To the editor:
On Oct. 4, I found out firsthand how fortunate we are to have a hospital close.
I was at the hospital when I stopped breathing, and a team started working on me immediately. I was showing signs of a stroke, so they called a helicopter. I had a nice ride to St. Francis in Wichita. I was glad we had the helicopter insurance.
After several tests, they said I had a TIA (transient ischemic attack). If I had not had immediate treatment, it might have been a different story.
Last Thursday, we found out how blessed we are to live in a community where even an old dog’s life is important.
Our doorbell rang, and a very nice young policeman asked if we were missing a fuzzy white dog. I checked the house and, when I checked the back yard, I saw the gate was open. We didn’t even know she was gone until the power and light crew found her in the street on the hospital curve.
They called the police. We had her tag on her, and they found out where she beloned.
Thanks to the caring people, we were able to have her with us on her 14th birthday Saturday instead of mourning her death.
We have so many things to be thankful for in Iola. It takes lots of hard-working people to make it this way.
When you start griping because we don’t have this or that, stop and ask yourself, what have I done to make this a better place to live.
When you see a city crew not working as hard as you think they should, and there are too many of them, think of when some of the utilities break and it takes all hands on deck to get it up and running. Would you like to crawl out of bed in the middle of a bitter, cold night to help because there weren’t enough of them?
When we get a south wind and it brings the smell from the lagoons, would you rather go to that little house out back?
How blessed we are, and we take it all for granted.
Count your blessings more. Gripe less.
Maude Burns,
Iola Kan.
Letter to the editor — November 10, 2015
