miscellany

This is an email I sent to Alamance Magazine, recounting some interesting experiences I've had with their publication over the past several months:

Hello,

I am Shannon A. "Sam" Moore, grandson of Bob Moore (from your February 2006 issue) and also grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Julius Thompson Jr. (from your June 2006 issue's article on the Rescue Unit - He helped start it and she's in a picture in the article.)

I did not know of the existence of either of these issues. A while ago, a coworker at Konica Minolta told me of the February issue, telling me of my paternal grandfather being on the cover and that a copy was in the breakroom. I really enjoyed reading the article (there was so much I didn't know about him) and noticed another whilst reading, an article on Bethany Presbyterian Church. That prompted an email from me to Rev. Whitney, for I respect him so and have fond memories of him from when I was growing up. Many things happened quickly after that, but there was truly something special in the workings. Having been in little contact with my father's side of the family over the past many years, Daddy Bob (That's what we grandkids call him.) was pretty much the only person in the clan I visited. I'd come to his store every six to ten weeks and we talk a bit and just be around each other for awhile. It was time well spent. Daddy Bob was just about to start down his final journey here, when Mr. Whitney forwarded to him and his wife a copy of the email I'd sent. That opened a line of communication I'd thought long and permanently lost - communication that made it much easier for me to be with my grandfather during his final days and to be around long-distanced relatives during that time, too. I miss Daddy Bob very much. It just recently hit me how much, for it was time for us to visit again.

My story for you doesn't end there. About two months ago, maybe longer, another co-worker sent me a copy of your June issue. It was turned to the page where you offered your condolences and she flagged that for me to see. I appreciated your words and her sending the magazine. It sat on my desk until today, still turned to that page. I decided to read it, seeing as how I enjoyed so much the other content in the February issue. Lo and behold, there is an article on the Graham Rescue Unit that my maternal grandfather helped found! My maternal grandmother had given me a goodie bag from the celebration dinner they held and had told me a bit about it. I peered into the photograph at the beginning of the article and there sat my grandmother! I read the article and learned more about my grandfather and what he accomplished in the long while he was a citizen of Graham. He's been gone for many years now and I miss him, too.

Both of my grandfathers contributed so much to their families over the years and they gave so much to Graham, too. I am so grateful to have learned more about them through your articles and for the actions they prompted me and others to take. Thank you for being a vehicle for these workings in my life. I'm going to call my grandmother now and tell her what I've just told you. Then I plan to read the rest of your magazine and see what other things I find that make me smile.

Warm regards,
Sam Moore