Posted on 01/06/2006 8:31:12 AM PST by Former Military Chick
Please keep this bttt....a must read.
So true.I've said in the past to family and friends that I'd rather die of cancer than a heart attack for that *very* reason....the opportunity to say goodbye and to mend fences.
Sad.
These are amazing men.
Dr. Laura always speaks of coal miners as REAL men, who do whatever it takes to support their families.
"I have a feeling that they did," she said.
To hear of their courage, their devotion to their families, their understanding of what it means to America to have them mining coal........
I surely hope they know of the loving prayers sent their way during the rescue operation and now when they need comfort to deal with their losses.
Dr. Laura's right!
If I were ever in a pinch I would rather have one miner than a whole boat load of John Kerry-Ted Kennedy types.
My step-grandfather was a mining accident investigator.
Wow. I'm just speechless. My heart goes out to these folks.
We should send this to every Democrat in Washington. Of course, their response would be to close all of the mines.
It's cold comfort. It's good that they didn't suffer physically but it must have been really hard on them to know that this was happening to them and know what their families would be going through and they couldn't do anything to stop it. What they did in writing the notes was the best thing they could have done. I'm glad the families know but if I got a note like that, I'd cry for weeks.
I wasn't very hungry but knew I should eat--made some wheat toast. As I was waiting for the toast to pop up and opening a new jar of peanut butter-- I remember saying--out loud--John, this place is so damned empty without you. As I took the lid off the jar, I saw--in the center of the yet undisturbed peanut butter--a perfect little heart.
With tears still streaming down my face I had to laugh-- leave it to my often "nutty" husband to allow our Lord to use peanut butter to Comfort me with a message of love.
Right after John's death, I received many such "messages"--I call them heavenly hugs, and "blessed assurances"--and on John's headstone I had engraved one of the Apostle Paul's most blessed assurances: LOVE NEVER FAILS.
I pray that the miners' families in Tallmansville may be blessed with the precious Comfort Jesus promises to those who mourn, and to those who believe in Him, the most blessed assurance that death is a DEFEATED foe!
bttt
These are tough people, and their families understand the risks associated with their work. I do business in some out-of-the-way places in North America on occasion, and one thing I've noticed is that it's very hard to understand the culture of these places because most Americans look at things through the eyes of an urban/suburban person who is used to dealing with people who work in many different capacities. One unique characteristic of a mining town is that it is exactly that -- a mining town. Everybody in the town -- even those who don't work directly in the mining industry -- knows far more about mining than your average American does.
ping
In the event of something happening to me
there is something I would like you all to see
It's just a photograph of someone that I knew
Have you seen my wife Mr. Jones?
Do you know what it's like on the outside?
Don't go talking too loud, you'll cause a landslide, Mr. Jones
I keep straining my ears to hear a sound
Maybe someone is digging underground
or have they given up and all gone home to bed
thinking those who once existed must be dead
New York Mining Disaster 1941
This is likely to be the most damning angle to the whole story. Underground coal mines are notorious for their failure to keep up with the removal of coal dust, and I am willing to bet that this was one of the major factors in this incident.
How did he write the note after he went to sleep?
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