Guess what?

I came to work today. My skeptical brother-in-law thinks that may be unusual for elected officials.

It was just two weeks ago, while I was doing my morning run, that the chest pain started.

They were not too severe at first, but that soon changed. Other symptoms appeared as well.

Doctor Larry Lee has treated me for some time for high cholesterol, so I pretty well knew what was happening.

I know this story is just like many others until now. You see my next thought was, &8220;If I can just get to Shelby Hospital, I will either draw Dr. Elliot or Dr. McBrayer.&8221;

I knew either one of these guys could save my life. It was this last thought that was special.

I grew up in Shelby County. I have been here virtually all 57 years of my life.

What some people don&8217;t realize is that there was a time, many years ago, that you wouldn&8217;t go to Shelby with a serious cold. Since then a lot of citizens and elected officials have worked selflessly to see Shelby become a premiere hospital that can attract the kind of medical talent that we have today.

I got to Shelby. The emergency room personnel were efficient, knowledgeable and quick.

Within minutes they had me upstairs on a table with Dr. Elliot. He got the stints in, and I could breath again.

Before going upstairs, the last thing I said to my wife was to remind her where we kept the life insurance policies. But instead of that outcome, I came to work today.

Sometimes we forget how much we owe the people who have gone before us. On this day I remembered, and I want to thank them all.

Robby Owens serves as District Attorney for the 18th Judicial Circuit, Shelby County. He can be reached by phone at 669-3750