To the editor:

With the publicity the Southeast Missourian has been running the last few weeks about Random Acts of Kindness Week, I started a serious searching of my soul. I was trying to think of those people in my life or even the random few I pass on the street whom I forget to say "thank you" to and thus take their actions for granted. I always forget tot hank my mail carrier except at Christmas. I suppose that's acceptable behavior. I take pretty good care of the ministers and priests in my life and invite them to dinner or even repair clothing for them.

One of my passions, as most people in the area are quite aware of, is genealogy and old cemeteries. For some reason, and I suppose it was in the stillness of Mass, Terrill Weaver came deep into my heart. I only know this man peripherally, and I doubt few in Cape Girardeau know him at all. Terrill is the sexton for the city. This means he is in charge of keeping our city cemeteries in order, the headstones repaired and opening and closing graves.

I have known Terrill since 1991 when I relocated to Cape Girardeau. Even in the middle of winter I would see him at New Lorimier or Fairmont cemeteries straightening a stone that starting to tilt. In the summer, his crews are at Old Lorimier Cemetery and the two other cemeteries mowing grass and repairing stones from the vandals out there with nothing better to do on a weekend. And he always has Halloween messes to clean up.

Mowing the grass at Old Lorimier is no easy feat either. Most of it has to be done with a push mower as the stones are not in rows, and any rocks thrown from the mower will chip and damage fragile older stones. Then there's the 45-degree eastern hillside to deal with. Despite the wonderful new fence to keep out the vandals, they're still getting in. Once the weather is warmer, he and his crew will be busy repairing and cementing those old stones.

I would like to say "thank you" to Mr. Weaver. Thank you for taking such great care of our city cemeteries the last several years. Thank you for tolerating my young students when I give cemetery classes. Thanks you for all the genealogists you have helped to locate lost relatives over the years. It would be easier for you to toss the broken and vandalized headstones into a pile like most cities do, but you don't. Or won't. You take your job very seriously, and you truly go beyond the call of duty in every way possible.

The next time you're out walking in the cemeteries and there is a large group of people who do in warmer weather, please stop and thank the men who are there. Shake their hands and tell them you admire the work they continue to do. I hope the city realizes what a great job Terrill Weaver and his crew do year around. May God bless you, Terrill, and happy Random Acts of Kindness Week.

DIANA BRYANT

Cape Girardeau