A while back my 4-year old daughter and I were enjoying a day of skiing at Powderhorn. During lunch we were sitting at a communal table and started talking with two women. They were a mother and daughter who had moved to Grand Junction for health reasons several years ago. In true small-world, smaller-town fashion, we discovered that we live in the same neighborhood and I had seen the older woman’s sister some years ago for a diabetes education class.

They shared with me an interesting story of how they had transitioned through different physicians, clinics, and hospitals through their time in the valley. It turns out now they are both recipients of services here at our own Community Hospital. When I told them I work at Community Hospital, they became quite animated and had lots of positive things to say including a comment from the mother about how great the people are that work at Community Hospital. I agreed with her as we continued our conversation. Eventually, we went our separate ways, but her great people comment stuck with me.

Later that same evening, we attended the Moonlight Ski and Campfire event on the Mesa at the Skyway cross-country ski area. Many people on the Community Hospital wellness committee spent lots of time to organize this event. There was an excellent turnout with over 20 employees plus family and friends present.

One person that stands out in my mind is a quintessential cowboy and gentleman named Spurs. Yup, Spurs. He is the friend of a Community Hospital employee who attended the event. Spurs arrived with a flat bad pick-up truck loaded with logs; enough for a week’s worth of fires. Before long he had built a roaring fire, around which many of us huddled. During the evening, he conversed with my young daughter, deftly wielded an axe to cut firewood, and stopped an errant log from escaping the confines of the fire.

As I was leaving a bit earlier than everyone else, I asked Spurs if he would see that my camping table was returned to me. Two days later to my surprise, not only was the table returned, but a long-broken fastening strap had been repaired. What a great guy.