There are a lot of good people in our area

Starting out in fast food and moving on to journalism has put me face to face with many different people. Various personalities and moods. I have dealt with angry people, and people who do not know what it means to frown.

Although, no matter how many cruel, strange or genuinely chipper people I deal with on a daily basis, there is always at least one person who restores my faith in humanity.

All too often, we get those people who do what they can to get their names in the news. But a few weeks ago there was a man who does amazing things for our community whom did not want his name in the paper.

"I don't do this for the publicity," Dave Neal told me after he received an award from the American Red Cross for his dedication in Greene County.

He barely spoke of himself, but told me all about what the organization does for the community.

There are friends who see their loved ones suffering from illnesses, and reach out to the community and ask for help. Then, there are strangers who take time out of their day, or even donate material items and time, to help another out.

Although, the one story that touched my heart so closely was that of Jude Myers, a 4-year-old boy who may lose his ability to walk by the time he is 7 from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Right now he is oblivious, and all he knows is he likes to play T-ball.

I spoke with his mother, Amber. She told me about the yard sale they were planning in order to raise money for the Jerry Lewis Telethon. Despite what her family was going through, I could sense the smile in her voice as she spoke of her son.

She explained to me that Jude was experiencing tightened muscles in his thighs, which is an early symptom of the disease. Amber didn't dwell on that, instead she quickly came back to seeing her son on the field in his uniform. It brought tears to my eyes, but I had to hold my composure to finish the interview.

I later spoke with Donna Myers because she had opened a new store in Bloomfield called Hopefully Yours. She donated clothes to the yard sale fundraiser.

Jude went with his mother to pick up the donations, hugged Donna and thanked her. He told her he just loved her for doing that. Both of us had watery eyes as she told me about it.

Someone else saw the story I wrote, and offered their help. A complete stranger responded to the article, and wanted to make sure that Jude's mother knew about a website for yard sale maps in order to generate more visitors.

"We would love to have you share this to help with drumming up some more donations or buyers when the time comes," Kim Copeland wrote in the e-mail.

I get to meet and interact with a lot of people, and I wish I had the space to thank each one of them individually for reminding me how precious life is. Being selfish only makes one bitter in the end.

Sabrina is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. She can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or by email at swestfall@gcdailyworld.com .