[BigSteph]

On Labor Day morning, my mother attempted to take my father to urgent/emergency care, as his oxygen was getting low. He collapsed on the driveway.

The members of the Hawkins Emergency Response Team arrived shortly after the first call to 911 occurred.

I was out of town and my mother was alone with my father.

She said that people from all over arrived and immediately offered assistance -- some on the team and others just supportive neighbors.

She said that her neighbors did everything they could to revive my father. They remained until after the paramedics left.

One of the members, who is a neighbor, whom my mother had not met, drove her to the hospital.

This was traumatic for my mother and each person helped in their own way -- lessening the stress on my mother.

My father passed away, as neither the Hawkins Team, paramedics, or emergency room could revive him.

Thank you for being there, even though he didn't make it.

If you haven't volunteered or offered assistance in some way to your Village Emergency Responder Team, I urge you to reconsider.

Thanks,

Big Steph

Son of Charles E. Harris, Jr. (1940-2023).