To the Editor:

The election brings with it indirectly my departure from Hertford County.

I am going not of my own accord, so I wish to say thank you to the many good people of Murfreesboro and Ahoskie who have made me believe that Hertford County was my home and my community.

There is one name which should be recorded and that is Miss Sugarpie Duke, for it is she who has guided me through the drives, avenues, and roads of Murfreesboro. I won’t say that she was bossy but I was asked “Who is taking who for a walk?”. I wish I had had the wit to reply  When you and your wife go shopping who Takes who?’

So a very unlikely trio created five very happy and memorable years for at least two of us here in Murfreesboro. Alas, two of us are in our declining years, the walks grow shorter and my usefulness wanes. It is time for one of us to move on.

But what of the other two?

Miss Sugarpie does not want to return to Virginia and its bureaucratic controls, with no liberty and restricted living.

I do not wish to emulate my Tory ancestors who were forcefully repatriated after the American Revolution.

Where is the liberty ?

Where is the justice ?

I know that I cannot be deprived of my rights or possessions or stripped of my position in my community save by the lawful judgment of my peers or the law of the land. So, repatriation becomes a matter of unlawful force.

I have taken enough of your time and patience so I shall put my trust in God, spend a solitary Thanksgiving Day thinking of the five marvelous years and hope that Christmas 2016 brings Miss Sugarpie and me our fair share of peace and goodwill.

Gerald Harvey

Murfreesboro