Gratitude
Dear Editor: I am thankful for the blues.
I can hear B.B. King sing “The Thrill is Gone.” It’s a sad song. It’s about loss but familiar and comforting. We all know loss. We all get sad. Suffering is part of our human condition. No matter how hard we try to avoid it we can’t escape it. I am thankful we can experience it because it affirms we are alive, we are human. To hide it, deny it and keep it to ourselves is a tragedy. I am thankful I can be sad.
I am thankful for others who are willing to be sad with me though they can do nothing to alleviate my pain. I am thankful to realize it’s OK to be human. Even in tragedy and suffering there is love and hope. Some would say why does God allow such suffering. I would say I am thankful that He suffers with me; in Christ historically and forever and today with my community; that’s you. I am thankful for you that you suffer with me.
We have all suffered loss and isolation especially in this pandemic. And yet if we embrace it, allow ourselves to be fully human, to be the best versions of ourselves, we will know joy even in our suffering. I am thankful for our common human condition. This enables us to persevere with joy. I can hear the Temptations sing “My Girl.’’ It’s a joyful song. It’s about moving beyond our circumstances. It’s about having sunshine on a cloudy day.
Thanks to those who are promoting a month to foster an attitude of gratitude – joy beyond our circumstances. I do believe God has blessed us all. I am thankful even when I’m blue.
Gunalchéesh,
Charles Horan, Sitka
Found Dog
Dear Editor: We would like to thank the many Sitkans who helped in finding our dog, Java, who disappeared last Monday on Blue Lake Road. She ran into the woods chasing a squirrel near the first avalanche chute and dragging a long leash. After a three-hour search we notified our daughter Brooke, in North Carolina, who alerted her friend Paige Bernhardt in Sitka that Java was missing. Then social media took over.
Paige and Gary Bernhardt and Mike and Liz Finn spent countless hours coordinating and searching and alerting city electric crews who kept an eye out during their trips on the Blue lake Road. Also Adam on his U.S. Forest Service duties on the Blue Lake Road searched early in the disappearance.
The dog had been gone overnight for over 24 hours and the search continued. On Tuesday afternoon, well-dressed for the weather, Silas, Marina and Collauna Marley, and their dog Ruby, joined the search on the Blue Lake Road. They heard her barking near where we had been looking for two different days and found her near the river hopelessly tangled in her long leash. With daylight almost gone and Java in tow they headed back up the slope using headlamps. The threesome arrived at our house with Java about 6:30 p.m. We were astonished, since we were getting ready for a wet search the next day!
Thanks to every one of you! Oh, Sitka, what a great place to live in.
Bill and Sherry Foster, Sitka
