LETTER: Limbaugh eulogized

I just had to write to express our family’s appreciation for all the flags in the Valley that were at half staff in honor of Rush Limbaugh’s passing. This has been a heavy loss for us and for our country.

When I first heard of Rush’s diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer last February, I did not understand what it meant, and thought that treatments would cure him. Only in November did I come to understand that the treatments were only prolonging his life.

We first became aware of Rush’s program moving from a five-year stint in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Yorktown, a small town near Victoria, Texas, where we lived temporarily waiting for our house to open in Port Arthur. Since I tend to not like music, I only listened to news programs that were pretty barebones, but in San Juan there was little television or radio available. (Not that it was missed. If you were lucky enough to be living in Puerto Rico in the ‘80s, you’d be some kind of a nut case to be indoors anyway.) Suddenly, here in 1990, was this odd, intensely funny and absorbing radio show on the air! I and my husband and family developed a strong bond with Rush that lasted up until last month, shared by millions of Americans and a lot of foreigners too. Millions of Americans in all walks of life, all stations, all races, would rush to hear Rush at lunchtime!

For three hours every weekday he could speak and tell stories and also share his common sense and wisdom and his great love for America and all its people and for the democratic way of life. Although he did not cater to fools, one always left his show feeling uplifted and upbeat.

He made us think. One became a better person listening to him. Rest in peace, Rush.

Charles and Kaaren French, Brownsville