Family
Working at a paper, we (my two co-workers and I) hear a lot of information – people who come into the office with tidbits of gossip, faxed notifications of contest winnings and meeting announcements, emailed press releases of Coast Guard savings and timber sales. And, of course, we hear about births and deaths.
People send in obituaries whether it’s through fax, email, or dropping them off. The Sentinel itself does not task itself with the actual writing of the obits; we just print them. Sometimes, though, before we even receive an obit or hear the word around town, we find out about a death because of our endless supply of extra papers. A family member comes in and says their mother or brother or father or sister died and they are in the process of wrapping things up in boxes and can they please have some extra papers to wrap these valuables in. We always give them a box full of old news and tell them to come back in they need more.
This just happened a few minutes ago. After Dan handed her a box, the women said how some of her mother’s friends were taking care of the death notice and obit. She was from out of town. She said she and her siblings sat around and cried for a bit, but then stopped realizing there really wasn’t time to cry with all the technical stuff to take care of – all those details that have to get done when a death occurs. It’s a lot, she said, and more than grieving family members can really handle. But, like with the death notice and obit, she said they were receiving a lot of help from her mother’s friends and neighbors in Wrangell, “It’s really a blessing that she lived in a small town.”
Acts of kindness and support are overwhelming in Wrangell, in so many ways. For instance, I had no clue prior to moving here that becoming a citizen in Wrangell means regularly supporting various groups and organizations, giving dollars here and there for raffles and oftentimes bake sales. In a town where strangers don’t exist, it’s hard to pass by a table and not buy something, hard to turn down a kid knocking on your door.
Just this past weekend – Friday and Saturday – there were bake sales at Bobs’ and City Market, the two town grocery stores. Various citizens got together to bake food and man tables to raise money for Ted and Nondas Haux. Ted and Nondas are a local elderly couple (I think Ted is ninety-something) whose heater broke down during the cold freeze that occurred in town a few weeks ago. With a huge bill and no family members to help them out financially, Wrangellites took it upon themselves to help out. The mayor, who I think was instrumental in the organization of the bake sales, came into the office today and said that over $1,500 was raised. For a town of less than 2,000 (and even less than that during the winter), for two days, that’s not bad. People were handing over hundred dollar bills, the mayor said.
I guess I miswrote earlier when I stated that Ted and Nondas have no family.
People send in obituaries whether it’s through fax, email, or dropping them off. The Sentinel itself does not task itself with the actual writing of the obits; we just print them. Sometimes, though, before we even receive an obit or hear the word around town, we find out about a death because of our endless supply of extra papers. A family member comes in and says their mother or brother or father or sister died and they are in the process of wrapping things up in boxes and can they please have some extra papers to wrap these valuables in. We always give them a box full of old news and tell them to come back in they need more.
This just happened a few minutes ago. After Dan handed her a box, the women said how some of her mother’s friends were taking care of the death notice and obit. She was from out of town. She said she and her siblings sat around and cried for a bit, but then stopped realizing there really wasn’t time to cry with all the technical stuff to take care of – all those details that have to get done when a death occurs. It’s a lot, she said, and more than grieving family members can really handle. But, like with the death notice and obit, she said they were receiving a lot of help from her mother’s friends and neighbors in Wrangell, “It’s really a blessing that she lived in a small town.”
Acts of kindness and support are overwhelming in Wrangell, in so many ways. For instance, I had no clue prior to moving here that becoming a citizen in Wrangell means regularly supporting various groups and organizations, giving dollars here and there for raffles and oftentimes bake sales. In a town where strangers don’t exist, it’s hard to pass by a table and not buy something, hard to turn down a kid knocking on your door.
Just this past weekend – Friday and Saturday – there were bake sales at Bobs’ and City Market, the two town grocery stores. Various citizens got together to bake food and man tables to raise money for Ted and Nondas Haux. Ted and Nondas are a local elderly couple (I think Ted is ninety-something) whose heater broke down during the cold freeze that occurred in town a few weeks ago. With a huge bill and no family members to help them out financially, Wrangellites took it upon themselves to help out. The mayor, who I think was instrumental in the organization of the bake sales, came into the office today and said that over $1,500 was raised. For a town of less than 2,000 (and even less than that during the winter), for two days, that’s not bad. People were handing over hundred dollar bills, the mayor said.
I guess I miswrote earlier when I stated that Ted and Nondas have no family.
posted by Siapiau | 5:27 PM
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