Letters to the editor: Neighborhood safety, aging and losing imagination, heaven’s beauty, ebola czar, VA quality care
Neighborhood safety
Why are young girls being shot? Is this a gang initiation? Do suspects need to kill someone to be a gang member?
The idea that people cannot stand in front of their own homes without fear is not right. I am not for a “police state,” but uncontrolled thugs are not acceptable. It is time for a crackdown.
Tell civil rights people that freedom to walk the street safely is important. Tell the police we will support some hard core takedowns without repercussions.
Richard Blaisdell
Kansas City
Aging out of change
Imagination and gusto are two prominent ideals within a child’s mind. We wrap ourselves in our imagination, fueled by things we hear, believing we can be different.
In our preteen years, our imagination soars. The endless sea of what we can do with our lives lies before us, laps at our feet. Coaxes us to come forth and swim, to bask in the sunshine of our potential.
As teenagers we tether our imagination, curb our expectations, begin to doubt how much we can do and turn our backs on all our dreams. Young adulthood reverts us, bringing up more ideas of change than before.
We wrestle with our stubborn elders, hoping to change their ways. The struggle ebbs and flows, the endless sea laps at our feet again. Age wearies us; the fight is gone.
We become the stubborn ones. Our will to change has become a will for continuity.
Lives start so large and end so small. We don’t see the lack of imagination anymore.
We accept the ways of our elders and forget that we were once the ones fighting for a different world.
Tess Hall
Harrisonville
Heaven’s beauty
By sharing in a personal manner, I want to encourage people to have hope. A hospice nurse, when helping my wife, Twila, who has been an Alzheimer’s patient with the disease for five years with life slowly ebbing away, shared with me thoughts about heaven.
Her thoughts were not new to me. For years, heaven has been a happy thought for me. This nurse described heaven beautifully, recognizing that Jesus is there, and there is a lot of light, love, peace and joy.
And there is no hunger and no sorrow. How wonderful and beautiful.
When I was a child, my Aunt Julia was on an operating table after a serious accident. She reported that she left her body and went to heaven, and before returning to earth, she experienced wonderful joy in being in heaven. And she looked forward to returning to earth so she could tell others about the wonders of heaven.
Twila, age 92, and Douglas, age 94, have made necessary plans for the time of death, and we look forward to the joy of heaven.
Doug Sutherland
Raymore
Obama’s Ebola czar
Just in case anyone wonders why Ron Klain was appointed to be czar I would like to quote an article from “Science, AAAS.” “The Obama administration named lawyer Ron Klain to coordinate Ebola efforts.
“Lawmakers had called on the president to designate an Ebola czar in the wake of the mishandling of the first U.S. case, and Klain, former chief of staff to two Democratic vice presidents, is a battle-scarred veteran of Washington policy crises.
“At the same time, Klain’s appointment highlighted the absence of a Senate confirmed U.S. surgeon general. The 15-month vacancy is the result of Republican opposition to Vivek Murthy, a 36-year-old physician and health care advocate who was nominated in November 2013.”
Clarence Edmondson
Kansas City
Quality VA care
There have been so many negative reports regarding the quality of care at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals across the country. I’m pleased to say, we have not experienced anything other than quality care.
The nurses and doctors are amazing, extremely caring and truly interested in caring for veterans. I wish we had come here sooner.
Donna Solombrino
Kansas City
This story was originally published November 12, 2014 at 7:27 AM with the headline "Letters to the editor: Neighborhood safety, aging and losing imagination, heaven’s beauty, ebola czar, VA quality care."