Home now

Dear Editor,

We arrived in McCook from parker in a Colorado snow storm March 20, 2020. The drive took 26 hours and we feared slick roads and COVID conditions. We traveled with our own food and drink, gloves, hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

By the time we pulled up to Doc Batty’s house, the sun was shining and the only snow was melting from the bumper of our black Equinox.

Like so many times in my life, the timing was horrible -- to move, to liquidate stocks, to sell a home and to re-integrate into Red Willow County living.

But here’s what I believed when we made a decision to move. This was going to save our lives, or at the very least, prolong them.

Here’s what we have found. Neighbors of the highest order. Past and new friends bringing vegetables from their gardens, or sweet baked goodies from their ovens.

We left McCook the first time in 1973. We’re home now.

I’ve planted a garden and we’re not leaving.

Susan Jean Butherus Ihrig,

Class of 1971 McCook Community College

McCook, Neb.