Amy Puthoff and Jeanne Fairbanks
Friends of Second Wind St. Louis
October, 2008
For those of you who we did not have the chance to meet, we are Amy Puthoff and Jeanne Fairbanks, friends and disciples of the fabulous Tom Archer. We have known Tom for many moons (and will share his secrets upon request). He was our Youth Minister when we were in college. Tom has been an important and inspirational part of our lives for over 25 years so when he began telling us about the Second Wind organization and the things that you do, we became interested.
When our prayers were answered two years ago with Tom’s successful double lung transplant, we decided to come to your beautiful city of St. Louis and join the fun for the 5th Annual Lung Walk. We won’t lie to you, our main goal was to grace Tom with our presence but wow did we get a surprise. All of you graced us! It was great getting to meet the Second Wind Board and put names like Linda, Josh and Annette with the faces. It was inspirational to see those still waiting for transplants working side by side with those who already had. It was touching to work with the caregivers and hear their stories of the magic of ordinary days. It was amazing to see all the people who turned out for the walk and run; young and old, men and women, some with no association with a transplant donor or recipient, just wanting to help. It touched our hearts to hear that so many of you traveled from so far to be together and celebrate life. We tried to imagine what it must have been like for each of you arriving in St. Louis to await your transplant for the first time and be welcomed by this fantastic Second Wind group full of hope, wisdom and friendship to guide you through one of the most difficult times of your life. And the park, you know how to pick ‘me. What a wonderful day to take a walk in the most beautiful park I’ve ever seen. It was hard to remember we were actually raising money we had so much fun. We miss not having Tom close by but know that he is exactly were he needs to be with all of you and the fabulous work you do. Thank you for all that you does day in and day out!