Today is a day of reflection. I decided to take one of my favorite drives through the peak to Peak up to Estes over Trail Ridge down through Granby. Along the way I recalled how much I enjoyed going to work up here. Not only is the drive a reminder of the constant beauty of this nation but a reminder of the start of my career and my calling.

20 years ago this was the town of 14000 people, it was a true community in the sense of the word. I loved being able to walk into Safeway and it being like an episode of Cheers where everyone knew my name and if I got called out, the clerk would say “no worries I’ll have it ready for you when you get back.” Or I could walk into my favorite little coffee shop (because latte was new at the time) and they would have my order ready for me before I even got to the counter. I can’t remember how many times I made the climb up to Longs Peak to help with a rescue, and the camaraderie we had with the forest service, a community in its own sense.

A couple regrets today; one is that I don’t have the Bee to experience this drive the way it should be,on two wheels, and two is that this town has gotten huge and the notion of community in this modern world seems to be lost.

However, it was in this place, I discovered my love of medicine, trained to be a healer and was able to help my fellow human on often the worst day of their life. I look forward to taking this with me in the next chapter.