As many of you know, Tom and Diane Conerty were employed by Lee's RV and before that, Mountain States RV, for many years to represent us at rallies. They were always at the Newmar International Rally, Quartzsite and others.

Sadly, Diane Conerty passed away in late November after being diagnosed with bone cancer only a couple of months before. The Myeloma cancer she had was incurable, but highly treatable in most cases. Unfortunately, she developed complications from the treatment as was gone before anyone was ready.

Tom is one of the most gregarious, upbeat people you will ever meet. He is sort of a modern day Will Rogers--he's never met a man he didn't like. His customers become his friends--for life. He will do most anything to help his friends.

Of course, his wife's death has thrown him for a loop. It was exhausting to do 3 "Celebrations of Life" in 3 different states. He had so little time to prepare for her death--in fact, after the cancer diagnosis they prepared to go on with life in as normal a fashion as they could. That meant they were to continue RVing and spending time with their RV family and friends.

Everyone deals with grief in different ways. There is no wrong way to grieve. The range could be from a few weeks of being stunned, but otherwise acting "normal", up to a spiral into severe depression, lasting many years.

I've visited with Tom and he is determined to do what he thinks Diane would want--and that is to try his best to get back to normal and go on with life. For a person with Tom's personality, that requires lots of interaction with people. While he gets to see his many friends at the RV resort, he still notices that many people are hesitant to contact him. He thinks it's because they really don't know what to say to him and feel uncomfortable.

Tom likes to be doing something all the time. He loves talking to potential customers and helping solve his customer's problems. He tells me that being busy helps keep his mind off things and helps with the healing process. He really wishes more of his friends and acquaintances would treat him normal--call him, stop by, refer friends to him, etc. He doesn't like them to be afraid to call him.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Tom is my friend and I'm trying to help my friend with the grieving process. This is the best way I know to get the word out. If you know Tom or have been referred to him, don't be afraid to give him a call. He really wants to get back to normal and would appreciate a call. If you prefer email, it's tdconerty@earthlink.net If you need his number, drop me an email at lee@leesrv.com.

Go camping more--have more fun! Lee