I received an email. The subject line read “Emptiness.” I stopped and re-read the first two lines again. Mark Craine told me his precious wife, Wanda, went home to be with Jesus. He wanted me to know.
Mark worked for Ponderosa Lumber Company for years and served our community. Many of you were in personal contact each day as you purchased building materials and supplies. He was a friend to many in the building world and also in the Christian world. You might not know about the news of his wife, Wanda. He wanted you to know, too.
The doctors found a small bump close to her neck. From her neck to waist she was full of tumors. They promised her four to five weeks to live; she made it two weeks and went peacefully to be with her savior, leaving behind a grieving family.
My writings touched Mark spiritually. He connected with me through Jesus. He retired and moved away, but Pagosa has a way of pulling its residents back. Mark’s friend, West Jackson, purchased a subscription to The SUN newspaper to keep Mark in touch with the community.
When Mark retired, I invited him to join our writers’ group. He said he liked to write. It wasn’t the right time. Today seems to be the right time.
Mark writes, “My precious and dearest friend, how I wish that I could sit in person and share my heart with you at this time. You may have not heard, so I will share my heart with you.
“You have been such a so very close friend to me so I covet your prayers for this old man in his time of loss. Someone told me that, if I liked, I should read and write down my heart. So I’m going to begin by sending my six-word entries to a friend that I know. Maybe in the future my Savior will give me the wisdom to write further on with subjects that He will give to me.
“When I go to the mailbox, I am eager to see if an issue has come, and look in the second section for your presence! I read, and then cut them out and have made a BSSB, Betty Slade Scrap Book, where I have saved your printings!
“Thank you, dear friend, how you have blest me in these past years with your writings! You will now have a new student so I hope that I will learn and do well! My newspapers come on various days, as they are mailed from the Sun, but I look eagerly for my copy each day when mail arrives. Say, ‘Hi’ to all in Pagosa, and remember to say, ‘Hi’ to Sweet Al.”
When a friend calls you a friend, there is no bigger compliment. You wonder what you’ve done to be a friend — be there, give them needed encouragement, maybe a smile, or give them a few meaningful words. Most important, you took time for them.
Final brushstroke: Please reach out and send Mark an email or two. You can use my email address below. I will pass along your concerns and encouragement. Emptiness doesn’t fit Mark, who was in the center of Pagosa’s building and growing for 55 years. This is a good day to throw a few flowers. Pagosa is who we are.
Send your comment to bettyslade.author@gmail.com.
Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of The SUN.
