Memories unfold with letters about late editor

To the Editor:

Ever since we lost Roger Morris on Sept. 21, I have looked forward to the letters in The Western News.

With each letter, a new memory unfolds.

I knew Roger through high school wrestling for many years. At home games, the Roger I knew would be sitting on the corner of the mat to the right of the team. He always had his camera bag.

First he checked the light, and then he took picture after picture and wrote in his book.

At the Montana State Wrestling Championships in Billings, he would be standing all day at the rope with his familiar camera bag. He didn't have to fight for a position. Nobody tried to push him aside.

If they crowded in front of him, it wouldn't matter because he was "head and shoulders" above the rest. Even the year Roger didn't go to state wrestling, I could picture him there and told him so.

At states, Roger mentioned he was having a problem with his throat. I wrongfully thought he was talking about the "bug" that was going around Libby at the time.

Who could have imagined that this big healthy guy, whom we all knew and loved, could be taken from us so quickly.

The Western News office and hospital were the only times I had seen Roger without his familiar camera and camera bag.

When I visited Roger in the hospital, I was hoping that his condition was a result of the treatment he had been through.

He said he was "holding his own." I hoped he would soon start to recover.

I thought there was only one Roger Morris. One of a kind.

After having seen his son, Chris, again for the first time since he graduated, I'm not so sure. I hope to see Chris again in the years to come.

Darlene Hammons