FRIEND'S KINDNESS LIVES ON

Cara Watts wants to thank Janetta Sachse one last time.

Sachse of Cape Girardeau was killed in an automobile accident May 6 just north of Columbia. But her kindnesses to Watts have not been forgotten.

Last November, Watts and her husband moved to town from Largo, Fla. Her husband came to work on the new Mississippi bridge, and Cara enrolled full time at Southeast Missouri State University.

"We were only in town a few days when the loneliness hit us," she said. They went out shopping for a television set and met Sachse, an employee of Plaza Pawn.

"Over the next five months, Janetta shared her home, family and friends with me," said Cara Watts. "I had numerous problems getting settled and she was always there...When the river flooded and my husband was sent back to Florida because they could not continue to work here, Janetta told me not to worry. `You won't be alone," and I wasn't."

Watts said it is impossible to list the many acts of kindness that were extended by her new friend in five short months.

When she saw the request by the newspaper for nominations of kind people the very weekend Sachse died, Watts said, "I felt as if this was a way I could thank her one last time."

Watts also wrote the following poem just hours after she learned of the tragic accident:

Janetta

Dearest friend -- you touched my life in such a special way,

My heart aches as I search for the right words to say.

I came to town where I didn't know a soul,

And until I met you -- this place seemed lonely and cold.

There you were with your smiling eyes,

That were a reflection of a person loving and wise.

You opened your life and your heart to me,

I felt a closeness that in my heart will always be.

You were one of those people that make the world a better place,

I could see the light of life and the love of God in your face.

Go in peace my friend,

God is holding out his hand.

You will be missed.