Reader’s Digest Canada – September 2019

might have fallen into the gully. Injured,

she likely would have walked downhill

until she collapsed. Flying above tree

level, Gray saw nothing but a sea of

green. Then he had another idea: Jean

would need water. He studied the ter-

rain. Far away, he spotted a creek. The

pilot made two passes. Nothing.

Wait—Gray thought he saw something

move. He asked the pilot to circle back.

Then Gray saw a dog—and then a

silver-haired woman waving at the

chopper. He radioed the team, giving

new instructions. From a distance, he

watched searchers running to the

woman. He saw them hug her.

AFTER SIX DAYS in the woods, Jean was

too weak to walk out on her own. Gray

called in a larger Coast Guard helicop-

ter, one that could hoist her up into the

chopper in a basket, while the ground

crew carried Yoda out.

Doctors at the hospital were stunned

that Jean’s only injuries were scratches

on her legs. Tests showed her potas-

sium was low from eating next to noth-

ing for nearly a week. Quite surpris-

ingly, Jean was released that very night

with only a prescription for potassium

tablets—which she chased down with

a bowl of cherries.

As rescuers discussed the search, they

talked about the crucial role the urn

played. Without it, they would never

have found Jean. Gray is convinced that

Jack Geer’s spirit protected her.

Jean doesn’t doubt it. But also, the

woman who once questioned her will

to go on without her husband had

found the wherewithal to survive. And

with that came a life-affirming conclu-

sion. “It’s time to let go and let [my] own

light shine, and stand up,” she told a

local paper. “I realized I had to be on

my own and move on to my life.”

Friend, Indeed

One measure of friendship consists not in the number

of things friends can discuss, but in the number of things

they need no longer mention.

CLIFTON FADIMAN, TV PERSONALITY

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says

to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”

C.S. LEWIS

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until

they arrive. It is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

ANAIS NIN

reader’s digest

46 september 2019