A Boy and His Job

Golden Spike certainly gave K a grand sendoff! They arranged to have a dinner at Maddox in Perry, a wonderful restaurant known for their beef, their buffalo, but probably most of all, their rolls! K's bye-bye party was actually located in The Lodge in a private area due to the number of people attending. We can only think of one paid employee who was unable to attend and there were also several volunteers who came out to wish K well in his future endeavors. K was blown away by the number of people who showed up! And here are a few of them:

Kat and Angie. Kat is hilarious! She's also a dispatcher so she has great stories from that job as well.

Andrea and Richard. Richard was one of the engineers but has since been promoted to, can't remember the exact title...Chief of Maintenance (close enough). Andrea has also worked at the Spike (she has another job with the state) and when she first met K four years ago, she proclaimed, "I've been camping with you!" They have a mutual friend and the memories came flooding back. Richard and Andrea are fabulous people. We've been to their home. So kind. Another park ranger love affair!

Here are some of the people...the guy on the left, nearest, is John. K enjoys a special friendship with John. He and his wife are wonderful, generous people. John is from Germany and is in love with the park service and being a ranger and Ranger Rendezvous and all that.

Tammy. Tammy is one of K's supervisors. I forget her exact title, but it's administrative. She also used to be law enforcement at the park. Tammy made a quilt for K! It's pretty spectacular! All of the squares with the green and gray are PHOTOGRAPHS of K and his time at Golden Spike. There's even a picture of me and K on the handcar! Another picture shows K selling a Golden Age pass to his dad! I can't imagine how much time Tammy put into this quilt, but it's a sure sign of appreciation for K's efforts at the Spike.

Dave and Christina. Dave has been such a good friend to K at the Spike. He and his wife are LDS and have also lived apart in order to gain success in the park service. Dave has been noted as saying quite often, "I've been praying for you guys." It's just so nice having people like this in your cheering section.

Jess. Oh how K loved working with Jess! His better half and children couldn't make it to the party, but Jess keeps everything "awesome" at the Spike. Leslie, the superintendent, was telling us she went out to the Last Spike Site during a horrific downpour the other day with her long, green raincoat and this green hat when Jess said something like, "Well if it isn't Wyatt Earp!" Jess has been begging me to let K get a PS3 so they can "keep in touch." These two have been hiking together after work and have carpooled on occasion. K will really miss working with the people who have become great friends.

Val. She's the one who hired K and we love her for that alone. She has two dogs, Stinky and Sweetie. Sweetie is actually the mean one. She said at the party that she'll miss traveling with K. I myself have had the pleasure of dining with Val at the El Tovar in Grand Canyon as well as some hotel in Washington, D.C. She introduced K to a fabulous Japanese restaurant in Denver which he has since taken me to enjoy. Val is famous for reading aloud a weekly column from the small local newspaper during quiet moments at the VC. I have also enjoyed these readings which are a total crack-up, not only because of the content of the article (funny news about the ranches in the area, gossip, etc.), but because of the way Val reads aloud with drama and emphasis. K said she read aloud to all the rangers just the other day. Shucks, I missed it. Leslie said she'll miss hearing Val and K discuss what they're having for lunch each day. Val would ask K what he brought. K's answer would be something like, "Peanut butter and jelly (or Hot Pockets)." K would ask, "What are you having, Val?" Val would say, "Spinach salad with blueberries and dressing, leftover BBQ spare ribs, etc." And then Val would say, "I don't even know if I'll make it to my potato salad!"

So, not the greatest picture of Leslie, the superintendent. Leslie is, quite simply, the best. She started at the same time K did. She is a wonderful leader and manager. She is so kind, loving, compassionate, and understanding. She has been a great mentor for both of us! Leslie has taken the time to have interviews with K to get his feedback on things happening in the park. He has really appreciated her leadership style and has learned so many good things from her. Leslie is also a crack-up. The Spike rangers were having a party at the Old Depot and Leslie put some bleach blonde wig on with red lipstick and while approaching the depot and waving, she called out to Ranger John, the one from Germany, "Johanne! Oh, Johanne!" John, and most of the others didn't recognize her. I also remember her Hawaiian clothing at Val's birthday party. We were all at Mim's in Corinne after the Railroader's Festival once and Leslie and I were sharing tater tots off the same plate. She's so chill like that. Love her.

The party was great. They honored my husband so well. He received several nice gifts in addition to the quilt. They gave him a gold tie tac in the shape of a spike, made by O.C. Tanner. They gave him a wooden arrowhead plaque with funny, made up signatures on it, including one from Obama. They also gave him a "real" arrowhead plaque with very nice things written on the back by all the rangers. They gave him a big picture frame with drawings of the locomotives along with some railroad pins. And they bought our meals for us. They tried to have a "roast" about him, but nobody could say anything bad or too funny. All of the comments were sincere, and somewhat tender. K had a chance to speak and honored me first by gesturing toward me and thanking me for my support in his career endeavors. It was all very sweet. Really, they went all out and Leslie said, "We couldn't get you as a permanent, but we wanted to treat you as if you were permanent!"