Dear Allie: I have been having a lot of trouble sleep-ing lately. I toss and turn and my mind can’t seem to shut off at night, and I find myself wide-awake and stressed out. How do you unwind at night before bed?

Sincerely, Sleepless & Stressed

Dear Sleepless: Don’t you just love how the mind waits until the moment you are snug in your bed to throw

every worrisome thought and “what if” scenario your way? A lot of people find it very difficult to switch gears from alert-and-awake mode to relaxation mode, and it unfortunately takes a major toll on the quality and length of sleep. My sugges-tion for anyone struggling with this problem is to de-velop somewhat of a night-time routine to get your body and mind prepared for what needs to happen next: sleep. An hour be-fore your regular bedtime, stop checking work emails and start winding down. Go ahead and change into your comfortable clothes, brush your teeth, wash your face, etc. Dim the lights and do something low-key that you enjoy, like watching a fa-vorite TV show or catching up on some reading. Once in bed, I personally like to turn on my “Relaxation” Pan-dora station on my phone, turn the volume down low, and concentrate on the soft piano music rather than any stressful thoughts. Some people (with way more self control than I) are able to concentrate on breathing and meditation during this time. Whatever works for you, make it a priority at night and part of your eve-ning routine, much like how you prioritize your morning routine. You’ll be snoozing with ease in no time!

Best of luck, Allie

Mail your Allie questions to P.O. Box 410, Martin, TN 38237, drop your questions off at the Press, or email advicewcp@gmail.com. Remember, we will NOT print your name with your question — you will remain anonymous.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2013 PAGE 3THE WEAKLEY COUNTY PRESS

So c i e t y Ne w S

Ask Allie

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Guess who’s coming to dinner?I got a very unusual voice

mail this week. The caller had blocked her identifying information from showing up on my phone. She spoke quietly and quickly, “Lisa, I have a question for your column. How do I tell my extended family that I only want my immediate fam-ily to come for Thanksgiv-ing dinner, without ruffling feathers? You can just call me ‘Chicken of the Coun-ty.’ Y’know, that’s a play on words from the Kenny Rogers song, ‘Coward of the County.’” And that was the end of the message.

Interesting dilemma, anonymous friend. Inter-esting dilemma. Well, the obvious answer is: This is America. Land of the free. Home of the brave. So, in theory, you can invite or not invite whomever you want to your home. But you al-ready know that. You asked how you can do it without ruffling feathers. And that, my friend, is another matter entirely.

It depends on your rea-soning for leaving extended family members out of the celebration. If they drink excessively, curse at your husband, or insist that their Golden Retriever have a plate at the table, I stand with you, sister. I do. Some behaviors simply can’t be tolerated, even by kinfolk.

However, if your desire to not include them revolves around less serious offenses, I would tend toward com-promise and compassion. Here’s an example of things that, in my humble opinion, shouldn’t disqualify one’s attendance at the big dinner: Aunt Marge always wears too much Chantilly dusting powder. Uncle Stan usually

comments about the lumps in the gravy and complains about the state of our coun-try. Cousin George recalls his high school football achievements as though they occurred last year. He’s 54.

I encourage you to con-sider what you’re teaching your immediate family by inviting the extended fam-ily members to the table. You’re teaching them that we make allowances for people. We squeeze people in. We tolerate their weak-nesses. We smile and nod when Cousin George tells the story about the pass he caught in the end zone with only seconds to go. We smile because we care about Cousin George. We choose to care.

I realize part of your di-lemma may revolve around space. Maybe it got too crowded last year. Maybe it felt overwhelming to host such a big group. I’m very compassionate toward your situation. But I’d like to share a different perspec-tive for your consideration.

This world is filled with people who have no one. No one to crowd around their tables. No one to an-noy them with oft-repeated stories of the glory days. No one to smell up the house with Chantilly dusting pow-der. They are alone. Ut-terly alone. In their minds, the idea of a house bustling with a crowd of loud and eccentric people would be a GIFT. A treasure. A bless-ing.

Yes, you’re free to invite or not invite whomever you wish, but I encourage you to be generous. Invite ‘em all. And maybe even the lonely neighbor down the street. Happy Thanksgiving!

UDC holds meetingParis Chapter 2521,

United Daughters of the Confederacy, met recently at Paris City Hall, with five members and four guests present.

Lois Conroy presented the program about Thomas Kennedy Porter. He was a brother of James D. Porter, who was one of three men from Henry County to be elected Governor of Ten-nessee. Their parents were Thomas Kennedy Porter, Sr., and Geraldine Horton, who came to Paris in 1823.

Lt. Thomas K. Porter was a graduate of the U.S. Na-val Academy. He resigned from the U.S. Navy in 1861 to serve the Confederacy with the same rank in the Confederate Navy.

