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I’ve given it a day to sink in. The news from southwestern
Minnesota, that is. The stretch of road where four children lost their
lives in a three vehicle accident, including a school bus carrying 28
children, is very familiar to me.
As editor of the newspaper where three of the four victims had lived,
Cottonwood, MN, I traveled that stretch from my office north in Granite
Falls, to my office south in Cottonwood almost daily.
The faces of the people who were the major players that day and night,
the fire chief, Dale Louwagie, the hospital administrator, George
Gerlach, and the reporters covering the accident, are all people I
worked with and know well.
The victims and their families are also people I dealt with. It wasn’t
long ago that a story had been done on one of the victims in the
Tri-County News, Cottonwood’s paper. I too had dealings with the father
of the two young boys who lost their lives. He had lost a daughter as
well some years ago to an allergic reaction to medicine.
As you know I’ve not yet entirely planted my feet in Caledonia. Western
Minnesota is still where my family resides and I am in transition each
weekend.
The people, places and faces are very dear to me and will always be.
I thought about my former co-workers and how they were handling the
tragedy. I’d hoped the night of the accident that each of them were
well.
When I’d heard that my former staff writer’s eight year old
grandson was supposed to ride home with a friend on that very bus but
that he’d forgotten, “thank God he’s an absent minded little eight year
old boy,” she would say, I was happy for her and her family.
However, four children lost their lives and a community, about the same size as Spring Grove, will never be the same.
It was earlier this year that I stood outside the very school where the
grieving now were congregating to pull together and support one
another, and took photos of gleeful students exiting school busses in
anticipation of their first day of school.
I’ve worked with the teachers who will be working with the a grieving student body and can only pray for their strength.
A mother, who will be burying the very son we’d done a story on
previously, said it best when she said: “We know that he is with the
Lord, and we ask all parents to give their kids an extra hug tonight
and every night,” of her late son.
From all of my “sources” out west the rescue workers did a fine job
under the toughest of circumstances. The community of Cottonwood is a
strong one and community pride runs deep there. I know, with the
help of one another they’ll pull through this and grow from this
tragedy.
This is my column to offer my condolences, my love, my support and my
prayers. God be with all those who were affected in the beautiful town
of Cottonwood.
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