Merry Christmas, Cora

Have you ever volunteered for a task and later wondered why on earth you said you would do it?

Perhaps you’ve asked yourself the bigger questions of “Why am I here? What is my purpose in life?”

Laurie Fox, an Internet friend who lives in New York state, was feeling that way Dec. 12. She volunteered to deliver 10 food baskets for her church to shut-ins and the elderly. Ordinarily it wouldn’t be that big a deal.

This year, however, Laurie could have easily begged off and everyone would have understood. You see, Laurie is fighting Stage 2 Non-Hodgkin's B cell Lymphoma.

The day was bitterly cold and staying home seemed very tempting and a lot more sensible than traipsing about delivering food.

A promise is a promise, though, so Laurie dressed warmly and left to make the deliveries.

She wore a mask over her nose and mouth, as her doctor had instructed, to protect her from germs. Laurie needs to stay well; she is scheduled to be admitted to the hospital in January to receive a transplant of her own bone marrow to try to fight off the lymphoma.

Sometimes there is a purpose and plan for something larger in our lives than we can imagine. That Saturday, Laurie was about to discover why she was delivering food baskets when she could have stayed home.

The first nine deliveries of canned goods and treats were routine.

At the last home, Laurie’s knock on the door was answered by Cora, a smaller woman, probably in her early 70s Laurie guessed.

“I’ve brought some things from the church,” Laurie told her.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Cora said. “I’ve not been feeling well today.”

Cora asked Laurie to take the groceries to the kitchen for her. Out of habit, Laurie slipped off her shoes at the front door before going to the kitchen. Laurie noticed fresh-baked bread on cooling racks as she put the groceries on the counter.

“Would you like me to put these things in the cupboard for you?” Laurie called out to Cora, who had remained in the living room.

There was no answer. Laurie thought perhaps Cora hadn’t heard her, so she went to the living room to repeat the question.

She found Cora on the floor. Checking quickly, Laurie couldn’t find a pulse and Cora wasn't breathing. Instinctively, Laurie ripped off her protective mask and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

After a minute or two with no response, Laurie knew she had to call for help. She looked around the room for a telephone, but she couldn’t see one. From her CPR training, Laurie knew she didn't dare stop CPR long enough to do a more extensive search for a telephone.

Laurie raced to her car, hit the On Star button and ran back to the house to continue administering CPR on Cora.

Within minutes a fire truck, police car and ambulance were at the house and the professionals took over. Cora had suffered a heart attack.

When things quieted down a little, Laurie got in her vehicle and started to drive off to return home. It was only then she glanced down at her feet and realized her shoes were still by the front door of Cora's living room!

A few days later, Laurie received a call from Cora thanking Laurie for saving her life.

Cora is not the only one who wants to thank Laurie.

On Thursday, Dec. 17, Laurie received a call from the New York State Police. Laurie has been named Citizen of the Year for saving Cora’s life. The awards will be presented Dec. 29 at an awards ceremony.

“There is no way I am going to that!” Laurie said emphatically.

“Between having to wear a mask and giving a short speech, I will be in hiding that day and night,” Laurie said, punctuating her sentence with a small laugh.

Thanks to Laurie, Cora is alive today and on medication to help her stay well.

Because Laurie was in exactly the right place at the right time and knew what to do, Cora will enjoy another Christmas and hopefully many more.

Merry Christmas, Laurie. Merry Christmas, Cora.

First Baptist Church blood drive

Laurie Carter and Bruce Estep were two of the donors at the blood drive Dec. 4.

First Baptist Church sponsored its first blood drive for the American Red Cross. We had a good turnout and eight first-time donors!

Thanks everyone for your help and participation and a special thank you to those who gave the gift of life.

Thank a member of the military

It's a very simple step - just go to http://www.LetsSayThanks.com and select a thank-you card prepared by a child. There are a number of texts and you can click on one to convey your message, or you can write your own.

The Xerox company will copy the note and card and send it to a service man or woman. You don't get to choose who receives the card.

There is no charge for this, and the whole process can take less time than it has taken me to write this.

You still have time to send some cards. It will make a difference to them and it will make your Christmas more meaningful.

Make a difference!!

Breast Cancer Awareness

The following information and link were in an e-mail forwarded to me Tuesday, Nov. 24.

I don't know if Emily is Vollmer's daughter-in-law or if any hospital or which hospital is going to get a big donation if the video gets 1 million hits.

I do know this is a fun video to watch on a very serious subject, so just have fun watching it. If a hospital somewhere gets a nice donation, that's all the better.

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Our daughter-in-law, Emily (MacInnes) Somers, created, directed andchoreographed this in Portland last week for her Medline glove divisionas a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.

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This was all her idea to help promote their new pink gloves. I don't know how she got so many employees, doctors and patients to participate, but it started to really catch on and they all had a lot of fun doing it.

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When the video gets 1 million hits, Medline will be making a huge contribution to the hospital, as well as offering free mammograms for the community.

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Please check it out. It's an easy and great way todonate to a wonderful cause, and who hasn't been touched by breastcancer?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw>

Susie Vollmer

Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation

2620 West Faidley

P.O. Box 9804

Grand Island, NE 68802

Fax: 308-398-5823

svollmer@sfmc-gi.org

* Important: Crib Recall

CRIB RECALL

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc., of British Columbia, Canada, announced Monday, Nov. 23, the voluntary recall of more than 2.1 million Stork Craft drop-side cribs. About 147,000 Stork Craft drop-side cribs with the Fisher-Price logo are included in the recall.

