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November is one of my favorite months. There are elections, football play-off runs from our favorite local teams, my birthday, and if we’re lucky the weather will dip low enough to pull out our boots and sweaters.

One of the things I’m always especially thankful for in November happens on November 30 – and that’s the end of hurricane season.

This year our region was spared from a major storm, and next week we can all breath a collective sigh of relief that the 2022 hurricane season is officially over. For the past couple of years, it seems like it’s just been one thing after another – political unrest, economic instability, the coronavirus pandemic, and then Hurricane Ida.

All unpleasant. All of which have tested our resolve.

As we move forward to the holiday season and upcoming New Year, I challenge myself and all of you to look forward with great anticipation of what is next. What is next for you? What’s next for your family? What’s next for St. John the Baptist Parish?

Seasons come and season go, and although we all know this, sometimes it’s hard to remain positive when it seems like everything is going wrong. Although the past couple of years have been extraordinarily challenging, I can’t help but think that brighter horizons must be just ahead. Every storm has to eventually run out of rain, and I’m excited to see what starts to bloom from all of the hardship.

New businesses have opened in our parish – with more coming soon. Our levee system is progressing. Important projects are on the horizon. And Ida’s destruction is leading to a revitalization of our Parish.

All good things. All of which will add to the quality of life in St. John Parish.

As you look around the Thanksgiving table this week, I hope your eyes land on people that you cherish and that your heart finds many, many things to give thanks for. I hope that your heart and your stomach are both full as you lay down at night, and I hope that you are rest assured that no hardship can last forever.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I hope that you will have enough faith to believe, as I do, that the best days are still ahead – the best days for you and the best days for St. John Parish.

 

Jaclyn Hotard is the St. John the Baptist Parish president. Her office can be reached at 985-652-9569.