After Shon retired in 2016 following a 28-year career in law enforcement, and after my own years as a teacher, we knew we needed a place to decompress and reset. Alaska called to us as a place to heal, to grow together, to draw near to God, and to have an adventure of a lifetime. We found a small cabin on Cub Lake in the Alaskan bush—a place accessible only by airplane or snowmachine, depending on the season—and made the decision to go all in. Our daughter-in-law moved with us, and from the very beginning, nothing about the transition was easy. Moving to the cabin was far more challenging than we ever imagined, and living off-grid in Alaska proved to be a world away from life in Texas. We had to learn everything—how to run snowmachines, gather wood, haul supplies, and adapt to a landscape that demanded humility and perseverance.

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Those early years are at the heart of Follow Me to Alaska. Along with the daily challenges of bush life, we faced moments that tested us deeply, including Shon’s plane crash in 2018 and, shortly after, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake. Through it all, we learned how vital community truly is. Though neighbors were few and far between, their encouragement and help—along with the friendships we formed in town—became essential to sustaining our life at Cub Lake. Following Alaska’s Call continues the story as survival turned into thriving: settling into life in the bush, learning to work together, deepening community ties, reclaiming confidence, and eventually facing the difficult decision to leave Cub Lake. Returning to Texas was not easy, but it marked another chapter in a story shaped by Alaska—one that continues to unfold.