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Swankie is played by cast member Charlene Swankie

Though of all the main characters Swankie probably has the least screen time, her impact on the film’s story cannot be ignored. In the brief time they know each other, Swankie quickly becomes a mentor figure to Fern when the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous disbands for the year, leaving the two of them alone in the desert. Swankie has an even more rough exterior compared to Fern and her signature pirate flag adorning the outside of her van symbolically tells us so much about who she is: strong, persevering, and a bit of a lone wolf. But things shift when she opens up to Fern, revealing her terminal illness and her plans to return to Alaska to see the hatching of the swallows one last time. She’s content with what she has accomplished in her nearly 75 years of living: “I’ve lived a pretty good life,” she concedes. Swankie is open about her willingness to end her life on her own terms if she has to, and she represents those who are fed up with living their twilight years inside the four walls of a hospital room.  

She scolds Fern for not being more vigilant when she gets a flat tire, but it comes from a place of love and concern. Her love for rocks is clear as she shows Fern her collection and expresses her desire for her friends to throw a rock in the fire in her memory when she dies. Poetically, the members of RTR fulfill her wishes later as we see a melancholy gathering tossing rocks while one person solemnly holds a photo of Swankie. She dies having successfully returned to Alaska, her final mission complete. Her friendship with Fern brings death and illness front and center as Fern can’t help but reflect on her own husband’s fate. But Swankie’s open-handed view of life and death show Fern a different way of living, and one can’t help but conclude Fern considers Swankie’s perspective of life as she makes peace with her own husband’s passing. 

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