Written by Alan Junkins; published in JFA newsletter no. 8, Summer 1993
I must apologize for the lateness of this newsletter, which is the summer issue but it is now fall. I had been delayed with all the activities in York, Maine this past spring. Breaking ground at the Junkins Garrison site for our new home and construction during March, April, May and June. At the end of July, Betty and I moved in with Betty planning to stay there for the summer. An exciting time for us and a busy time. I began flying back and forth every weekend, working in Philadelphia during the week and arriving back in Maine late Friday evenings for 48 hours of trying to get as much work done around the new house as possible. On Monday mornings, I would get a flight out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire at 6:00 a.m. and be back in my office in Philadelphia by 9:00 a.m.
The tension of it all began to show and on Friday morning, August 20, just a few hours before I was to fly back to Maine, I suffered a heart attack. Fortunately for me, 911 reacted immediately and in 7 minutes from the time I hung up the phone, they were in my living room and treating me. Soon after that, with the help of clotbusters and the fine doctors in the emergency room, everything seemed to be under control.
With the help of Roland Junkins, Betty closed up the house and Roland drove her to Boston where she caught a plane back to Philadelphia and was at my bedside by 8:15 that evening. Two months later, I have been released by my cardiologist and told to go back to work and carry on with my life. "Low fat, low cholesterol foods, walk two miles a day, no snow shoveling and no lifting heavy tombstones,." The first two I can handle, the second two I did not like to do anyway.