Date: Fri 22-Jan-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-Rich-Rauner

Full Text:

ED INK: Rich Rauner's Story

As committed as we are to portraying Newtown's community life as it really is

in these pages, there are times when we wish we could write our own happy

endings to stories that don't turn out the way we want them to. Rich Rauner's

story, which we have been recounting regularly over the past year, ended

abruptly last weekend when his newly transplanted heart stopped beating while

he was alone at his home in Shady Rest. Word of Rich's death spread through

town at about the time his many friends and supporters were gathering at the

Methodist church on Church Hill Road for a benefit pancake breakfast in his

honor. This was not the way this story was supposed to play out.

Rich Rauner's story, familiar to many now, was remarkable. He presided for

years at the front counter of the Newtown Post Office dispensing kindness and

good will right along with the postage and parcels. His thoughtful private

acts of generosity permeated many lives, even though his own life over the

last several years was marked by great sacrifice and personal loss. So when it

became clear that his big heart was not up to the task of sustaining him, and

he withdrew to the sanctuary of Temple University Hospital for the long wait

(more than seven months, it turned out) for a new heart, the community rallied

around him, sending him a continuous flood of cards and letters to keep his

spirits high.

Rich Rauner seemed to have his own deep reservoirs of life spirit, however,

because while at the hospital, he spent his time bolstering the morale of the

other patients who daily faced the anxiety and uncertainty of having failing

hearts. Last month, while he was still at Temple awaiting his transplant, Rich

told us in a phone interview, "I feel that I'm here maybe for a purpose, that

I was put here for a reason... I see the frightened patients who come in, the

confusion and trouble in their faces and the faces of their families. I try to

encourage them as best as I can. They need the support."

The story of a man who finds fulfillment even in the worst of circumstances is

supposed to end happily, and we all thought that is what would happen when

after months of waiting, Rich was given a new heart on December 17. His

recovery seemed to be going well, and he was allowed to return home, though

with frequent trips back to Philadelphia for testing. His sudden death last

weekend, however, upset all our ideas about how goodness should be rewarded.

But as always, we find we can get our bearings again with a little dose of

Rauner wisdom. In early December, not long before Rich learned that a new

heart was on its way to him, he reflected on his experience. "Being here has

taught me a lot about life, its ups and downs, its miracles and

disappointments," he said. "It's up to the good Lord to decide how we wind up.

But whatever happens in the end, I win."

In the end, we all can see, thanks to his unique perspective on life, that

Rich Rauner's story really did have a happy ending. And because we knew him

and listened to what he had to say, we all win.