August 18, 2009
Dear Friends,
I'm a fan of Star Trek and a physics and astronomy buff. It thrills me to read the writings of Michio Kaku and listen to my friend, Barbara Pine, name the stars and constellations on a crisp and star studded night. I love to dream of galaxies afar and gaze at the Sombrero Galaxy from the Hubble website.
It's a wonder, isn't it? Here we are, we inhabitants of this stunning water planet, spinning wildly near the end of one of four major spiral arms in the Milky Way Galaxy, surrounded by thousands, or millions, or is it trillions of bright burning stars. The wonder in my mind as I pen this note to you is this - Earth can be dark at night even though light is everywhere around us; and, marvel of marvels, only three objects are able to throw a shadow over us: the moon, the sun and sometimes Venus.
Shadows. I'm thinking of the sort that can be thrown over our terminally ill children of REACH.
"I canna' change the law of physics, captain!" said Scotty, chief engineer in Star Trek. My mind shifts, "I canna' change the law of physical realities pertaining to terminally ill children infected by HIV/AIDS." They are beautiful creations of God, like our planet, like galaxies and the universes beyond. Like our planet, they live in a lively, crowded community. Only, they are subject to many more shadows cast across their young lives: the danger of death, the exclusion from so many fun things, the hostility or suspicion of people cast by ignorance or fear.
There will always be realities beyond our grasp, however I challenge you, like Michio Kaku romping through the frontiers of cosmology, to stretch our limits of imagination, to give love, have hope and extend courage and help us cast light upon the children of REACH.
Please, if you can do anything to help us, the family of REACH, and I would be grateful.
Sincerely,
Susan K. Slonaker
P.S. P.S. Please support REACH with a monthly gift of $10 or more, and consider increasing your monthly gift by $10 or $25 this month to help with camp rent and medical supplies. Please give through matching gifts at work, the United Way and the REACH web site.