We continue to be so very humbled by each and every Gold Star that we assist through our outdoor adventures. They all carry an incredible load of grief on their backs which we do our very best to help lighten.Several months ago, we were contacted by New Jersey Gold Star Parents, Mona and Ford Shaw. Mona, asked several questions about Gold Star Peak, and said they wanted to come to Alaska some day and climb the peak to honor their son, Capt. Stanford H. Shaw, III.
Mona and Ford retired this year and their first planned trip of their retirement was to drive to Alaska and climb Gold Star Peak to honor their son, we were all so very touched by what they were setting out to do. We told them to let us know when they get here and that we would be honored to assist them in reaching the summit.
We received a few updates from them along the way and as they got closer to Alaska, the date of their arrival started to be clear. Unfortunately, the window of their arrival fell right when most of our team was unavailable to climb.
I reached out to them and met them for coffee in town. As I tried to explain to them that we just do not have a team available, Mona said, we drove all the way from New Jersey to climb, we can stay here a little longer to wait to do it. I could see it in their eyes, they were absolutely determined to climb it and I just couldn’t let them attempt it on their own.
This past weekend wasn’t the most ideal day for us to climb as we had some scheduled maintenance we needed to perform. I spoke to our team and decided, we have to take them, and Sunday was the only day possible.
Several events along the way and on top of the mountain absolutely happened for reasons we just cannot explain. Their sheer determination to drive all the way to Alaska and to climb Gold Star Peak to honor their son, and his fallen team members, was beyond amazing, it pulled hard on all our hearts.
Sunday, turned out to be an incredibly memorable day, thank you Mona and Ford.
To Ford: “Never above you, never below you, always beside you.”