FROM: Barb S
Aug 15 @ 7:51 AM

Wow! Lea has to feel the love you have for her! I am sure that too is what is making her fight so hard to come back to us.If everyone would go into a relationship looking at it as you do, there would be no divorce. That is so cool. I know God will help Lea to recover so that you two can continue to show the world what real love is.

FROM: Teana
Aug 15 @ 8:45 AM

Dear Larry & Lea, Well Adam and I have some wonderful news to share with you. Hopefully it will put a little smile in both of your hearts for just a minute! I am pregnant once again! We are very excited especially since it has taken almost a year. I am due April 15th which is 3 days after Aleana’s birthday I do not think she would be to happy if I delivered on her birthday. But we shall see, I am only 4 weeks along so I still have a long way to go. We just thought you guys needed some good news like this. We pray for you everyday Lea and just know that you will come out of this. We look forward to seeing both of you again and love and miss you very much.

REPLY FROM: Larry Vaughn
Aug 15 @ 10:26 AM

That is WONDERFUL news! Congratulations to you! I know that Lea will be very happy, too, and am anxious to share it with her. Here’s praying that this pregnancy will be full of joy and comfort. Best wishes to your family.

FROM: Stacy
Aug 15 @ 2:47 PM

Larry and Lea~ It is so amazing to hear your thought process on life and Lea’s condition! It’s a real privilege that you’re sharing this with your friends and family! It’s always good to hear that Lea is making progress and I know that many, many prayers are with you and helping her to heal. It’s so hard for us to understand your struggle right now and I know we all feel helpless to do anything. I hope and pray you continue to receive strength and comfort from the emails from others and that we can in that way help. God bless you and strengthen you!

FROM: Gayle
Aug 15 @ 4:30 PM

Dear Larry, It was good to get this letter/update today. I hear and feel the emotional ups and downs that you are experiencing, and my heart aches for you and for Lea. There will be changes with your lifestyle and there will be many things to learn, but you do have the right attitude and that is to do them together just like you did when you started out 43 years ago.

Lea is strong and loving and will work with you and the two of you can and will have life together. It won’t be the same and at times you may long for those days, but you will grow and touch others and be deeper in love for it. I can not begin to imagine the loss that you feel from Lea’s inability to communicate at this time, but I can relate to the loss of what you knew materially together.

After our fire 7 years ago and the loss of our dog in that fire, it was a challenge to regroup our thoughts and make another life with more memories and pictures, and let go of the tangible things lost in that fire. However, we have learned through that fire and through the death of my dad, that memories are in your heart. You have great stories and pictures and videos of a wonderful life in the bed and breakfast as well as other homes and vacations. Just use those to remember the great life that God gave you and use it to minister to others. Remember even though things change, God never does. He will always love you!!

Life sometimes throws us some pretty difficult curves and we wonder how we will ever survive. You and Lea are strong and although the road is difficult and at this time must seem way too long, I have faith that you will come through it just fine. Many, many people love you both and will be by your side. I use a philosophy in my classroom from a book called Fish Tales that was inspired by a place in Seattle, WA called Pike Place Market. It is so relevent to all parts of our life. I want to share a few thoughts with you.

Fish philosophy:
1. Play—You and Lea have played and enjoyed life to the fullest with your vacations, work parties, home parties, grandkids camps, etc. You have included friends and family in your life. You will still have days that you will play and enjoy life and the little things that mean so much—Lea’s smile, the sunshine, soft music, many others.

2. Be there—You and Lea have been there for each other and for other people through the years. You are being there right now for people in the hospital–nurses seeing the love, and the prayers of so many. You are there not only physically taking care of Lea but mentally you are staying as focused as possible and reaching out to others.

3. Make Someone’s Day–You and Lea both through the years have been helpful to many people along the way from co-workers to family, friends, children. You have been there to brighten their days. Lea will continue to brighten the world with her smile one day, and you will make someone’s day at some point when you can relate all that you have gone through and help them get through it.

4. Choose your attitude—We all know Lea has a great attitude about life and cares about others. Your attitude, Larry, through all of this continues to amaze me. You are choosing to be positive and keep prayers and emails and web pages going. Life has been pretty rotten for both of you and you are entitled to feel bad and sorry for the situation at times, but you are focusing on the baby steps and the memories and the positive parts of your life.

Those four components are incorportated into my classroom–this is the 2nd year and has made an impact on my students. It gives me a way to instill Christian values without saying it in the public schools. Have a great day and give Lea a special hug from me. I do hope I get to visit in Sept. when Kathy, Danny, Dennis and Kelly come out. Love you both always.