Dear editor:

This has been a heartbreaking week for Cody and Wyoming and much of the nation.

I have long dreaded and feared the loss of either Al or Ann Simpson and I’ve wondered just how their hometown of Cody would ever be able to go on without either of them. The loss of Al just really does leave an enormous hole in the heart and soul of Cody Country.

And about the only comfort I’ve been able to yet find has been in a few words, first, from Ann, who said early on the full moon morning of his loss, “Al went to heaven on a moonbeam.” And then from Rod Miller, who wrote, “Al’s backward glance lets us know that he trusts us to carry on without him.”

Which could remind those hundreds of thousands of people who loved and respected Al Simpson that they would do well — and could pay ongoing tribute to him — by working hard to emulate some of the key tenets by which Al lived his long life: bipartisanship, compromise, open-mindedness, patience and love, and a measure of genuine respect for the different beliefs of other people.

So as we all endeavor to go forward without Al, let’s be better citizens by stopping to ask ourselves at important moments, What Would Al Do?

Bruce McCormack

Cody