As we finish up our second week of self-quarantine at Prairie Pointe, all is well.
We are all healthy and feeling blessed to be in a safe place during these uncertain times.
We continue to shelter in place with only staff allowed to go and come from the building.
Upon arrival for a shift, each worker goes through a screening process and temperatures are re-checked mid-shift. We are taking the threat of this virus very seriously.
Sunday church services were held again. Beverley Graham led singing accompanied on the piano by Rae Bland and on the organ by Helen Arrington.
Wirt (Preacher Trawick) gave a good talk about the 23rd Psalm and likened some of the verses to life as a rancher, a life he knows intimately. A prayer received via text from James Sykora of OKC was shared with the group.
Weekend chef Jennifer Bolt’s full-time job is an Administrative Technician with the Lincoln County Health Department.
Our local County Health, as well as the State Health Department, is immersed in the urgent dissemination of CDC recommended precautions and a host of other issues with regard to the COVID-19 virus.
Please keep all health workers in your prayers – hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, assisted livings, home health agencies and our health department staff.
These are the people on the front lines and potentially exposed to this virus daily.
All residents of our county should not panic but please follow the CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommended precautions to protect everyone’s health.
Young people, listen up! You could get it and have very mild to no symptoms. You could be out infecting others and have no clue because you won’t feel ill.
Please, however, think of your grandparents, people fighting cancer, newborns or anyone with an immune system that is not up to fighting off this virus.
The bright spot of our week was described as a double feature.
While we waited for Martha Bookout’s granddaughter to come by Prairie Pointe to see her Nanny before her wedding Saturday evening, eagle eyes spotted a white pickup truck parked on Elm Street directly south of Prairie Pointe.
We could see the right turn signal on but it could have also been emergency lights as we could not see the driver side of the vehicle.
Of course, concern for what might be a problem was in abundance.
Could the driver be in distress with some physical ailment like a heart attack or low blood sugar? Was the driver drunk? Was the driver having car trouble and needed help? Inquiring minds needed to know!
So, a call was made to the Stroud Police Department and in less than three minutes, two Stroud Police cars responded.
Evidently, it was no emergency because after a short while they left and later the vehicle was gone.
The quick response of the Stroud Police was impressive and Prairie Pointe would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to our Police and Fire Departments.
Last spring, about 5 a.m., after an “all clear” tornado alert and sleepy residents were returning to their apartments, I looked out to see two Stroud firetrucks parked on Olive Street in front of the nursing home and Prairie Pointe.
They were ready in the event we took a hit. Is this a great town or what! After the pickup truck
After the pickup truck situation was addressed, the bride arrived and it was a touching moment to see Liz Bookout and her Nanny touch hands through the glass just before she proceeded to her wedding at Deer Creek Baptist Church.
Dad Darrell (one of Martha’s twins) was overcome with emotion.
It was a moment to remember!
Finally, please people, take this virus thing serious!
Wash your hands often. Don’t touch your face. Avoid crowds and stay home if you can. Say a prayer for the sick,
Say a prayer for the sick, all the health care workers and people who have lost their jobs already.
Better yet, think of how you might help some of these individuals.
We have some hard times ahead of us but as Bert Graham, Stroud’s 1969 and 1970 State Football Championship Coach, used to say, “ When the goin’ gets tough, the tough get goin’.”
He also was famous for saying “That chaps my lips!”
I think both phrases are absolutely appropriate for our current situation.