I will always remember the icky feeling that came with idling in the soup of desperation back when I was single. At the time, I remained convinced that I would never find my match. Suitors would come and go, some at my behest, others to my chagrin, and the story would always end with a friend or loved one offering the proverbial words of advice, “Don’t worry, there are more fish in the sea.”
But the last thing I ever imagined was that the love of my life would hail from three generations of commercial salmon fishing Alaskans, whose whole life and raison d’etre, in fact, centered around, well, fish in the sea. The Bering Sea, to be exact, which is where my husband, his father, and grandfather all spent the bulk of their summers, harvesting sockeye salmon as a matter of not only family income, but personal duty.
Grandpa Robert C. Kallenberg was nothing short of a pioneer, who despite being born in New York City in 1903, made Alaska his true north, and once there gave every fiber of his being to not only protecting the sockeye salmon of Bristol Bay, but also teaching its conservation. Then there was his son Walt, my late and beloved father-in-law, who would design and build his own commercial salmon fishing vessel, upon which my husband, Arron (WAC founder + CEO) himself learned to fish.
After a decade with these extraordinary humans, replete with the fascinating stories of their ancestors, I would start to understand the magic of the Kallenbergs. A tapestry of quirks and virtues that comes with the family, one in which everyone is equal parts wizard and poet; folks who never just chit chat, but instead always go deep. Humans whose conversations are laced with philosophy, tenderness, wisdom, and belly laughs. People who put the quality in the expression “quality time.”
From this family, I would come to appreciate what it means to “stay scrappy” — a very Alaskan ethos, and one of Wild Alaskan Company’s core values. But also their distinct way of at once being mind-blowingly brilliant thinkers and humble individuals with what has always seemed to me as nobility of spirit as their guiding light.
So, today, as part of my ongoing Gratitude Series this month, I give thanks to the Kallenbergs, my family and my endless inspiration. Thank you for showing me each day how to perfectly demonstrate two of my favorite characteristics: grit and wit. And mostly thank you for making possible the best catch of my life.
Live Wild!
Monica
Pictured above: A somewhat unplanned Kallenberg family reunion a few years ago on our porch in Homer, Alaska on what felt like a perfect summer evening.
