A true, but delightful story appeared years ago in a publication named The Pathfinder. It was about a woman who had an enormous impact on her community.

If you look at a map of Alaska you will see a thin, wavy line about midway between Nome and Teller, Alaska. This line is known as Mary’s River. It was named for an Eskimo woman many years ago who lived along the shores of the river with her husband and their two children.

But then tragedy struck--the village was hit by a deadly flu. This happened during the gold rush era when men were frantically searching for gold in the Alaskan wilderness. The flu took the life of the woman’s children and her husband. Fourteen other children in the village lost their parents to the flu. Out of compassion, this woman adopted all 14 of these children.

S…