It was an ordinary day. Doing one of my favorite things...reading my morning newspaper! Checked out the front page and sports section and then headed to the Editorial page. Today's page offered the "Letter Writer Spotlight" which features one of the newspaper's most prolific "Letter-to-the-editor" writers. Today's letter writer was Gayle Ray who is a retired nurse who deplores vaccine disinformation according to the headline under her photograph. The featured writer every week is given the same five questions to answer for the spotlight story. The questions are: 1. What Lancaster County issue most concerns you? 2. What solutions to that issue would you suggest? 3. Why do you write letters to the editor, and what shapes your thinking? 4. What about you would surprise other people? 5. What do you think sets Lancaster County apart from other places? (1) Gayle said that the issue that most concerns her is the response to COVID-19. She said that our elected officials and public health experts faced a deadly virus with little resources to combat it. Most residents of Lancaster responded by getting their vaccinations while others attacked, maligned and threatened health care professionals. Most everyone of us was vaccinated as children against polio and smallpox, yet some have chosen to believe that the COVID-19 vaccine is different and experimental. Then state legislators railroaded a constitutional admendment limiting a Governor's emergency powers onto the ballot during an election cycle with anticipated low voter turnout. (2) As a retired nurse she hoped that those who lost loved ones could be a voice of reason to combat the disinformation still filling the airwaves. Physicians, nurses and other health providers are reliable sources of information. Ask them questions and listen to their answers. We've been given a lifeline, please use it. (3) She writes letters to the editor because she is glad to be an American. She thinks long and hard before responding to any topic. She tries not to insult anyone and that's why she goes through a lot of rough drafts before hitting the send key. History has been her passion for as long back as she can remember. It teaches us that humanity is imperfectible. We seem to make the same mistakes through generations. Yet, we are capable of doing great things and making progress. (4) Her family name was Bliss and she is descended from a long line of oxymorons, meaning that in the nicest possible way. (5) She and her husband moved to Pennsylvania 13 years ago and Lancaster County intrigues her. The layers of history here are palpable and there is so much of it. We love living in a town founded in 1756. A young Amish man befriended them while he built a porch on their home and began calling them "Mom" and "Pop." We've now settled into a retirement community of friendly folks. Pennsylvania has been soul-soothing and we are grateful. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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