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Holly, Helen and I were out and about doing out-of-the-house activities after supper when I took a call from neighbor Diane.  Her granddaughter, Ivy, was at the house and asked if she could come see me, she wanted me to sign the cast of her recently broken arm.   I needed fifteen minutes to get home and said I would be fully honored to sign her cast!   We hurry home and I pull up to Ivy standing by my garage door, sporting a green cast filled with signatures on her left arm.   She had misjudged a grab of the monkey bar and it resulted in a snapped bone.  Ivy & I exchanged hello’s, I shared sympathies about the bad timing of a springtime cast, complimented her on being such a tough girl and reiterated that I would be happy to sign her cast.  She ran inside to get the black marker and came back out stating – “There’s not much room.  Make sure Holly & Helen get their names on it.”    The light bulb went on for me and I gave myself a brief moment to let the air deflate from my ego.  I then saw her concern about finding space for all names, especially Holly & Helen’s, and it melted my heart.    Fortunately I write quite a bit smaller than most of her grade school friends, I was able to find a space large enough for me to fit in Robin, Holly, & Helen along with a little paw print.  It met her satisfaction, I knew because of the grin extending from one side of her face to the other.  After a quick cardoor visit with the dogs (that incuded plenty of wags, licks and pats on the head), Ivy and her mother left to pick up her sister, Daphne, from dance class.   If dogs have ringing ears when they are being talked about, Holly & Helen are going to be shaking their head to make the noisy ringing stop.   Ivy is going to be showing all her friends (now jealous that they don’t have a cast on their arm) the names of Holly & Helen with the pawprint and sharing her backyard adventure stories.  Her pride with having my dogs names on her cast left me feeling equally as proud of my two girls.  They bring smiles, joy, hope and happiness to Ivy.  They make her disappointment feel less disappointing.  If only there was a way to bundle that effect and share with others who are experiencing disappointment from casted wounds.

The Barnum High School Scholarship Ceremony was held on May 15th.  Lanny & Mary & Lana & DeeAnn & I all attended.   An annual scholarship is issued through the Darlene Brown Thorson Community Fund to a Barnum student.  This year’s award went to Megan Anderson who plans on going to Lake Superior College for Lab Technician training.   Speaking of pride, this also swells my heart.  Dar would be so humbly honored to see her resources being shared with such a fine young person having ambitions to help people for medical purposes.   Thanks to Darlene, there is a bundled effect – this one for a few deserving students to help them reach their goals and lighten their burden in doing so.

Bundled or not, having a positive effect on others is an admirable trait.  Holly & Helen come by it naturally.  So did Dar!