The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Battle The Problems Together

by Dessa Rodeffer
Editor/Publisher

8 August 2001

It seems like most of the time you can make it through almost anything, if you just have someone to hold your hand or give you support.

At least, the studies show premature babies have a better change of surviving if they are held and touched.

And older people in critical condition in the hospital seem to fight harder when they have family or friends at their bedside.

I think in about any crises situation, there is usually someone that comes around to help us get through it.

This past week, I was so impressed with Henderson County's first Relay For Life, especially seeing the support everyone was giving each other.

I listened to several tell me about their battle with cancer and it seems there were always many people who were supporting them with prayers, visits, or just holding their hand, going with them to the doctor, or just sitting beside them to listen of their frustration.

With front page news stories featuring the abuses our society make on each other, it is comforting to see the genuine caring people show to those needing help.

We've seen the TV documentary of a father's abuse of his children behind the scenes as his children were beaten and made to fear what he will do if they loose a spelling bee or other competitions.

I've heard of a current rapist loose in Fort Collins, CO, where my daughter and friends live.

There is the murder investigation of a brutal Oquawka murder, and most recent, the egging of businesses and damage of flowers and property in downtown Stronghurst.

Whether it is a health problem, a personal problem, or a village problem, we can better overcome each one if we "hold hands" and stick together in support.

It doesn't seem to matter the age or the cause, you will find the bad and the good always.

People who have the lack of intelligence to see the good in building up our society rather than tear it down will always cause rage in others.

If we think about the survivors, caregivers and supporters of the Relay For Life, we will realize how they made it through impossible times. It was by sitting, listening, and being a support in the problems that faced them. If we extend our hands and come together, we, too, can overcome great odds.