To the Editor:
This letter is long overdue. The problem is I don’t have the words to fully express our gratitude and appreciation.
Some live in Girdwood for the skiing. Some live here for the beauty. Some live here for the weather, (seriously). While all of those are good reasons, they are merely the icing on the cake.
The reason we live here is because of the amazing people. Girdwood is a place where you have a secure feeling that when you have a problem or more than you can handle, there are people here that have your back.
My family was out of state on vacation in January. This year, January brought some extreme temperature changes and excessive rain and wind. (I don’t know anyone that lives here for that weather). I got the call that our house was flooding. We were not due back for three weeks. There wasn’t a single thing we could do from long distance. Reluctantly, I made a few calls.
These awesome, incredible people moved everything from our first floor, they brought shop-vacs to remove as much of the water as possible, before removing the carpet and padding, then our carpet and padding was distributed to garages around Girdwood to dry out. They treated the walls and floor to prevent mold. They brought fans. They built a fire to dry out the house. A group of tough Alaskan men chopped the frozen solid streambed to lower the water level by almost two feet!
Not a single item in our house, other than flooring was damaged. Your generosity stunned me to my core, leaving me speechless (momentarily).
Possibly in alphabetical order, Thank you to:
Meredith Ashley, Janice Crocker, Nick Danger, Julie, Samuel, Susannah & Moriah Doepken, Patrick & Lynne’ Doran, Bryan & Sharnee’ Epley, Larry & Shelley Fiedler, Mike & Robyn Kenny, Kris & Matt Malecha, Mike & Molly McCauley, Russ & Dana Stahla, Jason & Karena Stockinger. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone.
Thank you to all that helped that day, all that expressed concern, all that would have assisted if you had known and all that have helped with the repair.
Julie, Daryl, Makena & Amara Pederson
Girdwood