“Be kind and compassionate to one another.” Ephesians 4:32

Our prayers have been answered. We have had some rain showers around Eads.

Most of our Weisbrod residents were pushed in wheelchairs to the Eads gym to watch the first volleyball match of the season against the Springfield Longhorns. The Eads girls won in four games. Then four softball players left for Colorado Springs where they had a game Saturday morning. We who needed to stay here surely enjoyed seeing our friends sitting in the gym on the big television screen.

Mid-week was the monthly noon buffet meal for the Eads senior citizens. Gail Voss prepared buffalo burgers from her son Brett Rusher’s South Dakota ranch. There was also beef, ham, chicken, and cheese sandwiches, lots of salads, and yummy desserts. All three county commissioners spoke on different county situations of great interest to our county, such as what a “data center” means, the cost, and who it affects. They addressed the potential of the huge telephone tower structures at the east and southeast of the county. Mike Lening gave an update on the sale of Prairie Pines Assisted Living. Many of our loved ones live in Prairie Pines or have lived there, so this is a heart-touching topic for the future. Plus, so many people have enjoyed the Pines’ swimming pool, which is such a wonderful service of Prairie Pines for our surrounding communities.

I understand that our principal, Trey Eder, is working with our high school students to give them the opportunity to experience the real-life work world in our community, having the chance to observe and function in a “real career experience” right here in Eads. We watched this happen here at Weisbrod. The students are juniors or seniors who spend one or two hours with a professional therapist or nursing staff or, in some cases, work in an office. They have the firsthand experience to see if they really do want to go to college or a training school to train for this type of career, and to learn about colleges or training schools for a career of their choice. This is such a marvelous opportunity for our students. We are so impressed with their maturity and what kind and fine young people have worked and served here. You readers may see them in other places of business because I haven’t learned about all of them.

We are pleased that activity director Brenda Leon has assigned senior Bailey Sierra to assist with our photo scrapbooking of the residents and preparing exhibits for the County Fair. Bailey is also competent in directing games, gives manicures, and does other jobs.

Addison Courkamp is another young lady who began working in the front office this summer with her tutor, Candy Lane. What a great educational opportunity to grow competence. For example, Connie (Watts) Richardson, who is retiring this fall from service at Weisbrod, actually has been working here since she was sixteen years old as a CNA. After graduating from Eads High, she graduated from the University of Southern Colorado to be a nurse. Later she married Neil Richardson, and they parented their two children through school and college graduation and now get to enjoy their four grandchildren. Neil was with Connie when she was highly honored in Denver last weekend at the conference of the EPHC, Eastern Plains Health Coalition, when she was awarded a lovely glass standing plaque honoring her as a stellar nurse and employee of Weisbrod and similar-size facilities in two states.

This has been a sad week for hundreds of people who were affected by the deaths of so many of our friends. Right here in Weisbrod our 105-year-old Navy veteran, Orville Mousel, whose home was west of Cheyenne Wells, passed away. He had vivid memories of being bombed when on the ship California while in dock near an island in Hawaii. In the confusion after the attack, Mousel was thought to have been among the 2,403 people — including 2,008 sailors — killed that day. The Navy had sent a telegram notifying his family near Cheyenne Wells, who held funeral services for him. They were later surprised and relieved when he walked into the family home. Orville was married to Rita, the sweet girl he liked to tell us he held when he was six years old and she was an infant. They were blessed with two sons and a long life together.

Another death that we are so sad about is Pamela E. Johnston of Arlington. We have grown to love her so much since she came here to live out her last days to enjoy her husband, Kent, and family and friends. Their marriage is a lovely love story. She met Kent after he went to a northern university near Canada to research a program on raising cattle in Colorado. Pam was a university professor there. After they met, they discovered that their parents wintered at the same site in Arizona. Eventually they were married in Arizona, and moved to Kent’s ranch and had such a happy life out there in western Kiowa County. It seems that she especially liked raising horses. We do miss her too. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at Praise Community Church in Eads.

My heart hurts too because two of my former students, David Lyon and Bill Barlow, both of Eads, died last week.

My dear former neighbor on 13th Street, pastor and radio and television broadcaster Rich O’Brian, died. He and his precious wife, Dianne, had recently been moving into Prairie Pines. A funeral service celebrating Rich’s life will be held Saturday, August 29, at 10:00 a.m. at Eads Community Church.

Thank you for your prayers for so many grieving people in our lives and around the world…. Remember—there is hope.