To the Editor:

With a great sadness in my heart I traveled to the Wallowa Valley on Easter weekend. As many of you know, Lee Phelps took his life as a way of dealing with his loss of life capacities that was robbing him of his sense of worth and his ability to interact with the world. I traveled with Lee’s Uncle Mark and several cousins who came to be with Kit and Kim, Taylor and Chris. Kit’s parents came, as did her brothers and wives. Kim’s brothers and sister were here and additional cousins, traveled to be with family. Lee’s sailing mates, both male and female, came from afar to say farewell to their friend and kindred spirit.

While talking to Kim by the bonfire on Saturday evening, I mentioned the support he and Kit were receiving from their friends and the entire Wallowa Valley community. He turned to me and said that that was the reason he and Kit had chosen to live here. The sense of friendship, concern and caring was evident from their first days they drove down into the valley.

I was quite moved as I saw the outpouring of love and the afore mentioned qualities come forth on Saturday evening as hundreds of folks from Lostine, Joseph, Enterprise and Wallowa came to the river to be with the dear friends and say goodbye to Lee, a boy that they had helped raise. This sense of community is often lost in the modern day rush of life. It is not lost in the Valley of the Wallowa. People drive through his lovely valley, and look with wonderment at the beauty of the magnificent snow draped mountains. But what they do not see is the true beauty of this place. The glorious sense of community nurtured by the people here in the shadow of the mountains.

Rob Phelps (cousin)

Sisters