My Angel, Martha,

 Everyone should have an Angel like Martha. After several fortunate/unfortunate situations, Enel, Martha’s employer, closed their offices in Kansas City. That left Martha with time on her hands.  So why not do something that Martha has always wanted to do?  Drive the Can-Am Highway to Alaska? So that’s what she did. 

Along the way, in Edmonton, she picked up Cousin Rob‘s daughter, Libby, and the two them journeyed to McCarthy. It sounded like they had a fantastic time camping, driving and sightseeing all the way North. 

Martha left at the end of July and got to McCarthy on August 2.  Unfortunately, Libby had to leave way too early to get back to Chicago, but Martha got to stay for three weeks.

That was super fortunate for me because a few days before they got to McCarthy, I had gotten sick. It seems like during the whole month of July, people were getting a bad cold/virus all throughout McCarthy. I was lucky and stayed healthy until the very end of July.  

Like most of us, we try to power through it and self medicate. That’s what you actually have to do when you’re in the back country of Alaska. The nearest Dr/Hospital is 5+ hours away.  Before Martha got to me, I was able to work one or two hours in the morning and then I’d climb back in bed and sleep for the rest of the day. When she got to McCarthy, she took one look at me and basically said, “we’ve gotta get you to the doctor.”  We found out I had walking pneumonia. OK, let’s take some medicine, and get back to work, since I had missed about 2 weeks of work, just doing the bare minimum.  Regrettably, that’s what I did. I worked to catch up instead of making time for her.  I’m very sorry for that.

Martha was able to stay in McCarthy for three wonderful weeks. After Libby left, and I was feeling better, she decided to stay in my little yellow room in the pink house with the other employees.  While in McCarthy, Martha decided to set up shop at the desk next to mine in the Blue House.  She did odd jobs like learn about Bar Patrol and other things for Neil Darish during the day. She also got to go on hikes see the day-to-day operations of McCarthy.  It kind of felt like home, being next to her in the office before I retired. I loved every second of it.

I hope everybody else knows their Angel. My Angel is Martha, and for 30 years, she’s made me a better person.  I love her!  

October 14, 1995

Martha flew home from Alaska, so I could drive home.  And that’s how I got Martha’s car.