Alva Review-Courier -

Dozens of area citizens have sent beautiful get well cards and notes encouraging me to hang tough in my diagnosed bout with esophageal cancer. I have paid a lot of attention to each message and reexamined the stack of cards every now and then.

Let me once again get a disclaimer out of the way. My parents and grandparents forever admonished we five kids against seeking sympathy for various dings and scratches, explaining no one wants to listen to hourly complaints from whiny kids. And if the complaining worked, then the frequency would increase so the latest hurt would have to out-do that of th...