Editor’s note: Sometimes in an e-mail or letter to someone we accidentally convey heartfelt and interesting thoughts. When I read Kathy’s e-mail to me on June 21, I thought it portrayed a day in the life of many of us – thoughts, interactions, major events, happiness, sadness and memories. She gave me permission to publish it.I took a tour of Schubert’s Sod Farm yesterday. Driving east on Judge Orr Road is almost like traveling back in time for me. I look around at the wide open plains and think, “Now this is my Colorado.” Falcon looked that way only a few years ago, but god how quickly it changed!The southern half of the entire Upper Black Squirrel valley is brown. George Schubert took me around to all the wells and fields. He showed me one field where they are irrigating 24 hours a day and the grass is still brown; it has been so hot that the water must evaporate before it hits the grass. At any rate, a number of his wells are close to being dry, and he has plowed up acres and planted dry land millet. (I think they use it to feed cattle.) While this was supposed to be an educational visit, “so the little lady (me) could see how a sod farm works,” it was actually a political endeavor, probably for both of us.At the end of the tour, George’s wife said he had to get back to the house because their 15-year-old dog was dying. George told me he wanted to shoot it that morning because it has cancer and stopped eating two days ago, but his wife and son wouldn’t let him. Instead, they wanted to take it to the vet one last time just in case something could be done. George was grumbling that his family was thinking about themselves more than what was good for the dog. I told him about my father-in-law, 90 years old with lung cancer. “Think about both the dog and your family, take it to the vet, and be happy that at least with animals we are allowed to end their suffering in a humane manner,” I said to George.While life is a precious thing, when it is time to go, there should be an easier way than being hooked up to tubes until they suck every last ounce of dignity out of you.I just got the call that my father-in-law died. I’ll talk to you soon.
