There are an awful lot of big words that get slogged around in this newspaper. But that’s OK. I like words. I like how they can mean different things to different people. I like how you can fit them together to roll off the tongue or make a thoughtful point. Sometimes words are put together to use as a blunderbuss, a pointy stick, or to make political points. Some editorials here are filled with hateful, spiteful pitchforks. Of that I am guilty too. Sometimes words can be used to advocate a cause, a candidate, or a point of view.
Sometimes words are meant to express gratitude or thanks.
For example: I would like to offer you the word "hero." Now, hero gets used a lot in the media these days. Seems like everywhere you turn there is a hero of some sort. Don’t get me wrong, I like the word hero. We need them now more than ever, it seems. But what we need is a new word; a new superlative for the people that dedicate their lives to saving others. There’s something saintly or otherworldly about them. Hero is too flashy a construct for them, as they would never personally accept praise other than to say they’re just doing their jobs.
This Thanksgiving, I have more to be thankful for than the usual; food on the table, friends and family and a good job with good people. I am thankful for those that saved my life a little more than a week ago, doctors, nurses and emergency room staff at St. Clare Hospital. Their quickness and professionalism saved precious time. There are of course the pilots, EMTs and others at Med Flight; the vascular acuity of Dr. Mario Goessl; and the doctors, nurses and all the rest of the staff at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. To you and to all those that go about saving lives as a profession, I can only offer my deepest gratitude. And for once I am without words.
Dale Glaudell, Baraboo
