MY FATHER, Dr. Craig Allee, recently retired from Shorter University after 43 years of service to that institution. Shortly after that, he was forced to enter the hospital with severe pneumonia due to complications from a staph infection in his elbow. The result was a 13-week stay in the hospital with much of the time spent in a medically induced coma in order to allow his body to recover. His recovery continues as he was recently released from the hospital.

My family and I would like to offer our sincere gratitude to all of those who showed such an outpouring of kindness and compassion during this time. The outpouring of emotion as he retired from Shorter University was overwhelming, but the expressions of sympathy, prayer and support while he was in the hospital were humbling. The people of this community, the staff of Floyd Medical Center and Kindred Medical, our family, friends, and colleagues, and even many strangers that crossed our path in the hospital, demonstrated that we are all blessed to live in such a wonderful place.

To see so many offer so much allowed my family to face this diversity and overcome unbelievable obstacles. We appreciate the prayers, the food, the sympathetic gestures, the dedicated staff of our medical facilities, our faithful church family at South Broad United Methodist, and all of the other acts of kindness allowed us to persevere though this life changing time. How can we ever repay that debt? The answer is that we cannot. What we can do is offer our most heartfelt and sincere appreciation and thanks to everyone who touched our lives this summer and every day that we have lived in this community.

What we can offer in no small way is our sincere gratitude. With thanks from the Allee family, Craig, Linda, Terry, Tim, Jan, Tyler, Ariana and Craig. I humbly say Thank you!