Thursday, September 4, 2008

More Important Than Toys?

As much as we live and breathe our toys, games and puzzles, yes, there are some things in life a bit more urgent....and this week one if those things has been the weather.

Today, our friends in New Orleans are heading back home, even as the southeastern part of the U. S. prepares for the next storm, As always in a time of need, we are impressed with the outpouring of volunteerism and monetary aid during a time of need.

Sometimes this spirit of solidarity comes in small gestures......such as on Monday, when we were all awaiting word of Gustav's path. A young woman shopping in our Carbondale store wore a "I love N. O." tee-shirt she purchased during a mission trip her church group made to New Orleans this past year.

Or the good cheer with which one family from New Orleans seemed to be handling their evacuation. The mother in the family was a southern Illinois native, so they trekked here to stay with family. Yesterday afternoon, they shopped our store, and had a grand time with the puzzleballs, flingshot monkeys and Hello Kitty backpacks ---their visit made much lighter by the report that their house had escaped serious damage.

Of course, for many the damage report was not so good. Our best thoughts and prayers are with them and with the hundreds of volunteers who again are taking up the challenges of cleanup and rebuilding.

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