Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 22

   If the yawns from Jennifer were any indication, she was exhausted.  We'd
had two meetings today, both that she'd been apprehensive about -
particularly the second one.  When we got back to the hotel we thanked
Martin and asked him to have breakfast with us in the morning which he
agreed to do.

   I hadn't really comprehended just how tired Jennifer was until I notice
she had almost dozed off in the elevator.  I got her into our suite and
helped her get into bed.  Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she
was asleep.

   I love watching Jennifer when she's asleep and admiring her beauty. 
Tonight I thought she looked especially beautiful, perhaps because she'd
managed to re-establish connections with her parents' families.  After
watching her for a few minutes, I joined her in the bed and like Jennifer,
was soon asleep.

   *****

   The next morning I woke to see Jennifer, still in bed but up and leaning
on one of her arms, looking at me with what can only be described as a look
of love.  I smiled and pulled her down to kiss and cuddle.  "I love looking
at you when you're sleeping," she said.  "You look so innocent - and I know
firsthand that you're far from innocent." She started to laugh.

   "What a horrible way to be woken up - having someone insult you," I said
trying desperately not to laugh.  "I have a mind to leave you out on the
sidewalk outside and go home."

   Jennifer laughed harder then fell on top of me to kiss me.  We had a few
moments of gentle kissing and holding one another but I knew we needed to
get going.  We got ready, luggage packed and then headed down to meet
Martin for breakfast.

   Martin was already seated when we got down to the dining room and smiled
when he saw us.  "Well, did things go as you hoped they would or...?" he
asked.  Jennifer smiled then bent down to kiss his cheek.  As we were
getting seated Jennifer started to answer Martin's question

   "Martin, things went much better than I thought they would.  Your family
- Dad's family - made it a wonderful meeting and I almost didn't want to
leave.  I was quite worried about what would happen when we met Mom's
family since they'd been very upset at what Mom did when she married Dad.
When I called Grandma `Naani' that seemed to break the ice and things went
way better than I thought they would."

   "I was surprised to hear you use those titles," Martin said.  "I presume
they are your mother's family's native language."

   "Yes, the language is Urdu and when Mom's family agreed to meet with us,
I decided that I'd learn to call the older members of the family by the
Urdu title that they'd be used to using." Jennifer said.  "Urdu is actually
pretty easy to learn.  I found a couple of places on the internet where I
could actually hear the words spoken and I practised until I thought I was
saying the words correctly.  From the looks on their faces when I called
Grandma `Naani' I'd say I did a pretty good job."

   I hugged Jennifer to my side and kissed her.  "I was so impressed that
you did that and when you started speaking I wondered where you'd learned
the language."

   At this moment the waitress arrived and we placed our breakfast orders.
Once she had left our table I looked at Jennifer.  "Do you think we can ask
Martin to give everyone our own address and see if he can get us addresses
to allow us to communicate with them when we get back home?"

   Jennifer looked at me and smiled.  "Oh yes, let's." Then turning to
Martin she told him she'd be pleased to be able to mail back and forth with
them.  Martin agreed to do this and told us that when we got home we'd
probably find a bunch of letters from his family waiting for us.

   *****

   The meal came and the three of us carried on chatting.  Martin was
intrigued by what he'd been able to read about Haida Gwaii and I told him
how I wound up there and about our own island.  Martin had the usual
questions about isolation and the issues of getting things on and off the
island but once he saw that we weren't completely isolated and that we had
a large group of friends over on the main island, he seemed to relax.

   "Martin, when I arrived at Haida Gwaii, I was accepted by the community
and treated with respect," I said.  "As you would expect, initially there
was were some who had reservations about me, after all they had no idea who
or what I was but it didn't take long for both the members of the community
and myself to feel at ease with one another.  Over the years that I've been
there I've become quite close to a number of individuals."

   Jennifer took over the conversation at this point.  "Martin, Wally is
reluctant to mention that he has very quietly helped a number of
individuals.  Several of the younger members of the community have had an
interest in getting more education than just a high school diploma and
Wally has helped many of them."

   "Well, I have funds available that have allowed me to do that," I said
as I tried to put my spin on things.  "At first I asked the community
elders to be my `alter ego' and talk to the young folks while keeping my
name out of the conversations.  In virtually every case they got the
individual wanting help to agree to come back to the community and use his
or her skills to help the community.  Somehow the word finally leaked out
that I was the source of the money so I now participate in the sessions.

   "Once the elders and myself have met with the individual asking for
help, we meet again without the individual and discuss the situation.  In a
couple of cases, we've asked the individual if they would choose a
different subject to study.  In those cases we explain that there wouldn't
be much call for someone with those skills and in every case, the
individual has understood and has willingly made a change.

   "In only one case have we turned down an individual's request.  In that
case something just didn't seem right.  We were glad we did as a week after
our final meeting with the fellow, he was arrested and charged with theft.
The theft had occurred long before he asked for our help so the `something
didn't seem right' feeling was correct."

   As I looked at Martin I saw bit of a surprise come over him.  "I can
understand why you're so well respected in the community," he said.

   "Wally is trying to understate things," Jennifer said.  "The education
`grants' is one thing but I know that a number of folks have been in a bit
of hard place and quietly found that there was a bit of extra money in
their wallet.  Things like the store telling the family that their grocery
order for the week had been paid for or that the gas fill up for their boat
was looked after."

   Jennifer hugged me and looked at me with that wonderful look that she
has then turned back to Martin.  "If Wally hadn't rescued me, hadn't looked
after me, I don't know where I'd be today.  I know that I would likely
never be in the wonderful situation I'm in now and I wouldn't be looking
forward to marrying the nicest man I've ever met."

   At that moment, the waitress arrived with our breakfast and we changed
the subject.  Once we'd finished up and settled our bill, I told Martin
we'd go and get our luggage, check out then we could go to the airport.