On New Years day Doug Walker (my cousin) and I got up early to take off on a 620 mile road trip to Branson, Missouri. Though Branson is known as a popular Midwest resort and entertainment destination we were headed there to deliver Erve Joseph to college. Erve who grew up at Canaan Christian Community in Haiti has been living here in Columbia City, Indiana the last 1 1/2 years with the Walker family. They along with some others took the initiative to get Erve accepted into Ivy Tech Community College in Fort Wayne, In. where he has completed four semesters of study.
Erve had become a part of the Walker family over the last 18 months, an older brother to Luke and Garrett their sons and a close friend to Doug and his wife Amber. He attended birthday parties, funerals, athletic events, church, Christmas, Thanksgiving, school and community events with the Walker clan . There was of course sadness and tears as we pulled out of the driveway and headed West from the the place Erve had called home and the people he considered family. Ten and half hours later we pulled off Tory Creek Road and headed up the lane to the home of Marcia and Wayne Hlavacek who along with Paul and Jane Elmore will be overseeing Erve as he continues his education at College of the Ozarks the next few years. He will be living on campus and will have a room mate from San Diego, California. Erve though excited was of course somewhat nervous about this new phase of his life and was hoping we could hang around a few more days and see him get moved into his dorm. It was was good that Erve and I both knew the Hlavacek's and Doug felt better after getting to meet them and spend the night in their home. When we left we knew we had left him in the good hands of the Hlavacek's and Elmore's who have put their own five boys through college already. We are making plans to return later this Spring to visit everyone. In God's love, steve
I have always heard there is nothing stronger that a mother's love and for the last 2 weeks we have been witness to that . A young 25 old man the lone survivor abbe to get out of a large collapsing apartment building during the Jan. 12th quake was admitted here on Jan 15th. Yesterday after all other options had been exhausted including pleas to helicopter him onto the U.S.Navy hospital ship the Comfort had been denied. An orthopedic surgical team of 5 specialist undertook a 5 hour operation to give him a chance to maybe not walk but to live. The surgeons pinned and screwed his crushed vertebra back together, if his spinal cord is not completely severed he may regain some use of his lower extremities. Through it all this young man has had his mother attending t9o his every need. Even as the surgeons explained and demonstrated all the th9ings she would need to do for him over the weeks, months and even lifetime she kept assuuring us that she would always be there t0 take care of him. There is no way to explain these how much these quake victims have appreciated the love , attention and skills that the medical teams have brought here t0 Pierre Payen these last 2 weeks. As this team prepares to leave this afternoon and a new team arrives tonight many tears of love and gratitude has been shed by the many patients that these surgeon, doctors and nurses have come to know not as nameless patients as fellow brothers and sisters. Maureen one of the who has been here this week after returning from visiting with the patients one last time made the comment that this was the hardest thing she has had to do this week, to say goodbye. Thanks to all of you who aren't here but have prayed for us, donated supplies , planes, equipment and money to make this effort possible. In God' love , steve 
