Pay It Forward

By Kevin Gray

Did you see Larry and Debbie Ratley on television? This is the question I’ve seen popping up on my Facebook site, around Osawatomie or in comments about Larry’s decision to contact Kansas City’s Fox outlet, channel 4’s Pay It Forward people.

As soon as my wife and I had finished watching the segment, Diane turned to me and said, “That was the best Pay It Forward they’ve ever done!” I had to agree.  I expect to see heartfelt emotion, tears and the surprise element, and we got all three.

Being the old softy I am, I ended up wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. Good going Larry! Channel 4’s Kathy Quinn didn’t have to do much. The cameras began rolling, and the Ratleys delivered their message and the $300.

Larry, along with his wife Debbie, wanted to repay Bart Stuckey from Olathe who, over the course of two years, has been driving down to Osawatomie to help rebuild the Ratleys’ home from the 2007 flood damage.

I had first met or, should I say, was reacquainted with Larry again last October when I did a story about how the Ratleys had been rebuilding. This is when I talked to Bart for the first time and really listened to how indebted Larry and Debbie were to those who had come to their rescue.

Actually, Fort Scott Community College is where both Bart and I met Larry for the first time. When Larry had begun teaching a few heating and air conditioning courses for the college, Larry was also wrapping up his basic composition credits, which is where I came into the mix. Larry was one of my students. And, Bart became one of Larry’s first students.

Larry and Debbie had bought the materials to rebuild the house but were unsure where to turn without anyone to do the work. This is when Rob Roberts and the Salvation Army entered the picture, which is when their saviors – the Advent Lutheran Church of Olathe and Bart – joined the effort after Bart Needham, who works at Honeywell with Stuckey, asked Bart for help.

Larry said he wasn’t sure who these people were who were going to help them rebuild, but the day Larry saw Bart standing there, he said, “I knew things would be better.”  Bart didn’t even know who the homeowner was going to be, either. He recognized Larry immediately.

When the Pay It Forward moment came, Bart was waiting inside knowing only that the news crew was doing a story about flood rebuilding. And that they would visit with him after starting outside with Larry and Debbie.

I knew I really had no way of placing Larry’s emotions about Bart’s efforts in my original story.  All I could do was describe their loss, Larry’s words about the “unhappy memories,” the losses felt by other families – many who left never to return – and do the best I could in my original story.

But listening to Larry’s emotional retelling of events and watching his facial expressions, as he worked to hold back tears, gave Osawatomie a story about good people doing good things for all the right reasons.

Short URL: http://osawatominews.com/?p=358

Posted by admin on Sep 15 2010. Filed under Kevin Gray, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry