Beverly

Today turned out not quite as rainy as expected, which is always a pleasant surprise. I woke up to crusty old Ron Turner knocking on our camper. The day we had left for the Island, Tim and I were out walking in the morning SUN before getting the kids up and ready to go. Around the corner came a big red suburban. Surprisingly, it stopped beside us with the window rolled down. “Well, it’s nice to see you holding hands after all these years. What is it, 25 years of marriage?” It was Ron Turner, an old neighbor of ours. I was surprised he had sought us out like this. He invited us to dinner at his cabin Saturday which hadn’t happened because we had been out at Tutka with the Arsenaults. Now here he was asking on Monday morning hoping we were free that night. As we had other plans, and no nights left before our departure, we settled on a plan for breakfast the next day. Having planned on us that night, he already had the beans ready and was dropping off some bread to make garlic bread to go with it. And so we had a plan: Breakfast at Ron’s with beans and garlic bread on the menu.

We had another catch up day after our weekend in the bays. Showers and laundry before heading to Beverly Dubie’s house in Kasitsna Bay. Her house is just across the water from the Sand Dollar beach on McDonald Spit. And it’s attached to the mainland so you park your car right off the road and then hike down quite a few stairs and over a beach before you get to her place.

I was so impressed that Beverly had made the trek down here from Anchorage for the summer. Before it had always been with her late husband, Gerry. Every grocery, item, whatever, has to be hauled down those steps. But Beverly has always impressed me. When we lived here years ago she would take the kids and I ice skating and hiking in her 70s and I was impressed then. I always said I wanted to be just like Beverly when I grew up.

It was hard to not have Gerry there. We were all heartbroken to hear of his unexpected passing just a few months before our arrival. We had just missed him. I kept expecting him to come walking around the corner. With his warm hugs and everlasting handshakes. He was always smiling and encouraging the kids to learn and think even if it was just for a short stay. Gerry was also impressive - having grown up in Detroit (Beverly too) I don’t remember all the details but he has stories of playing tennis and basketball semi-professionally. When they were young, he and Beverly made their way to Alaska as teachers back in the 60s.

This was the first visit that I learned about Beverly’s trip down the Yukon river in 1970. She was pregnant with their first and Gerry had classwork and wouldn’t join them, but she was part of an acting troupe that wonted to raft the Yukon and stop at the villages, giving live performances all along the way. It took them 5 weeks and for most of the natives it was the first live performance they had ever seen. I was shocked this was the first I had ever heard of the story. This couple was always doing amazing things. They drove across the country, hiked hundreds of miles across Europe, rafted the Colorado river… those are just a few that I knew about in their later years (I mean she is in her 80’s now and all of these trips were within the last 10-15 years). Beverly’s thirst for adventure and unwillingness to give up on it because of her age is terribly inspiring. I just love her. Experience makes people interesting to talk to and it has made Beverly one of the best. That and her love of reading :).

They had always been surrogate grandparents - inviting Abbey and Hannah to spend the night as little girls, putting us up in their Anchorage home when we were passing through for supplies, having us out for dinner and fun. They really opened their hearts and home to us in a special way. Their cabin is full of bright colors and lively decorative objects. I remember having a conversation with Beverly about it once and she told me she could live anywhere as long as she could make her space beautiful and full of color. I love they are the kind of people that keep a store of toys and special things to keep children entertained when they come to visit. The kids kept themselves busy for hours playing with cars, puzzles and dressing up in old, fancy clothes.

If there is one thing I for sure learned during our years here it is hospitality. People here welcome others into their homes ALL THE TIME. And treat you like you’re the most important thing in the world. Have a cup of tea, here’s some toys for your kids, would you like another snack, can I offer you a bed for the night, would you like to take home some salmon?? After growing up in an area where such situations were somewhat rare and exclusive to family and very close friends, it was rather startling to find such a welcoming attitude in the middle of nowhere. And maybe being in the middle of nowhere is the secret. You don’t have much opportunity to worry about who’s coming into your home when there aren’t many options. It definitely defined our home usage throughout the years, stemming from the experiences we had here in the early days of our marriage. I hated to say goodbye to Beverly, again, never knowing if we’d see her again. I was so grateful for at least this visit. Only time will tell if we’ll have the opportunity to walk down her beach again.