As we were packing up Saturday morning, Dino received this email from Marie Nowak.

Hi Dino—

Jan and I hope the Habitat group has a good trip this year. We remember our trips and wish we could be with you again.  

You may remember that my sister Carolyn from Arizona came on one of the trips, 2016 I think.  She often said it was one of the best experiences she had – not only the work but the people she met from Sheil and the community.  Sadly Carolyn passed away early this month.   She had been in poor health for a while and is at peace.  Here are a few pictures from the trip. She was part of the fit and finish crew with Kathy and especially found a good friend in Bernadette,  a fellow nurse and also from Arizona.  The picture of us with Elvis was taken in Memphis.  Please share the pictures with anyone who might remember Carolyn from the trip.  We will be with you in our hearts.

Marie

It was 2017 actually. Jan and Marie made many trips with us. Jan was a doctor at Evanston Hospital and got to know Dr. Brooks better than the rest of us. He was particularly picky about closets, trying to make them perfect in every detail. He used to stay in touch with her to try and supply things the clinic needed. Marie used to work at the Evanston library and would comb the books that were being discarded for ones that might be good for Tutwiler. She got me interested in the library, something she might have regretted when I inadvertently spent $50 of her money. (She was very nice about that.) Several of us have invited friends or relatives to join the trip. (I am still working on it,) and Marie invited her sister.

I did not get to know Carolyn well during the trip that year. I spent a lot of time in the library. That was the year I shipped down a pallet of books. (The librarian and the rest of the crew thought that was an impressive achievement, but suggested that I not try it again.)

I do recall that she came up with the idea for the plaque that year. We spent at least some time together that year, as there is a picture in the blog of my wood-stained hand.

Clearly the trip had an impact on Carolyn, as she wrote about it. Here are the pages from our blog that year.

After 21 years, many people have made the trip with our group, some once, some many times. We have all made our contributions and our mistakes (which hopefully the owners never discover.) Inevitably, some of those people are no longer with us, but their contributions remain.

At the preparation meeting for my first trip, several people talked about how they would travel down to Tutwiler, work hard all year in often oppressive heat, sleeping in some rustic facilities, and come home feeling like they had been on vacation. We have contributed a lot over the years. We have been blessed with a lot as well. Carolyn made her contribution and clearly felt the blessings.