This is my 1,000th column. What a ride! With each column averaging about 750 words, that is 750,000 words. To most readers, it probably seems like a couple million at least.

Now, the truth is that reading this column could not have been all that bad. After all, my readers learned things that they could not learn anywhere else.

Months before they happened, my columns foretold that

— Sen. Sam Nunn would be stepping down;

— Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be Sen. John McCain's running mate;

— Sen. Saxby Chambliss would face a run-off in his bid for re-election; and,

— a scandal would topple the Georgia House leadership.

Just last August, there was this comment about the gubernatorialcandidates:

"A couple of these folks are probably already planning their departures from public office in order to pursue a full time campaign for Georgia's highest elective office."

Of course, two did depart — right on schedule as predicted.

At the time of each column, there was always plenty of head scratching.

Yet, with the benefit of a little inside information and a lot of years of experience, these predictions and many others turned out to be right on the mark.

There were some columns that were painful to write. With my own son in college, there was this one in April 2007:

“Somewhere, there was this sense that America had grown too busy to feel and too tough to hurt. Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong.

As the details from Virginia Tech poured across the airwaves, Americans felt a sharp pain — right in the heart.”

There were tributes to some great Americans who passed away over the years like:

Congressman Charlie Norwood ("He would say with a smile, 'I've been known to get into a fight or two.’”)

Rosa Parks ("Because she lived, the United States is a better place than it was.")

Tony Snow ("His story was one of courage and character. Cancer never took either away.")

Yet, this column stands out, however:

“From the comfortable confines of cheering crowds focused on his every move on a Sunday afternoon on a football field to the obscure regions of a desolate country on a battlefield, Pat Tillman proved something very important. Just when we thought the last of the true American heroes had come and gone with the greatest generation, another group of American heroes came along.”

Every year after, my column after Christmas was dedicated to thanking by name our current generation of heroes — the men and women from Georgia who gave their lives for our country that year.

Of course, there was a little fun on occasion. In my annual “what they want for Christmas” column, I penned this beauty after the GOP sweep in the Georgia elections:

For Georgia Democrats, the Christmas wish has to be "please let it all be just a really bad dream."

And, there was a grin while poking fun at the NCAA ban on certain mascots:

After all, if the standard is stopping "racial/ethnic/national origin" mascots and nicknames, then what about the Irish. Why should a school be able to tarnish the reputation of good Irish Americans with a mascot/nickname like the "Fighting Irish" from Notre Dame?

Fortunately, the unpredictable proved to be great fodder for columns.

Here is one from 2004:

“Whoa Nellie! Just when it appeared that the Democratic nomination for president appeared locked up, a strange thing happened on the way to the park one day. The Dean locomotive derailed just after passengers Al Gore and Martin Sheen boarded, and suddenly the race has been turned on its head.

Sometimes, there was just the sobering assessment of something plainly wrong. In June 2008, there were no pulled punches in this reaction to a decision by the United States Supreme Court:

“It is difficult to determine which is more shocking — the United States Supreme Court's decision to shield child rapists from the death penalty or its rationale for unilaterally amending the United States Constitution to do so.”

To the chagrin of my Republican friends (and the delight of publishers), I have been an equal opportunity criticizer. Here is one that stung my Congressional Republican friends:

“The list of Members of Congress who have pled guilty to crimes involving their office, or are currently under investigation by the FBI, is embarrassing.”

Sometimes, it was a story that made the point. Who can forget "the farmer who found his ox in the ditch?"

On other occasions, it was the harsh reality about the challenges facing American families, like Alzheimer’s ("Every 71 seconds, it strikes another victim in America."); and cancer ("Just the word sends shivers down the spine.")

Now, 2010 awaits and it already proves to be an exciting year. Thanks for reading and keep those comments coming!

Randy Evans is an Atlanta attorney with McKenna Long & Aldrige LLP. He is the former General Counsel of the Georgia Republican Party and remains active in the party on both the state and national level. He can be reached at www.mckennalong.com or McKenna Long & Aldrige LLP, Suite 5300, 303 Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30308.