Talkeetna says good-bye for now

JODI SNYDER/For the Frontiersman

SUNSHINE -- More than 500 Upper Susitna Valley residents and guests spent the afternoon of May 23 in the gymnasium of Susitna Valley High School, celebrating the life of Bethany Correira. Before the ceremony started, in the same room where Correira graduated four years ago, the gathering felt much like a typical Su Valley graduation. The crowd was upbeat and cheerful -- smiling, catching up with old friends, hugging, crying -- remembering the past and then looking toward the future.

While there were tears shed at the ceremony, more surprising were the loud bursts of joyous laughter as family, friends, neighbors and community members honored this spirited young woman who lived a short but adventurous life.

When Chad Valentine spoke to the crowd about Correira, he recalled the smiling young lady he had known for many years. "How many snowball fights did she start?" he asked, "or water fights?" Valentine said he knew of one water fight that lasted more than a year, and then he laughed at the memory, along with the crowd. "I had even taken to carrying a super soaker water gun in my truck, just in case Bethany was around."

Barb Mannix is a neighbor and good friend of the Correira family. She told the crowd she had been doing a lot of thinking about where to put the memorial garden being planned for Bethany Correira.

"I immediately thought about the ball fields," Mannix said, "because that's where I will always remember her -- out there on the pitcher'sâ mound." Mannix went on to explain that they take their softball pretty seriously in Talkeetna, and that it is typically the men who play. "Here's this young, beautiful girl out there, pitching to these big guys with these big sticks," she said, "and they loved her. It wasn't just that she was a girl, but that she was equal and competent. Not only could she pitch, she could hit, run and field."

Mannix said she remembers hoping some of the younger girls were paying attention, because, "I remember thinking there was some real role-modeling going on there."

Mannix also told about the pond on the Correira property, where neighbors often gather.

"Every year, Bethany was always the first one in the pond. Not the week after the ice went out, or a few days after, but the day the ice went out," Mannix said.

Others spoke, too, all with stories about how tough Correira was, how loyal she was as a friend and how much fun she was to be around.

Dr. Jordan Greer, a physician who formerly ran a practice in Talkeetna, spoke about Correira traveling as a crew member with the Greers during a sailing trip from Tahiti to New Zealand.

"It didn't matter what time of night you woke her, or for what reason, she was up with a smile," Greer said. He described the anchor they had on the boat -- a big, heavy-chained, hard to manage apparatus. Greer said it required some real physical labor to raise the anchor.

"Nobody wanted to haul the anchor, everyone dreaded it, but Bethany thought it was a good way to build her arm muscles." Greer said Correira didn't get dressed up very often, but she was beautifully dressed when they went to church with the King and Queen of Tonga. Greer's stories reinforced the feeling that this young woman had managed to squeeze a lot of living into 21 years.

Childhood friend Chrystal Hale told the crowd that while most of the time Correira was physically active and tomboyish, she was still very much a girl. Hale said she saw the more feminine side of Correira, and said her friend balanced both sides well. She read a letter Correira had written her 10 years ago, when they were young girls. It was a short note, one Hale said was typical of her friend. Written just after Christmas 1994, Hale thought it demonstrated that balance between the tomboy most people knew and the young woman just emerging. In the letter, Correira wrote, "Christmas was very good. I got a new hockey stick, a gold necklace, a pearl necklace and a football."

Finally, in a very personal and candid discussion, Correira's father, Bill, shared how difficult it has been to grapple with some of the feelings he has experienced in the last year since his daughter's disappearance shortly after she moved to Anchorage. He discussed how at one point he had been imagining what he might do to those who harmed his daughter, planning in his mind the steps it would take to find and harm them for what they had done. Then Correira, a deeply religious man, said he asked God to take that pain and anger away.

"We have the ability to set our minds," he said, "to decide where we are going to put our thoughts." Then he told the crowd that he wanted them to know that he has finally come to a place of peace and forgiveness.

"I still want to see justice," said Bill Correira, "but I gave up the idea of being the executioner."

Bethany Correira's father then told the crowd that if anyone there was having those kinds of angry feelings, they should come and talk to him. He said he wanted to be sure others weren't struggling with that anger and pain, and he offered himself to anyone who wanted to talk after the service.

Local musicians gave several moving performances, and then lights were dimmed as a slide show was projected onto the gymnasium wall. Photos of Bethany growing up, photos of her incredible adventures which included trips to Nepal, New Zealand and Thailand, Tonga and Niue, photos of her among family and friends. As the slide show clicked on, poignant songs like Sting's "I'll be watching you," and Lee Ann Womack's "I hope you dance," played in the background.

A potluck followed the ceremony. Once again, conversation was positive, upbeat and promising hope for the future. Again, it felt much like a graduation ceremony. And perhaps it was a graduation of sorts -- for this young woman's family and friends threw her one last big celebration.