Moving forward
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Editor,
On 11/11/2023 at 11 p.m. Dick Christopher died. On 12/15/2023 at 11 a.m. we laid my father to rest with military honors. We would like to truly thank our community and people who knew him, shared him with us and helped us through our loss.
In the days following his death, we learned more of the impact he had during his life though his genuine love of people. He reached out to all especially if they reached back. One mom shared that recently Dad (at 86) and her young daughter had a focused conversation about their mutual love of rabbits. One of my son’s friends in his first year in college shared he had written to and received encouraging letters from my Dad. And then at his funeral, Dad’s lifelong best friend from his childhood in Great Falls came to care with us. Dad had no sense of generations. For us it was interesting to watch who and how Dad had reached out to so many. Every story enriched us.
Dad’s quiet listening is one of the things that made Dad relevant to all people, all the time, regardless of age, gender, race or financial status. We loved his stories about people at the store. He enjoyed listening to two patients conversing in Salish as they wait for their prescriptions. People mattered to Dad and they knew it.
As people shared stories about him with us, we were given the gift of learning more about him from stories about his store, through his advice or counsel in professional or private ways. Our Dad gave the love he had for people every single day and we received the bounty of those stories and his life.
Thank you to all who have held our Dad and our family in their thoughts, prayers, words and deeds. We are very blessed.
Deborah “Kim” Christopher
Polson
