It occured to me to tell LactNet that one of our own, Jane Bradshaw, in
Lynchburg, Virginia -- whom I have never even met in person -- was a Godsend
when my daughter Miranda was in the hospital in Lynchburg before her gall
bladder operation.  Miranda goes to school in Lynchburg, many states away
from "home" in Texas.  Jane had already helped Miranda out in a variety of
ways, simply because of the connection via LactNet.  When Miranda had to go
to the ER and then be admitted to the hospital for surgery, I called and
left a message for Jane on her machine.  When Jane got it, she rushed over
to the hospital to be "surrogate mom" to Miranda, and because of her nursing
background, she was able to explain lots of things to Miranda about the
surgery, and calm her fears.  Eventually, Grandma came down from Delaware to
be with Miranda for a few days.  Jane's help was so important, to Miranda,
and to me.  Friends, community, connections, doing things for others out of
the goodness of one's heart -- this is what it's all about.

And yes, on the Myers-Briggs personality test, I am one of those people who
is gregarious and outgoing and can strike up a conversation with anyone and
talk and listen for hours, and yes, I realize not everyone is like that.

Kathy Dettwyler

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html