HUMAN

Name: CINDY GALLEA
Age: 67
Residence: SOUTHERN MINNESOTA
Occupation: NURSE PRACTITIONER
Years involved with Iditarod: 15. I’VE RUN 15, SCRATCHED TWICE.
Iditarod Role: MUSHER
Current Location: TAKOTNA, ALASKA
Date of Photo: MARCH 7, 2019
Temperature: 25F / OUTDOORS

What is your Why?.. Why are you here today and involved in Iditarod?:

BECAUSE SOMEWHERE DEEP INSIDE, I FEEL LIKE IT IS GOOD FOR ME. (ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN I THINK I’M GOING TO DIE.) I FEEL LIKE IT DOES A LOT FOR ME. IT TEACHES ME A LOT; IT CHALLENGES ME A LOT. AND THEN, I LOVE THE TIME WITH THE DOGS AND THE TIME IN ALASKA.

Tell me about your most rewarding experience on Iditarod?:

YOU KNOW, SO MANY OF THE REWARDING AND VALUABLE EXPERIENCES ARE WITH THE DOGS, WATCHING THEM DO WHAT THEY DO AND LEARN AND GROW. AND THERE ARE JUST ENDLESS OF THOSE EXPERIENCES. BUT ONE EXPERIENCE THAT WILL ALWAYS STAND OUT IN MY MIND IS, A GRANDMOTHER AND DAUGHTER THAT I MET IN NULATO THAT I FIRST MET IN 1998 WHEN I DID MY FIRST IDITAROD. AND THEY CAME TO ME AND HAD ME SIGN A POSTER. THE LITTLE GIRL WAS 5 OR 6. 10 YEARS LATER, 2008, WHEN I WENT THROUGH NULATO, THEY BROUGHT ME THE SAME POSTER AND HAD ME SIGN IT. AND THEN IN 2015 WHEN I WENT THROUGH NULATO – BECAUSE THAT WAS A FAIRBANKS YEAR, SO WE WENT THROUGH THAT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS AN ODD YEAR – THE GRANDMOTHER BROUGHT ME THE POSTER AND HAD ME SIGN IT AGAIN. HER GRANDDAUGHTER WAS LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY, AMAZINGLY. BUT SHE BROUGHT ME THE POSTER – HER NAME IS ARLIS – SHE HAD ME SIGN THE POSTER. AND THEN IN 2016 SHE CAME BACK TO ME WITH THE POSTER AND TOLD ME THAT ARLIS AT AGE 21 HAD DIED THAT YEAR FROM TYPE 1 DIABETES. THAT WILL ALWAYS STICK WITH ME. IT WAS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE MEMORY FOR ME OVER TIME. BUT THEN TO HAVE IT HAVE THAT ENDING WAS…. IT’S A SAD/GLAD THING, ISN’T IT? YEAH.

What do you know for sure?:

THAT IT MATTERS HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE AND HOW WE TREAT EARTH.