My family went to Yosemite when I was 12 and stayed in the now-gone Yosemite Lodge cabins with bath. This was the first time I fell in love with Yosemite, and I vowed to work there as soon as I was 18. Sure enough, I got a postcard in 1971, when I was 19, telling me to report to housekeeping at Yosemite Lodge by the end of May. I was just finishing my second year of community college, so I told all my teachers I had to leave and promised myself someday I would finish my classes and get my AA degree. Mom drove me to Yosemite, and I got a room at Yosemite Lodge dorms, now gone also. I met my roommate, and we became fast friends. I started my maid job the next day. It was supposed to be a summer job, but I loved Yosemite so much that I could not leave.
Back then, the cabins I cleaned (the same ones we stayed in when I was 12) closed in September. As luck would have it, I got a job in the cafeteria at Yosemite Lodge serving food to the guests. I can remember the long lines and my waitress uniform! By early spring, I was able to get a job in reservations in Yosemite Village. This was so exciting: I could sit down, and we even had a computer! I enjoyed my job so much, making reservations all day on the phone and printing out the folios. I was promoted to take the folios to the Lodge, Camp Curry, and The Ahwahnee. I loved driving the company car and going around the loop to drop off the folios and see the park every day. I got enough seniority to have my own private dorm room with a small deck — this was heaven on Earth. During all the years of roommates, most of them became friends I still have today.
All in all, I ended up working in Yosemite 5 years, off and on. I felt I needed a change and returned to the Bay Area to finish my AA degree. One day, I was at my parents’ to do my laundry, and there was a carpenter there. His name was Will, and he came the following day to fix my lock. From there, we became good friends and eventually fell in love. We went to Yosemite on getaway trips often. In December 1977, we got married in the chapel in Yosemite. It was magical, and we had our first married dinner at The Ahwahnee. We were married almost 47 years before he passed away. I have hiked all the major trails in Yosemite while I was in college and even climbed Half Dome in 1972. Yosemite has a huge part of my heart; it is truly “God’s cathedral.”
Sharon Tscheekar Emes, Donor