KITTS HILL -- After the death of her husband, Marshall, in December 2000, Linda Thomas' pastor and his wife sent her a card that read "God said, 'go on'" across the top.

She put the card in her kitchen where she could see it every morning -- and took the card's advice to heart.

Since March 2001, the retired nurse and Kitts Hill resident has spent her days as a volunteer at King's Daughters Medical Center, Mended Reeds boys' home, the Dennis Boll Group Home and for local physician Dr. Kevin Willis. Thomas, who is a former pediatric nurse practitioner at Lawrence County Medical Center (which later became the now-closed River Valley Health Systems) spent her adult life working and caring for her two daughters or her husband, who had rheumatoid arthritis.

Thomas retired from nursing to care for her

husband when he became seriously ill. She describes him as a "humble Christian man." After he died, she not only had lost her husband, but her daughters were already grown and living outside the home.

"All of a sudden, the rug was pulled out," she said. "I had no one to cook for, no one to take care of. Here I was with no job.

"I never really knew anything besides work and home."

After initially thinking, "What do I do?" she decided to help herself.

"I'm not rich, but I don't have many wants other than spoiling my grandchildren," Thomas said. "I missed people."

"Friends call, kids stop in, but with so many alone hours, I had to fill it with something," she said.

She credits her church family at Union Baptist Church for helping her through the hard times. After her husband died, she was hospitalized for a chronic illness and underwent knee surgery. Fifteen people showed up for her surgery.

"It was good to know you weren't alone," she said.

Three months later, she was a KDMC volunteer. At first, she said, she was nervous. Most difficult was holding back when she saw someone in need because now she could not do "nurse things," she said. Nevertheless, she was in an atmosphere of which she was used to being a part. She enjoyed the nurses at KDMC and talking with the families when she would help discharged patients to their cars.

"I had the feeling of doing again," she said. "I was back to something I knew."

Her volunteer work was spread further when she began working at the Dennis J. Boll Group Home as a volunteer nurse. She receives some pay for her work there, but for the most part, she said, it covers gasoline. A 16-year-old girl from Marietta who had no visitors arrived at the home and Thomas took her to church and out to the mall one day. Later, Thomas discovered that the girl was at home and doing well. She did this for another girl as well.

Later, Thomas was approached by Mended Reeds director David Lambert when the home was opening. She became a volunteer nurse there as well, checking children's medications, being on-call 24 hours a day and examining new intakes. She also became a volunteer for Dr. Kevin Willis' office. Willis cared for her husband, and she wanted to give something back to him, she said. On top of volunteering, she also babysits her grandchildren.

For more than 20 years, Thomas worked with Charles Kouns, superintendent of the Ironton City Health Department. Kouns referred to her as a model for any public health or registered nurse.

"She's one in a million," Kouns said. "She's public-minded, and good to take care of others. I have the highest amount of praise for her, and lots of the public can attest for that."

When Thomas was contacted by The Ironton Tribune, she said she agreed to participate in this story because she wanted to help others that may be in the situation she faced in December 2000. She said she hopes that someone will realize that loving a neighbor is more important than helping oneself.

"There are volunteer jobs all over," she said. "Just because you're old and alone doesn't mean you're not useful. Put God first, and if you do that, other things will come."