The Third Best Seat

I remember my uncle John from way back when I was just a young boy. He was Mom's baby brother. I would see him occasionally when we visited Grampy and Grammy's house in Mason City, Iowa.

John moved to Fairbanks, Alaska when I was six. When he visited back home, we traveled to northern Iowa to see him. He didn't get back often, so I didn't get to know him as I grew up. Still, I would hear stories about John regularly, as my mother told them. I learned to know him through her tales. I always thought he was quite a guy, and how cool that he moved to Alaska.

Alaska. A far away, mysterious place. I...