Miriam Robbins Midkiff:  

Life Well, since I have signed up not only for my high school (Colville [Washington] High School), but also for my elementary (Klawock [Alaska] Elementary), junior high (Baptist Christian Academy, Colville) and workplace (Salvation Army, Spokane), I'd better start at the beginning. I was born in Kodiak, Alaska to parents who were working with the Salvation Army. Just like the military, the SA moves its "officers" (ministers) around quite frequently, and by the time I was four years old, we had lived in Fairbanks, Metlakatla, Kake, and Klawock. The last three villages are all located in Southeast Alaska. I attended Klawock Elementary from Kindergarten through 7th grade. During that time, my parents took an extended leave of absence from the Salvation Army, which became a resignation, and my dad started custodial work at my elementary school, and later at the local chip mill. The summer between 7th and 8th grade, we moved to Colville, Washington, which is about an hour-and-a-half north of Spokane, located in Northeast Washington. Dad got a custodial position at Colville High School. I attended 8th grade at the Baptist Christian Academy in Colville, which closed at the end of that school year. I then attended Colville High School, in the old building that is now the community college, and graduated in 1984. It was quite a culture shock for me to move from a very isolated native village of 300 people, where I was one of the few white students, to a city of 10,000+, and attend a high school of 600 students, with a minority population of little-to-none. Add to that a strict upbringing, and simply put, I didn't fit in very well! High school was not a fun experience for me, but through it, I learned a lot about the value of accepting peoples' differences. After graduation, I moved to Spokane and worked with the Salvation Army for about six years. It was there that I met my husband, Norm Midkiff, whom I married in 1987. In 1990, o...Expand for more