To get her own answers, Sandra petitioned the penitentiary warden for permission to see Allen Fryer, the man who took her home that night in 1973 instead of killing her. “I decided I wanted answers. I didn’t sleep a wink the night before being allowed to see him. Or the night before that,” she says. “I was sick on the way down there. I looked him in the eye for the first time in 40 years. I was not afraid.” “Why didn’t you kill me?” she asked him. He told her that she reminded him of his stepdaughter who was about the same age at the time. “I didn’t go there to forgive him, but I did go there to tell him he did the right thing by not killing me. I’m the core of our family,” Sandra says. “Our family ranges in age from 38 to 58. I’m the one who makes sure everyone spends time together. My family would have had a big hole had he taken me out of it.” Her family includes her husband, Carroll; two stepsons; grandchildren; brothers Jim and Bill; and half siblings Jeff, Shelly and Jason. “I have many amazing nieces and nephews and many aunts from my mother’s side of the family, and cousins that still live in the Eagle Butte area,” she adds. She feels blessed by her family’s support of her over the years, even though many of them didn’t know her story until recently. Two of her brothers have died – one at birth and one at age 54 from health problems.
Her mother is in a nursing home suffering from dementia. “My mom always went with me to the trials. Now she doesn’t have any idea the impact and healing this is having on me.” Sandra carries with her a photo of her mom, a lovely older woman with familiar wispy hair lying in a hospital bed next to a doll. Sandra visits every chance she gets. It’s not often enough for her, though. She also is caring for Carroll, who no longer works because of health issues. She’s working hard to keep her life from being torn apart by financial difficulties. “I thought that if one really bad thing happened in your life, bad things wouldn’t happen again,” she says. “But they do.” Her three dogs brighten her day. One, an Australian shepherd, is a rescue dog that limps because he was shot when he was younger. His two canine companions are miniature pinschers.
84
PROFILE
|
Sandra Cheskey
Letters and Facebook messages arrive almost daily from fans of the book who want to share their stories or tell her how she inspired them to find their own way to heal. The family of Sheriff Vinson presented her with the nametag pin he wore during the case. One woman enclosed a photo of a newborn foal – a Standardbred pacer racing horse – and asked for Sandra’s permission to call the filly “Gitchie Girl” so something good could come from the name. Sandra loved the idea and happily shows off a photo of the bay filly with the heart-shaped marking on her head. “She was named not only for me, but also in the spirit of the boys,” Sandra says. “If I could have one wish, it would be to have a no-kill animal shelter. I would fill it with dogs and cats and whatever else came in,” she says. No judgments. Just one survivor helping another. Even when it is hard to laugh, there are good days. They are all survivors of sorts – a dog with a limp, a family with burdens and a little girl who lived. Her name is Sandra. The book “Gitchie Girl” is available locally at Lewis Drug Stores, Last Stop CD Shop, First Cash & Exchange Pawn, Action Pawn, Barnes & Noble and Zandbroz Variety.