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If the drop-side detaches, the bodies of infants and toddlers can become entrapped in the space which can lead to suffocation. (See the photo)

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This recall involves only:

1. Stork Craft drop-side cribs and those with the Fisher-Price logo

2. Only those cribs with plastic trigger and one-hand-system drop-side hardware.

3. Manufacturing dates of January 1993 to October 2009.

4. Cribs with the Fisher-Price logo, October 1997 to December 2004.

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The CPSC asks parents and caregivers to:

1. Immediately stop using the recalled cribs; do not attempt to fix the cribs without a kit.

2. Contact Stork Craft to receive a free repair kit that converts the drop-side on these cribs to a fixed side. Call toll-free at (877) 274-0277 anytime to order the free repair kit, or log on to http://www.storkcraft.com/Recalls.aspx?Recalls=USA

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See the full report at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10046.html

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Below is information to sign up for the CPSC e-mail subscription list that will keep you up-to-date on all recalls.

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To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

Harvest Time

Sheryl Johnson, who lives in Ogallala, about 50 miles west of North Platte, sent this e-mail showing how their cornfield "privacy fence" in the top photo is gone now that the corn has been harvested.

Sheryl sent along this note with the photos:

"The corn field next to us was harvested over the past few days. What was a 600-acre privacy fence is now gone and we can see from horizon to horizon again until next August when it's above our heads.

"They will probably turn a herd of cows out there soon too, which is always interesting to have them close to the house. I will likely get some entertaining pix."

I hope you'll share some of those photos, too, Sheryl.

Corn harvest in this part of Nebraska has been delayed by the 30-plus inches of snow we received in October, which is normally a dry month. Farmers have been harvesting every chance they get. Those of us who live in the towns and cities of this country tend to overlook how the whims of nature affect the livelihood of our neighbors on the farms.

The Big Bang Afternoon

To understand my afternoon, you need to first read this comic strip:

http://comics.com/pickles/2009-11-18/


Really, my afternoon started out innocently enough.

I logged on to Sploofus, the trivia site where I am a member, and I started out reading the chat forum. I always like to know what everybody is doing and what they are saying.

A member had asked how everyone roasted marshmallows and many said the usual bonfire. Some said they roasted marshmallows over a firepit, another said over the flame on the gas stove, another one said they used their wood-burning stove.

My answer was simple: Microwave 'em.

In response, someone posted a remark that I felt made a joke at my expense for nuking marshmallows. To show them I knew what I was talking about, I explained how I make s'mores.



Place one graham cracker square on a small saucer and place a square of chocolate on the graham cracker. I use the chocolate that is 80% chocolate or higher so this treat has some redeeming value. (Someone told me that chocolate is good for you if it is 70% chocolate or higher, so I'm really going the extra mile at 80% chocolate. Can you sense I am trying to justify eating s'mores?)

I place four or five miniature marshmallows on top of the chocolate square and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, more or less.

I added the comment that I lead a boring life - I think it's fun to watch those little marshmallows puff up like mushrooms.

Here's where the afternoon began to go awry.

A fellow member of Sploofus read that comment and decided she would give me a call to liven up my afternoon - and life - a little.

It worked. We had a great conversation about this and that and all kinds of things. I'm a multi-tasker - or at least I used to be - so I propped the phone between my ear and shoulder and I tackled a few simple tasks while we were talking.

One of those tasks was to put a half dozen eggs on to boil. I filled the pan with water and put it on the burner. I continued with a few more small tasks while talking to my Internet friend.

She brought up something that was on the Internet so I went into my office to look up the item. We chatted about the item for several minutes. Well, probably more like 30 minutes or so. It was then I noticed my dogs were coughing as though they were going to cough up big fur balls. (Do dogs cough up fur balls? Well, you know what I mean.)

When I turned my attention to the dogs I noticed a smell I couldn't quite identify. That's not unusual for me because I have lost a good deal of my sense of smell.

I bet all of you have already figured out where this story is going, haven't you?

I followed the smell to the kitchen which was beginning to fill with a smoky haze. On the red-hot stove burner was my small pan with only two of the six eggs in it. I quickly turned off the burner and opened the windows to clear out the air and then went back to look for the missing eggs.

I don't know if you know this or not, but when eggs in the shell cook dry on the stove and high heat is involved, they explode. Not just nice little bangs and all the pieces stay in the pan. No, they e-x-p-l-o-d-e and pieces fly everywhere.

There were chunks of egg blasted onto the side of the refrigerator, the wall back of the stove and the bigger pieces that were too heavy to stick to the refrigerator had fallen between the stove and the refrigerator.

I think the dogs had tried to eat some of the egg out of the shells that exploded onto the kitchen floor and probably got some shell along with it, which is why they were gagging a little.

I guess I'm not as good at multi-tasking as I used to be. I suspect the next time my Internet friend calls me she will first ask if I have anything cooking on the stove.

It might be a good idea if the rest of you would do that also. I would appreciate it.