From Elaine:

 

When their son Timmy was finally diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) after years of his mysterious digestive and respiratory ills, Lucille and Paul were afraid they might not be able to afford the expensive medication that would keep him alive. A pharmacist in Cleveland, the location of the children's hospital that could treat CF, provided medicines at cost for any CF patient because he was the father of a CF child. Lucille and Paul were grateful, and decided to extend that community of support to their home. They convened other families with CF children and started the CF Association of Erie, PA. Lucille organized volunteers to assist families, recruited donations, and gave talks to spread awareness of the disease to organizations like the Kiwanis club, to medical students, and to high school students.

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In a medical school class the questions in response to her informative talk about CF, were about her own feelings. She caught on that the subject of this psychology class was parental guilt and compensation. She said with a shrug, "Well at least they have all heard of CF and its early symptoms, and will be able diagnose it." When she recruited high school student volunteers, she was warned that they would be unreliable. She taught them the strenuous method of providing postural drainage and percussion - the physical therapy that helped CF children clear their lungs. She explained that the health of the CF children living in St. Joseph's orphanage depended on them, and on very regular treatments. She later said that not one of those volunteers ever missed an appointment. 

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My memory of a gentle teacher

When I was four, I was in a store with Mom, about eye level to the cashier's conveyor belt. I realized that when the cashier picked up each item, she entered the cost in the register and then put the item in a bag. I had heard my parent's concern about expenses, so I picked up a package of safety pins before the cashier saw it, took it outside in my hand, and then proudly showed Mom, "You didn't have to pay for this." She looked startled and sad. She explained that if people didn't pay the store that had bought the pins, then there wouldn't be any place for us to get pins. We walked back into the store, and she said to the cashier, "She didn't understand, and we need to pay for these." The cashier smiled, Mom paid, and I learned much more than why not to shoplift, but how interconnected a community is.