Thank you so much

Where do I begin? We are so appreciative of all our friends and family who have been concerned about us these last few weeks that we can't begin to say personal thanks to each one. And I even got four get-well cards from my tongue-in-cheek column last week about my poor cut finger! (By the way, it is doing fine and I am again typing with all 10 fingers.) We have lived in many different communities in our 60 years of marriage.

We received calls, cards and visits from people in each of them. Many of those people won't read this generic thank-you column, but I hope we can eventually respond to most of them.

Because of the number of churches Lester has served we have very close relationships with many people. When we hear about a special friend who has had problems of some sort, we want to respond and let them know of our concern. However we get a little timid about doing so sometimes, for fear that someone else, equally important to us, had a rough time and we did not respond. Maybe we hadn't heard about the problem, or maybe we had it on our to-do list but never got around to doing it.

This week we got a call of concern about Lester from a friend who was an important part of our lives some 25 years ago. We had heard indirectly that her husband had died but we had not yet responded. When she called to see about Lester we realized that more time had lapsed since we heard the sad news than we realized, so we were doubly appreciative of her effort to show concern for us.

That type of story can be repeated over and over. Church families become close and distance doesn't change the love we have for each other. But added relationships and different responsibilities sometimes keep us from showing the response we feel.

Locally everything from cherry pie and cookies to offers to provide a haven for Marilyn, our great-granddaughter, have been abundant. We talk about it taking a village to raise a child. I think it takes a village (or a county, or a state) to express our concern for others.

When the world is showing how horrible humankind can act toward each other, it helps us keep faith in our brothers and sisters when we experience so many acts of kindness.

Our daughter-in-law who has recently moved here with our son was impressed when a bank teller inquired about Lester. I told her that of course they would inquire. We are all friends in almost every place of business where we trade. I have lived in big cities but I wouldn't trade any of them for the warm feeling that I get from all our friends here in Vernon County.

Another thing that we are grateful for is the fact that our own community can offer the medical services we needed following the surgery. The Home Health Nurse, the Cardiac Rehab Center, our own caring family doctor, the pharmacist who helped figure out our prescriptions, the physical aids we could get delivered to ease this time of recovery, all give us a feeling of security and comfort that is needed at times like these.

If I have neglected to mention anything else, don't let me forget to mention our own family who have been front and center with us throughout this time.