However, Governor Isham G. Harris asked him to command a company of field artillery.

Capt. Porter’s Tennessee Light Artillery was orga-nized July 1, 1861, as State Troops, and mustered in to Confederate Service, Sept. 30, 1861. Oct. 28, 1861, it was placed in Brig. General Simon B. Buckner’s Divi-sion of the Army Corps of Central Kentucky.

Feb. 6, 1862, Porter’s Battery reported to General John B. Floyd and fought in the Battle of Ft. Donel-son. Porter was severely wounded and a leg was am-putated.

He was promoted to Chief of Artillery of East Tennessee and was wound-ed at Hoover’s Gap, but later fought at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Porter resigned from the Army and served in the Navy as executive officer of the ironclad “North Car-olina” during coastal and

harbor defense.He served on the “Flori-

da” and was attacked by the U.S. Man of War “Wacku-sett.”

The ship was surrendered and the men were taken Prisoners of War. Porter protested this action be-cause Bahai, Brazil was a neutral port. This action was later deemed unauthor-ized and unlawful and the prisoners were set free.

Porter lost his life Sept. 16, 1869 while command-ing a merchant steamer in the Pacific. He was buried Feb. 16, 1870, in the Paris City Cemetery.

A motion carried to move forward with plans for a chapter website.

Stephanie Tayloe thanked members and guests for help with and attending the Wil-liam Henry Haymes marker dedication.

The Christmas tea will be at her home, Dec. 14, 2- 4 p.m.

The Dec. 21 meeting will be at Tom’s Pizza and Steakhouse in Paris, 11 a.m. for a luncheon meeting.

Members made contribu-tions for Christmas gifts for hospitalized veterans at the Memphis VA Medical Cen-ter.

Sandra L. Paschall gave the ancestor spotlight on John Dill Paschall, Capt., Co. K., 46th Tennessee In-fantry.

Donna Cooley read a poem “Malvern Hill” by Herman Melville.

LYDICK RECOGNIZED — Mackenzie Lydick was recently chosen as Student of the Month for October at Weakley County Adult Learning Center. She received a gift card to Subway from Mitchell Parham, supervisor of adult education.

CELEBRATES BIRTH-DAY — Margaret Plunk of Martin recently cele-brated her 91st birthday at Martin Health Care. Mrs. Plunk enjoyed a lunch of fried catfish, with all the trimmings, and lemon ice-box pie. After opening her many gifts everyone sang, “Happy Birthday.” Attend-ing were her daughters and sons-in-law, Mary Ann and Johnny Rush and Carol and Wayne Rawdon, all of Mar-tin; her nieces and nephew-in-law Jo Ann and Danny Billingsby of Dresden and Bug Fultz of Newbern. Mrs.Plunk was born Nov. 19, 1922 in Dyer County. She is the daughter of the late Jo-seph Paul and Icie Vickery Plunk. She was married J.D. Plunk on Oct. 31, 1940 in Dyer County. Together they had four children, William K. Plunk, Mary Ann Rush, Carol Rawdon and the late Edward Lee Plunk.

Jody Parham and Alyssa Jaffarian were recently united in marriage at the First Presbyterain Church in Nashville.

The bride, a native of Al-bany, NY, is the daughter of Madeline and Bill Jaffar-ian of Laudonville, NY.

She is a graduate of Shak-er High School and Boston University.

The groom, a native of Martin, is the son of Jan-ice Parham and the late Dwayne “Bo” Parham.

He is graduate of West-view High School and Mid-dle Tennessee State Univer-

sity.The Rev. Todd Jones of-

ficiated the ceremony.After their honeymoon to

the Bahamas, the couple are residing in Brentwood.

RECEPTIONA reception was held im-

mediately following the ceremony at the Hilton Ho-tel of Brentwood.

After a delicious meal, the guests gathered for the raspberry-filled cake-cut-ting ceremony.

REHEARSAL DINNERA rehearsal dinner was

held at The Copper Kettle Restaurant in Nashville.

MR. and MRS. JODY PARHAM

Miss Jaffarian, Jody Parhamexchange vows in Nashville

LocalNews

Matters

The Martin Senior Adult Center has several activi-ties scheduled for December.

A Christmas Bazaar will be held at the center on Dec. 5-6 from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The public is in-vited. Anyone wishing to set up at the bazaar is asked to contact the center to put your name on the list.

On Dec. 7, the Senior Adult Center and Boy Scouts of Troop 1776 will be holding a can-good drive at the following locations., Save-A-Lot, E.W. James and Rural King.

All canned goods will go to the needy in our com-munity.

The City of Martin Christmas Luncheon will be Dec. 20. Those interested are asked to come to the center to receive a ticket to reserve a seat.

This event is open to all seniors in the community.

Activities planned at center

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