MABEL THOMPSON

Reader appreciates former teacher

I was strangely touched by your article on Mabel (Bell) Thompson. For some strange reason I feel connected with her. At least some of it is because I am a student of local history. I know the story of the rise and fall of her father, possibly the most influential man ever to herald from Grant County, also little things like the fact that her father owned the parcel of land adjacent to mine and that some of Mabel's relatives are buried out in the cheat grass two miles south of me. I also know that Mabel was called "Mrs. Democrat."

The only time I ever spoke with Mabel was at one of the live museum days at the Grant County museum. She spoke kindly of the many things that my grandfather donated to the museum. It is always gratifying to have one person speak kindly of another, especially when they are as politically different as the Bell's and the Hochstatter's. Perhaps a small town is like a family, where there is a sense of belonging, that we are all in this together, in spite of all the things we fail to understand about one another.

I appreciate Mabel's full life of activity, her family's colorful tracks upon the landscape of our county, and perhaps most of all the reminder that we are strangely connected in spite of our diversity.

Don Hochstatter

Moses Lake