Touching the Ancient One

May 30, 2006
    In my book, Touching the Ancient One, and on this website, I’ve tried to focus on the good that can eventually come from bad happenings—in our case, the crash of a military aircraft five decades ago and the resultant interactions of families of survivors and victims. That crash was an accident. There are, however, other types of experiences people are forced to deal with.
    A man by the name of Gary Geiger worked in a motel here a little over twenty years ago. The motel was robbed and Gary was shot, sustaining an injury that nearly killed him. He recovered, but was an angry, frustrated man because of the incident. The beauty of Gary’s story is that he conquered that anger—rose above it, and used the experience to help other victims do the same. Most surprising was his decision to forgive.
    Sunday, at Scotia United Methodist Church, Gary Geiger was presented with the Stimmel Peace with Justice Award of Troy Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, in honor of his accomplishments.
    A book about the reconciliation that took place between Gary and his attacker was published in 2005. I have not read it myself, but I will. Here is a link to Justice Restored: The Gary Geiger and Wayne Blanchard Story. It has also been added to Choice Amazon Books & DVDs.

Rupert

May 27, 2006

    Millie and I just returned from California. The change of pace was a welcome one for me. Playing with grandchildren and reading them stories, old and new, renews the spirit and reminds me of how great it is to be alive.
    Now I’m back, and wanting to make this a better website. I’ve restructured the Featured Picture link in the sidebar. It was okay the way it was while there was only one featured photograph, but now I’m adding another. As I keep adding them, I want to make the older ones still accessible—hence the restructure. The sidebar now says “Featured Pictures.” Click on that and you'll be able to see the current featured picture, as well as the old ones.
    I’m getting lots of hits on the site, and the photographs seem to be a main draw. If you haven’t checked them out, you should.

Rupert

May 3, 2006

    Hudson Air Service is celebrating sixty years of service to the people of South Central Alaska. The Talkeetna Good Times newspaper has a really good article in a current issue. Follow this link to read it. I will also put it in the Links folder.

Rupert

May 2, 2006

    In one of my first posts I asked for your comments on my book, Touching the Ancient One. While I have received many private messages, and I appreciate those, public ones have not overwhelmed these pages. Once again I extend the invitation. I’d like to think there might be a second edition at some point and I know there is room for improvement. I’ve already been lambasted for not including maps. Another reader said it needs a page listing the families, with family relationships. She was somewhat overwhelmed with names.
    Truly, I would like your opinions.

Rupert