“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (NIV)

When you think about it, do you think about what your “light” may be? This morning some “light” that has been shown to me came in the forms of a nurse’s gentle touch, a comment calling me “sweetie” when she brought an extra cup of hot coffee to me, and receiving a lovely letter. Or when an “older man” swept up the floral mess I made that was bothering me.

For me, I try to smile a lot or say sincere compliments about a person. And, of course, I always try to speak the person’s name or title. That sound of a person’s name or title is very important to a person.

Our area of eastern Colorado was blessed last week with much more rain than usual. For four days or more it was difficult to go outside and keep dry and warm at times. Yet, today, Saturday, it is sunny and warm. What a blessing! Our calendar of activities says, “free day.” It is so quiet! That is because Brenda Leon, our activities director, isn’t here today!

The nurse aide, who is a traveling nurse, saw on the computer that there was a need for a worker today in Eads, so she came! She is tall and so nice. She is a mother of four grown sons, and she is a grandmother. They are from Texas, but she lives in Pueblo now. She says, “This is a nice place! And so are the residents!” We have several traveling nurses. I really like to meet them, especially the ones from other countries.

This week I had the most interesting letter! It came from Bill Wimp of Wimberley, Texas. He wrote that he moved there near his son after his wife died. He wrote to me after reading some of my news articles in one of our newspapers that we are so blessed to have in Eads. He recalled the September day in 1950 when I had returned from Pueblo after more than a year in hospitals there. The teachers told them that they could go out to greet me as I walked up the sidewalk to the Eads Elementary door. I don’t remember any spoken words. I was probably quite a strange or surprising sight because I was walking in 13-pound silver and leather braces from hip to feet, swinging my legs out straight-legged, while leaning on tall wooden crutches. As they stared at me, I smiled and whispered to my Daddy, “Oh, I could feel like the Queen of England.” Bill wrote that he was most impressed that my brother, Virgil Allen, swooped me up and carried me through the door. What I remember was that for a long time two boys or a male teacher would carry me up two flights to the high school. Bill wrote that he was a Vietnam veteran. I must remember to tell him that my brother, Dwight, is also a Vietnam veteran. I hope that we can meet Bill at the Eads High School Alumni Reunion next year if he comes home from Texas.

This message is urgent: it is from Michelle Nelson, telling us that the Haswell Bazaar is October 17. If you or a group wants a space of 8’ x 10’, the cost is $20. This will be in the former Haswell School, now the Haswell Community Building, on Hogue Street. Please call Michelle at (719) 691-5768 for a space. They open at 7:30 a.m. for setup, and the bazaar begins at 9:00 a.m. and runs until 2:00 p.m. There will be lunch for a fee. If there is a blizzard next week, the alternate date for the bazaar is October 31. This is a great time for visiting with friends and neighbors.

In the third week, October 21, is the monthly noon lunch at the Eads Senior Citizen Center. They have a great lunch at noon, followed by a short business meeting and possibly other new business.

I want to encourage voting citizens to read all the recent and current issues of both of the Eads newspapers to become more informed and educated on all the points and amendments we are voting on. You can buy the newspapers at the news racks at Kiowa Drug Pharmacy, Crow’s Grocery, and Hometown Gas & Grill, or at the newspapers’ offices.

The fall sports season in Colorado schools is winding down. There will be some exciting games here in Eads and at other schools. So, get to your school nearby to watch some of those games. Some families are having to plan on how to “stretch” to get to all their children’s games if they are in different age groups. For example, there is the Oquist family, who live in Lamar but attend school in McClave, where their mother, JaLynn, is a teacher. Dr. Sean told me that last Saturday, he took their son, Thomas, to his recreation department football game. Corine, who is in junior high, had an all-day volleyball tournament, so her grandmother Kim (Crow) Richards drove to Cheyenne Wells for the day and didn’t get home until 7:00 p.m. Meanwhile, their mother, JaLynn (Richards) Oquist, and daughter, Myla, accompanied the high school volleyball team up north to Akron! See what I mean - families need to coordinate to raise children, and it surely is a blessing to live near your grandparents. When we were growing up, we did not have any living grandparents. We adopted Morty and Cora Lee Gas, who lived about three miles from us. What a blessing to have them, especially when I was in the hospital over a year.

We are blessed to live in caring communities in eastern Colorado!