Are you doing all you can do?

For Valentine’s Day 2011 we shared the greatest Valley love story we know with Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman readers. Then, Photo Editor Robert DeBerry and Managing Editor Heather A. Resz told readers the story of Dan and Linda Ducey and their sturdy love that had survived and thrived despite an injury years earlier that left him unable to move below the neck.

We were saddened to learn of Dan’s death Jan. 28 and surprised at his funeral services Monday night when Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss marked his passing with a proclamation declaring February as “Dan Ducey Volunteer Month.”

To us, the Ducey family is more than a news story. They are our friends. We remember clearly how uncomfortable Dan was being featured in the Frontiersman. We remember, too, when he called a few weeks after our story printed and pleaded with us to move the video portion of their story so he wouldn’t have to look at himself every time he surfed over to frontiersman.com.

When we told their story back then, Dan was adamant about not being portrayed as an inspiration.

“I’m just a person,” he said in February 2011. “I’m just a person who experiences disabilities and we cope the best we can.”

He balked at the idea he was extraordinary, but was eager to laud Linda’s contributions as his mate and caregiver. Dan was injured in a body surfing accident in Hawaii in July 1993 when their children, Kellen and Kena, were 11 and 7.

Married when they were in their early 20s, theirs is the deepest of love stories. A trauma that might have destroyed other marriages, other families, only seemed to deepen Dan and Linda’s love.

We know these past 19 years were extremely difficult on the whole Ducey family. But we can’t help feeling inspired to try harder by their story of love and determination.

At Dan’s funeral service Monday, friends remembered him for the things he taught them, for the ways he challenged them and for the innumerable ways this man who could only move his head gave back to our community.

Dan worked at Access Alaska for many years. Director Jim Beck shared the story Monday of a running joke the two men shared. “Ah, you’re barely nicked,” Dan would rib his friend who walks with arm braces.

Since Dan’s death, Beck said he hasn’t been able to get his friend’s barbed-with-love insult out of his head.

“He was telling me, ‘I’m doing 100 percent of what I can do Jim. Are you?’”

Dan needed special tools to read a book, use a computer or dial the telephone. He was in extreme pain much of the time. But still he managed to give back, to serve others.

As a man, Dan was bigger than his sky-high pain levels or the assistive technology he needed to accomplish ordinary things. Dan was extraordinary for his consistent smile and the kind words he offered everyone.

We count it as a privilege to call Dan a friend. Whether you had the same pleasure, ask yourself — are you doing 100 percent of what you can do?