The following email arrived three days ago. Was so touched by the video, and by the narrow degree of separation between the story and my birthplace and current life. I’ve kept the email author anonymous, with her permission:

“I thought you may enjoy this little 2 1/2 minute video.

Dave was a neighbor of ours. We carpooled our girls to dance class. He was a doctor in the ER at York (PA) Hospital. His wife went back to school to finish her nursing degree and was doing an Internship at HealthSouth when my husband was there post stroke. Even after they moved to another neighborhood up the hill from The Galleria Mall, I’d still see Dave out running. They are one of the nicest families I’ve ever known.

I saw Dave in the ICU, and a few weeks later in the hallway of the hospital, when my Dad was so sick. As usual, he was kind, funny and comforting. He didn’t tell me that he was only working part time because of his own health issues. His daughter and I are in touch via facebook. I read her post this past October that said he had died that afternoon. He had been fighting T-cell lymphoma for 5 years. She had donated bone marrow and the transplant have given him a few extra years. His wife is an oncology nurse, his daughter is a NICU nurse, and they and his other daughter (the one in the video) and son took leaves from work and cared for him at home for the last couple of months of his life.”

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Update: The email author has added more to this story, which continues now if you go to Next Blog