133. Letter to the Editor

To the editor and Wallowa County Friends,

 

This summer marks 50 years for me in Wallowa County. I came to spend a year—and I stayed. I stayed because the land is wonderful; I stayed because of people. In the fifty years countless tragedies—fires, accidents, and diseases—have hit Wallowa County families. And again and again neighbors, friends, and strangers have stepped up to comfort and help get people and families through hard times. We haven’t erased bad things, but we have dealt with them honestly and selflessly. We’ve not asked about religion or politics, wealth, or which end of the county the afflicted are from. We just help.

 

And now we have a crisis. Over 500 of us have had or have the coronavirus, and 11 have died as of September 11, according to the Oregon Health Authority. We’re getting 5-10 new cases each day, and our hospital is operating on the edge. Cases in Idaho, with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, are exploding. Umatilla and Union counties ditto. A Boise nurse says her overwhelmed staff has PTSD. We cannot send serious covid patients—or serious patients of any kind—to nearby hospitals. 

 

There is fear that our hospital and assisted living center will lose staff with the vaccination mandate. The Soroptimists and Rotary are rounding up volunteers to work at assisted living!

 

Our friends, neighbors, and relatives are in the hospital and nursing home right now. I am 78 and healthy—but I’m at risk. A good many of my friends and neighbors are at risk due to age, asthma, weak hearts or lungs, diabetes, etc.

 

I am asking all of you to put aside politics and religion, vitamins and health regimes, and embrace vaccinations and masks. If “mandates” bother you, remember that you complied with the state to get your driver’s license, to go to school until you were 16, and to go into the military when called. 

 

Your neighbor’s house is on fire and we’re all the volunteer fire department. I am not asking you to change your political or religious affiliation, or to donate blood or a kidney (which many of you have already done). Just a shot in the arm—yes, sometimes painful for a day or two, but overwhelmingly effective—and a mask on the face (when you have time, I’ll share my story of how a mask kept me safe from Covid).

 

Thank you, friends,

Rich Wandschneider