Karen’s Corner

By Karen Barkstrom

It’s November, the month we’re all reminded to give thanks.

The obvious answers for what I’m grateful for are my high school sweetheart, who’s been my husband for over 46 years; three great kids, who turned out pretty darned well despite some of my questionable parenting skills; and five amazing grandchildren. Oh, and I can’t forget my job at The Daily World!

But for this column, I decided to focus on how thankful I am that we live in Grays Harbor and some specific “thanks” I have from over the years: the Aberdeen School District; our doctors and dentists and local medical facilities; our church; and our close friends.

• The entire time our children were at Miller Junior High and Aberdeen High schools, they were involved in the music department. At a time when budget cuts were necessary, when people were questioning whether music and the arts needed to be part of the school curriculum, Aberdeen held on to their programs and made sure our students had great opportunities with dedicated instructors.

I will always be grateful to Choir Director Pat Wilhelms and Band Director Scott Pierson for their influence on our three kids — inspiring them, encouraging them, allowing them to practice their leadership skills, and giving us as parents a chance to puff up with pride when we saw them marching on the field during football games or during Loggers Playday, playing or singing in concerts, or taking part in the yearly musicals.

So even though I’m years late in actually putting this in words, I say: Thank you, Pat, Scott and the district, for your years of dedication to the music department at Aberdeen.

• As I get older, it seems the list of medical professionals I have on my call list just continues to grow. When we first moved here in 1985, we had a family doctor (Dr. Strange) and a dentist (Dr. Pritchett). As the decades add up, we’ve added a new dentist, Dr. Johnson — ’cause Dr. P had the nerve to retire! — a urologist (Dr. Best) and an ophthalmologist (Dr. Estalilla). Every one of these professionals has provided us with excellent care, and we continue to recommend them to anyone who asks.

During several surgeries at Grays Harbor Community Hospital and numerous visits to Summit Pacific’s Urgent Care Clinic, I have received excellent care and would not hesitate to schedule future procedures at either of those locations.

• Lots of years ago, when Mike and I were looking for a new place to worship, we visited quite a few churches on the Harbor. Some were too small, some were outside our comfort zone, some were just plain unfriendly.

And then we attended a service at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. Immediately we know this was the place for us. Even though the congregation was in the midst of a major change — joining with Trinity Lutheran Church to form what is now known as Amazing Grace Lutheran Church — we were welcomed with lots of handshakes, kind words of greeting, and invitations to come again the following Sunday.

We are very grateful for our church family and their years of acceptance, friendship, support and prayers.

• And my final thank-you goes to our fellow “Supper Club” members. There’s eight of us who try to go out to dinner every Friday. Each couple takes a week deciding where we’ll go — sometimes it’s a place we’ve been often, and occasionally we get brave and try out a new place. Sometimes it’s here in town, but we’ve also dined in places from northern Pacific County to east of McCleary.

Mike and I have known these three couples since 1985. We’ve watched each other’s children, grandchildren and now even great-grandchildren grow; we’ve grieved with each other over friends and family members who have died; we’ve rejoiced as some member of the group gets to go on fabulous vacations; and in general we just enjoy each other’s company.

And of course, as I come to the end of this month’s saga, many other “thank yous” come to mind. I could go on and on, but that’s all for this year. I’ve already started compiling my list for next November’s column.

Karen Barkstrom, The Daily World’s editorial assistant, can be reached at 360-537-3925 or kbarkstrom@thedailyworld.com.