LETTERS OF THE DAY
On life changing events in 2005. The first is on topic. The second (and much more poignant) isn’t:
Not just my life but the life of our entire family was radically changed by a bus ride last March.
I had gone to Rapid City for a conference and was on the return trip home when I overheard some ladies discuss home schooling. As I listened to them, I thought, “This might be OK for you, but I wouldn’t ever do it!†My vision of home schooling was strong-willed Cyndi sitting at a table with strong-willed Amber, and both of us ready to kill each other at the end of a week.
About 200 miles down the road, I felt something change within me and suddenly had the impression that home-schooling would be perfect for our daughter. Upon returning home, I shared my thoughts with my husband, Stan, who, much to my surprise, instantly agreed. We prayed about this decision, and a couple months later, I resigned from a job I absolutely loved.
Upon making this decision, we began to see God’s hand in all of this, and I can’t begin to express (with a 200-word limit) all the wonderful changes we have seen occur in our daughter, our home, in our marriage and in our lifestyle.
Cyndi Dissing
Sioux FallsI can’t wait to turn 50. So what to the gray hair, and my jeans are a little tight. No longer obsessed with more, I’m a better vendor to my customers as we work to sell our business. Today, I’m a little less sure of most things but quite certain of others – friends, my wife, faith, prayer, cards and laughter.
What happened? At the age of 47, I’ve been given the gift of a “do over,†a second chance, the rarest of opportunities. A life-saving bone marrow transplant to treat acute leukemia. A year ago, still grieving the recent loss of my son to cancer and thinking things couldn’t possibly get any worse, they did. Without treatment I had just days to live. I soon had no hair, no appetite and a real fear that I would never leave the hospital. I couldn’t brush my teeth for fear of infection, and blood counts so low that I relied on daily transfusions to stay alive between rounds of chemo. Insiders refer to transplant day as a new birthday. Mine is Feb. 10, and let me remind you that $3 a gallon gas is no big deal, I love my wife and my dog loves me.
Bill Connor
Colton