Thank you to those who make good news happen every day

Good news happens every day. Today, we’re sharing on our front page the stories of students graduating from the Excel Center and how local youth benefit from a grassroots charity, Charlie Classics.

There are a lot of stories like that out there, but there’s so much more than that going on all around us every day.

Gary Pride, manager of the Poplar Bluff Regional Business Airport, shared one of those stories this week.

It’s one of those moments when someone steps up and makes a big impact on another’s life, but doesn’t feel the need for the spotlight. I know there are big and small moments like that every day here in our community.

In this case, a veteran wounded in combat in Afghanistan wanted to attend his best friend’s wedding in San Antonio. He passed through the local airport on a Wounded Warriors flight.

Local folks, who don’t wish to be named, stepped up to pay for the fuel for the flight when they heard about it.

The gentleman had been injured in 2009, Pride shared. He also wasn’t interested in publicity for his actions, beyond sharing a few details that he said Pride could share with me.

The injuries left him with severe injuries sustained in hand-to-hand fighting.

The veteran said he was almost fully recovered, though he still has trouble with speech and forming sentences.

But he’s focusing on his family and hopes to enter the job market in the near future.

He shared, he’s “in a good place in his life, happy and looking forward to future days.”

There’s a lot we can take from that stop over, starting with the actions of our local citizens to offer help. Then there’s someone who has worked hard to recover from injuries most of us could never imagine, and is looking forward to the future with hope.

It’s good to look up from our daily responsibilities and take a look around at all the good taking place every day.

Donna Farley is the editor of the Daily American Republic. She can be reached at dfarley@darnews.com.