Recently I was at Bagoy’s in Anchorage, acting as a fly on the wall as Junior Achievement of Alaska President Flora Teo interviewed owners Chanda and Randy Mines in preparation for the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in January 2022. It was a memorable Thursday—Veterans Day, and Anchorage had been blanketed overnight with several inches of snow, the first real snowfall of the season. Before the interview, as Rick Mallars, president and CEO of Upper One Studios, was setting up AV equipment, we were all making the small talk that professionals who have disconnected from their phones and are waiting around for something to start make: the weather, personal but not-too-personal anecdotes, interesting shows and books. Amid that casual and essential connection building, Teo mentioned how unexpected, large snowfalls are just one thing that connects all Alaskans.

For better or worse, we all deal with the weather together. And earthquakes. And being at the end of the supply chain.

I believe there are no casual Alaskans. Anyone who calls themselves Alaskan loves this place in a way that every other Alaskan understands. Maybe I prefer to dipnet and you like to hunt, or my favorite trail is paved and yours isn’t even on a map, or I’ve earmarked boats to buy while you spend the weekend finding a qualified mechanic for your bush plane—the details don’t matter when you and I cross paths getting gas in Glennallen as we set out on an adventure or pack it up to head back. We’re all home.

One of the things I love about Alaskans is how we don’t need to follow anyone’s path or program. We are environmentalists who understand the need for industry. We value and advocate for fish and wildlife while communicating the critical importance of runways and roads with our elected officials. Our whole history as a state is seeing what we have, establishing what we need, and finding solutions to move forward that suit our environment and our circumstances, whether that’s a massive pipeline, a ground-breaking land settlement, or a globally-ranked permanent fund.

So yeah, there’s a lot going on right now: a pandemic, climate change, political parties moving further and further from each other, social issues concerning love and life and death that we all feel deeply about. But we still have so many things that connect us—even as we’re relatively spread out.

When asked for her final thoughts at the Executive Q&A following our annual Top 49ers presentation in October, Chugach Alaska Corporation Chairman and Interim CEO Sheri Buretta said: “Be kind to each other in this time. We owe it to our community and each other as Alaskans to be compassionate and caring.” It bears repeating: let’s be kind to each other.