Proud of our family

(Editor’s Note: The Recorder welcomes submissions about those who are going above and beyond during this difficult time. Those who would like to have their stories and photos of someone going above and beyond featured in the Recorder can submit them to Editor Charles Whisnand at cwhisnand@ portervillerecorder.com or drop by the Recorder office, 115 E. Oak).

In this time of uncertainty, my husband and I take a lot of comfort in all the uplifting and creative stories emerging from acts of kindness of regular citizens.

During the last couple of days, our family is experiencing one of our own stories in some ways has made a complete circle.

My husband’s brother, Dell Clark, lives about five houses down from us in Star, Idaho. He’s 82, and his loving wife of 60 years passed away about a year and a half ago. Like most people with the sudden loss of a spouse, the grieving has been difficult, and what may seem like simple decisions to make, seem to extend beyond what one would imagine. One of those decisions was what to do with Peggy’s personal belongings and the immense supply of her craft items. Peggy was a professional quilter, having taught many classes, co-owned a quilting shop, and created the most beautiful quilts, all with a great deal of love. After so many years of her talent, I couldn’t believe the supply of fabric, buttons, thread, etc., that overflowed in all of her storage areas.

Here comes the back story: We have a son and daughter-in-law who live on the Central Coast in California. Our son, Craig Clark, was a respiratory therapist, and our daughter-in-law, Cari, was a professional hat designer. For the better part of the last 15 years, they have each put their previous jobs behind them, except for Cari who from time to time still dabbles with her hats. This change was a result of the two of them starting their own business, quite accidentally, of creating artisan vinegars. It began with an overabundance of raspberries on their property. The first raspberry vinegar was created, and friends and family couldn’t get enough.

Fifteen years later, the business is going stronger than ever imagined. But Cari has always had that creative side bubbling constantly, as well as a heart of gold, and at the beginning stages of the coronavirus concerns, she began switching some of her free time to sewing masks. She has delivered more than 500 masks to doctors, nurses, therapists, etc., all of whom place her cloth masks over their protective N95 masks in order to be able to use them longer.

She has delivered to areas such as Fresno; Arroyo Grande, Calif.; locally on the Central Coast; Palm Springs; Las Vegas; Colorado; Missouri and Washington, just to name a few. When she was having difficulty purchasing fabric due to the virus, she mentioned it to our son’s uncle, (my husband’s brother), and all of a sudden one of his difficult decisions was no longer difficult to make. He has since mailed her more than 50 pounds of fabric and thread knowing his wife would have definitely approved!

It brings tears to our eyes from the pride we feel that our family pulls together in their efforts to help with the complications and shortfalls the virus has created. Additionally, we’re grateful for the back story of our daughter-in-law helping out their uncle with some of his difficult decisions, and all of us knowing Peggy is looking down with total approval from this circle of love. Linda Clark and her husband Ed are former longtime Porterville and Springville residents.