A Journey of a lifetime

At Geoffrey and Dana's rehearsal dinner, John (proud papa of the groom) stood up, introduced himself, and asked each person present to stand, introduce him/her self, and to tell a brief story of how they were associated with the bride or groom. He saved me til the last. I stood, introduced myself as Mother of the Groom, and announced (to no one's surprise) "I don't have any brief stories about Geoffrey." I am learning that I don't have any brief stories on any subject.

I say this to say, "I will share with you about the potlatch in my honor, but you will have to endure the buildup."

On Monday, following the Saturday wedding, John and I flew to Sitka. Our hostess thought we were arriving by sea so, while waiting for her to come to the airport, I showed the book to the rental car fellow who had helped me locate Celeste's phone number. He asked what my wholesale price was, and when I told him, he said he'd like a dozen. Turns out he also owned the gift shop.

Anyway, we had just enough time to have a hot chocolate before I was to do a reading from the book at the Sitka Pioneer Home -- the setting for the beginning and the end of Jessie, the story of a genteel woman in frontier Alaska. Maybe 25 residents and staff were present for the reading, and because they were so receptive (laughing in the right places, etc.), I extended my time of reading. The following day, John and super-Celeste ran around town passing out flyers and encouraging folks to stop by the Pioneer Home. to meet the author. Much of that afternoon was spent unsuccessfully trying to locate Jessie's grave. I had a photo Geoffrey had taken earlier, but that photo was in Haines in the camper. We sold 37 copies in Sitka. We were invited to lunch in the Home, and felt doubly blessed to sit at the table with Robert DeArmond.

That evening, John and Celeste took her dogs to the beach. After the beach, it seems the two of them had been discussing the extreme honor of a potlatch and went in search of an appropriate gift. They located a local artist who agreed that the potlatch is very special and said he had a bent-wood cedar box he was working on that would be just the right presentation.

The next morning, there were a few stops to make before leaving Sitka. The first stop was a total surprise to me. The two of them introduced me to the artist, and we took possesion of the magnificent box. Already, I felt honored. We stopped by the bank to cash local checks, and the banker was the wife of the airport gift shop gentleman. She was half way through the book. She said I needed to leave several copies, but I told her it was early in our journey so I'd better wait. John and I caught the Fairweather ferry back to Juneau and, the next day, began our trek northward,

STAY TUNED!