Throughout her life, regardless of the chapter, Aly has been an Educator, an Equestrian and an avid Volunteer. Back in grade school, she and her best friend ran “Our Neighborhood Summer School” for the little kids on the street. She loved horses and earned trail rides for well done chores and passing grades. She brought in the milk and bread from the delivery men for the wheelchair bound lady across the street and collected soda bottles for money to donate to the Easter Seal Society a decade before it changed its name from the National Society of Crippled Children. Like anyone who has been around the sun multiple decades, her life has been full of joys, accomplishments, sacrifices and tragedies.

2001 began a series of hardships that changed the path of her life. Beginning with the sudden loss of her Mom due to an infection that was the forerunner to a stroke, the without warning collapse her “Heart Horse” who she adopted prior to her fouling, some thirty years prior, 9/11, where her husband’s offices were decimated. (Miraculously he was working from home that day , but lost colleagues in the horrific tragedy and was never the same), and, last but certainly not least, the unexpected closing of her school due to loss of enrollment for both the upcoming summer school program and the following academic year, leaving her jobless (and as a near impossible rehire, since she was 2 years from retirement and at the top of the pay scale. ) Three days after school closed, her husband, who was receiving unemployment while his company regrouped, woke her in the early morning hours saying he was sure he was having a heart attack. He died before the EMTs arrived. He had just turned 60 and was in perfect health.

It was her best friend, days later, when consoling her, begged her to accept this as a gift from the cosmos, a chance to do anything she wanted, anywhere she wanted. Five months later this same friend pulled up in front to the now empty, five bedroom house, where kids and 3 out of four parents once lived , helped her load my her two remaining horses on a carrier headed for Washington and a little 750 square foot cabin she had just purchased on the Olympic Peninsula, just across 10 acres and a dirt road from her brother, a Vietnam Vet with severe PTSD. With her horse trailer packed with only that was truly important to her, her dog, a cat, a bunny and two birds, one of which was her lates husband’s parrot that had not uttered a sound since the morning of his death, and a canoe strapped to the Blazer, they followed the equine transporter out of the driveway, hoping to beat them to Washington. But that was not before they agreed that she wasn’t borderline crazy and that this was NOT going to be another “Thelma and Louse.” Moving to Washington to be with what little family she had, her newly graduated son (Western alum) and her brother, gave her a way to actually reinvent herself, holding dear the values of educator, equestrian and volunteer, her anchors and lifeline. Connected Hearts Equine Healing became the purpose that grounded her and gave her a reason to dream.. She found an amazing friend with the same 3 values. Together they created a residential program for preteens and teens with self-harming behaviors that were in the foster care system. As partners, they took that 750 square foot cabin and created a 2800 square foot home for foster kids. They home schooled all of the kids, bringing them closer to grade level with significantly improved academic skills, they encouraged the wisdom and power of horses to help change their lives, and the lives of the kids they touched in many powerful ways, they involved them in community service, and they accepted the State’s base reimbursement for them, receiving them from expensive wrap around agencies, spending considerable dollars of their own to provide them with the things they believed would help mold them into self sufficient adults. It didn’t take long before there was a waiting list spanning several counties. Amazingly, they were the only home in Washington that housed both males and females simultaneously. They had numerous successes, and some less stellar outcomes. Their “poster child” went to Western for two years before joining the Navy and becoming a Navy Seal. Somewhere, along the way, their partnership became an everlasting bond, and they married. After a decade of running Connected Hearts with no real respite (the kids went everywhere with them) and aging horses, they decided to retire from foster care.

Mark, Aly’s husband, has a history of coming to Chelan since he was a kid. Early in their marriage they purchased a timeshare at Wapato Point, as had his parents, brother, and later an adult niece and her married brother; summers on Lake Chelan were a long- celebrated family tradition. (Of course, foster kids with always included.) Chelan Valley was where they would eventually retire. There was never any doubt. Once the decision was made, the big house and stable sold way faster than ever expected and soon their motor home WAS home and the horses boarded in East Wenatchee.

And then, some lady reached out looking for a horse connection for her daughter. That lady was Jennie Dalgas! One day when dropping off Jennie’s daughter after a riding lesson (the horses were now in Chelan and Aly and Mark were in a house) at the teen center in Chelan, Aly discovered Thrive. Yup, this is where she would volunteer and thrive. The rest is history. From the beginning she, and then Mark, have been actively participating in many of the Thrive activities: for the Teen Centers, for the Cares program and now a Mentor. Being part of the board is an honor and a privilege for her. She finds it hard to believe that she has been retired for more than two decades. Now in her 80th year she and Mark are thriving in this amazing community, still being an Educator, and Equestrian and a dedicated Volunteer.