Eli Saslow

And it was just one of those calls where you don't really want to hang up the phone.

She was so alive, you know, just so vivacious for a woman in her late 80s.

And so eventually I said to Jan, I want to come out there.

I want to come see what your life is like.

Jan's house.

Here we go.

Getting to Jan's house, going to visit her, is not the easiest thing in the world.

The closest airport is in Portland or Seattle, then you're talking about driving a couple hundred miles.

She lives on this really rural, beautiful, windswept peninsula that goes 30 miles out into the Pacific Ocean.

It's a staggering place.

There's eagles flying over her house.

There are bears outside in her yard that sometimes try to break into cars.

You know, she can look out her window and see the sort of distant crab boats, those lights going into the darkness of the Pacific Ocean.

How old are you?

But the problem for Jan, and I could feel it once I got there because it was such a journey, is that there is nothing close by.

The nearest hospital is dozens of miles away.

Going to the grocery store is essentially a day trip for her.

She has multiple children.

So how many grandkids now between your seven?

Eighteen, okay.