Dear Editor:

We live in a community full of wonderful people. Sometimes we forget how great our neighbors are until something happens that shows just how important they can be.

My father has Alzheimer's Disease. On Wednesday, he disappeared from home. The family immediately began our desperate search to find him before the heat took its toll on his fragile body. After hours of searching and worrying, we finally got word that he was safe.

The wonderful men at Cherokee Masonry on Green Acres Road had found him walking in the woods behind their shop. They quickly brought him in out of the sun and gave him water to replenish his dehydrated body. My father was still confused and it took a lot of convincing from them to keep him inside until we were able to arrive.

It would have been easy for them to ignore the confused, wandering man they saw or to simply just let him leave when it became difficult to keep him. But instead of taking that easy road, they saw a man in need of help and they generously offered to give it.

We dare not even think of how tragic this event could have ended if not for the kind display of humanity that the men from Cherokee Masonry displayed.

WE THANK YOU and GOD BLESS! Cora L. Stepp Mathematics/Science Teacher Granard Middle School Gaffney, S.C.