Two California beach kids each born at the end of WWII to soldiers who came home to the GI Bill and wives eager to help them make a life in the land of sunshine, surf, and fruit trees…that’s us!
To the music of the Everly Brothers, Connie Stevens and Johnny Mathis 45 rpm’s, sock hops in the school gym, and Thursday morning Youth for Christ meetings at La Habra High, we met at YFC where Carolyn was the pianist and Rick was the song leader. The rest is history. Four years later…wedding bells.
Leaving the comforts of California, we moved to our great adventure in Alaska, land of the Midnight Sun, the Last Frontier. Television was only kinescopes sent via airlines for play a day to a week late. No satellites for telephones—only lonely little lines pressing through the snowy wilderness to Seattle, often broken or jammed with calls. Alaska was forbidding! Cold! Larger than life! Dangerous! Unknown! EXACTLY what we wanted. ☺
Raising two little boys on the Last Frontier was made to order for energetic, curious, adventuresome kids. Our house in the woods seemed normal to us, but now we look back and realize it was actually unique: moose in the yard throughout the year, black bears on rare occasions, deep snow to play in for 8 months a year, and tree houses. It was only a few miles to absolute wilderness. We had zip lines before they were called that! Moose, caribou, and salmon were our main dishes with homegrown veggies. And for a treat we made "snow ice cream” when fresh snow was falling.
In the Chugach Forest town of Hope, we had a little A frame cabin that won each of our hearts. Our best Christmases were held there…especially before we had electricity. Kerosene lamps, hauling water from the creek, sitting in the little cabin stoking the fire until the windows ran with moisture, we made memories for a lifetime. It was in Hope that we took hikes to glacier streams, fished for salmon in bear country (yikes!), went 3 wheeling (not 4) into the little town to get a milk shake from Tito’s café, and generally lived hour by hour in the opportunities of the day. It was a golden time, that magical hour in young boys’ lives that holds back time for their parents.
The hidden gem in our relationship has been working side by side in various ministries--our common goal being to honor God. In difficult times, working together kept our hearts a little more focused on the love God has for us rather than the ‘trouble de jour.’ In good times, it multiplied our togetherness and love for one another. Through it all, God has corrected us, grown us, shown us better ways, and sandpapered off some rough edges. Why God has allowed us to share His Good News with others, we don’t know, but we certainly are thankful for that privilege.
Our current project is redefining our nest. Where will it be? What will the next decades hold for us? We always did like an adventure! Joshua 3:5 “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Bring it on!
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