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Monday
Nov262012

A hymn for Eli

Tonight, a singspiration was held at the Utqeagvik Presbyterian Church in Barrow for Eli Solomon, Sr., who was buried today. Vincent, Roy, James and Lloyd Nageak sing, "How Great Thou Art." It was a sad day, a cold day, but a special day, too, filled with warmth.

As for me, I went to bed this morning at 1:00 AM, slept little, got up at 3:30, drove to Anchorage, left the car to Margie and caught the 6:10 flight that stops in both Fairbanks and Deadhorse before continuing on to Barrow. The event that brought me here does not start until tomorrow and I could have taken the afternoon flight, but then I would have missed Eli's funeral.

I did not want to miss his funeral.

As I state, for all the cold and sadness it was a special and warm day, as Eli was a truly special, warm, man. I think I may have a few pictures that say something about just how special this day was, but right now I badly need to go to bed and get some sleep. Given the things I must do over the next few days and the fact that this laptop needs to be replaced and is too slow and makes serious photo work a tedious enterprise, I don't think I will get back to this until next week, after I return to Wasilla.

When I do, I hope to do some justice and pay true honor to the soldier, the fireman, the search and rescuer, the whaler, the husband, father and grandfather who was Eli Solomon.

Reader Comments (1)

love the picture of my dad and uncles :) awesome!! thanks for sharing... may you enjoy your time in Barrow....

November 27, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterfrieda ellis

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