I’ve learned through experience that sometimes life changes while you’re making other plans. On Monday morning, while we were all getting ready for a new work week, one of my friends and coworkers had a stroke just before she was to start her shift. Wendy works in the King Salmon, our fine dining restaurant. Her husband Roy is a driver-guide. Both have been coming here for several years and they are well-known and well liked throughout our little community. Last year Wendy brought coffee our office every day, and when she learned that one of our team members didn’t drink coffee she brought him milk. Both Wendy and Roy are known for their enthusiasm and kind spirits.
So it was a shock to hear that Wendy was being airlifted to Anchorage with Roy at her side. The next realization was that they are thousands of miles away from family, and without health insurance.
That’s when the most amazing thing happened. From all sides, people were asking “Are we doing something to help them?” This came from the newest, youngest members of our team to the top management. We put together a collection, and by the end of the week we were able to deliver over $2300 to our friends to help with their expenses. Princess and the Denali management arranged for our Care Team to look in on them and help in any way we could. I went to Anchorage over the weekend with my friend Diane to offer our assistance and to deliver the many greetings we had received by setting up a table in our employee dining area and providing paper and markers to create cards for them.
While Wendy faces some challenges, we were delighted to see that she had her sense of humor intact. I came away with a couple of reminders. One is that we are strong in the face of adversity and can find ways to cope. The other is that people can be wonderful. We received donations from people who knew Wendy only by hearing about her. We received donations from international students who come here to work and save for their next year of school back home-some working two jobs to make the most of their time here. We found some $100 bills in the donations from people who did not want to tell us who they were. And the outpouring of support and concern has been wonderful…not only for Wendy and Roy, but for all of us who care about them.
So this week…no bears, no moose, no adventures. But the warmth of good people helping others made it a good week.
Travels with Billie 