Heros and Heroines

Sometimes things just happen when you least expect it. I ran into Elizabeth Anderson and her mother, visiting from the wilds of upper Minnesota Saturday. Elizabeth had brought her Mom up to see infamous Bayview. From a county planners standpoint it must be perceived as that. It must be pointed out that she works for Kootenai County Planning & Zoning. Among all of the vast projected large plats that have been requested from Harrison to the northern county line, her department has been extremely busy. Perhaps the word extremely isn't out of order either, as turn it loose growth advocates have clashed with Whoa, stop the train, no more building.

Stuck right in the middle is the Kootenai County Commissioners along with the planning and zoning people. Our region is at least up until the recession occurred, bursting with an unprecedented growth. A growth that as usual in these situations, hadn't been planned for. The last two or three years has found the county furiously trying to update their master plan where no plan really existed before.

But that isn't the real story here. You see, Elizabeth Anderson was stricken with breast cancer a while back. She cheerfully shifted gears and settled into a combat mode. Never fearing that she would loose her battle with cancer, she stuck her chest out, (figuratively speaking) and charged forth to meet the challenge. Losing both breasts, she underwent a year of chemotherapy which still has two treatments to go.

Meeting her and her Mom in Bayview over lunch was on my part a distinct pleasure of the highest kind. You see, It's not very often you get to sit next to a real hero that has done real heroic things.