Nuku Hiva, 6-1-2017--Gratitude

Most of these blog pages are in my head before I (David) even sit down to write.  This one is different though, and for once I hardly know where to begin.  I'm sitting here stunned.  Stunned with gratitude.

Recently I became aware that our friend and Cascabel neighbor Melissa Miller, a long time fundraiser with the local public television station, had spoken with Pearl about doing a fundraiser to help us with expenses related to my recent illness.  I was absorbed with medical issues and hadn't paid much attention to it.

Until now.  Melissa just sent an email saying that it raised enough money to cover virtually all the costs related to my illness.  Since the beginning of this medical mystery, we've again and again reminded ourselves that given how close I came to realizing my mortality, everything else was just 'little stuff'.  And yet the financial cost of this unexpected detour has been weighing on us.

I know that now because I find myself on the verge of tears.  Tears of gratitude. Gratitude for something we don't deserve, that we can only hope to have the opportunity to repay to our community over time.  

Melissa, our friend, neighbor and a fund-raising dynamo.

We're deeply humbled by her effort and the community response to it.