is the publisher of The Choctaw Plaindealer, The Webster Progress Times and Winston County Journal. He maybe reached at newsroom@winston countyjournal.com or 662-803-5236.
