The Rock Wall

I don’t have a long list of things to tell you which can be dangerous.

The best news I have is that Davis, Erica, Ben and Reese have moved from Nevada to El Dorado Springs. Reese, at four months old can recognize people. Erica said that when Reese turned two months old she decided that her daddy is her hero. If he comes into the room or onto the porch or patio, she follows him with her eyes.

And she really likes Gwen who has held her a lot here at the office.

I think she recognizes everyone in the office and doesn’t care who holds her. At first, she wouldn’t smile at me. Then Davis helped her stand on my writing tray and she liked that a lot. Now, she smiles anywhere I talk to her.

– Adrian sent me some photos of “Van lately.” My goodness, he’s growing fast. At 21 months, he’s shooting on up.

He’s so big there is not going to be room on Adrian’s lap in the airplane for him with Snider only two months away. I don’t know her schedule for sure, but Adrian has a ticket to fly up for the Picnic.

Since she is now a Southern girl, she may laugh at what we call hot weather.

– Jeanne Hoagland gave me a couple of photos of Cedar County Memorial Hospital to accompany Dr. Magee’s letter urging everyone to vote for the hospital levy so we can keep it in the county. I didn’t realize how much the hospital has changed over the years. In 1960, when it started, I guess I was in the 8th grade and not really paying much attention to anything that didn’t involve a horse, cattle, helping Dad bale hay, fishing in the creek or carrying fire wood into the house. It has become an impressive structure with the latest technology and a highly trained staff.

Let’s see, back in 1960 could you still buy a bottle of pop for a nickel or 6 cents? With what we pay now for a can of pop is it any wonder the hospital is asking for a levy increase? Their costs have gone up, too. But their levy got rolled back by Hancock.

You might think about what it’s worth to you to have a fully staffed, modern emergency room and hospital in the county.

Several years ago, a friend of ours had a heart attack in downtown ElDo. He didn’t want to go to the hospital here so they took him to another town.  He was dead when they got there. Would 30 or 45 minutes have given the hospital staff time to extend his life? As Dr. Wyant and I discussed when I interviewed him, can you ever say you saved someone’s life or just extended it?

I surely would hate to lose our hospital. Not to mention what losing all those jobs would do to the local economy.

– I haven’t signed my donor card yet, but when I saw this, it made me think about it: I don’t want to be buried with a single organ in my body. Give them to a child who has spent more time inside the hospital than outside playing. My eyes will give a grandma vision to see her grandchildren. My lungs will give a teenager the breath to dance the night away at prom. My heart will beat in another mother’s chest to see her children grow up. If you have something you no longer need, give it away.  KL