Back when I was driving the Paratransit Bus at the base of the Grand Tetons, Idaho side, I started transporting a young man named Charley. A very handsome kid, always with a big smile on his face, and he was non-verbal.

His parents were Wallace and Abby Couch, an attractive and smart young couple from Tennessee. They bought a great spread down near Tetonia, and were working it. Wallace was a Civil Engineer and Abby had some mysterious professional remote job. Charley had two younger brothers.

They had a long circular driveway off a dirt road out in the sticks of nowhere. Since our elevation was 6500 feet at the base of a ski resort, it used to snow a lot.

Getting from the main highway to their place in the snow was tough, going down that driveway was brutal. One frozen afternoon I was trying to drop Charley off and got stuck near the entrance. They saw me and came out to my bus, Abby got Charley, but Wallace had a bottle of good whiskey in his hand and invited me in for drinks.

I had to decline, sadly, for many reasons, but my main responsibility was to unstuck that bus and get back to base. Always regretted not getting to know them in off time, they were great.

I got Abbys email address somehow a few years back and we stayed in touch. I just got one today, it's been a couple of years, and she mentioned she had quit her job and Wallace was picking up contract work to make ends meet.

Why would a vibrant smart lovely woman in her prime, mid to late thirties, quit her job? It could be illness (god I hope not), pregnancy (ahh, I doubt it) or just to be with her family (I hope so).

They also have an invite to drop down here to see me if they ever get home to see mom and dad.