Motherhood From the Road
Asa Shenandoah brings electricity to communities in crisis and life lessons home to her son.
By Allison Kenien
Asa and her son hiking in the Adirondacks in 2024.
Every June, Asa Shenandoah pulls out her biggest suitcase, ready to respond when disaster strikes. As a journeyman lineman and first responder, she travels constantly to restore power after hurricanes, tornadoes, and other disasters. While she’s repairing downed lines and dangerous wires, her 12-year-old son cheers her on from home.
These constant trips could strain their bond, but instead, Asa has found ways to strengthen their relationship, turning distance and duty into an opportunity for connection.
“I try to reframe it … showing my son that I have to be conscious of balance,” Asa said. “I’m showing him what responsibility, resilience, and purpose look like.”
“Presence isn’t about the amount of time spent,” she said. “It’s about the quality of my presence. It’s all an opportunity.”
Liberty, NY Apprentice lineman Asa Shenandoah "rubbering
up" a pole to "work it out" solo in 2021.
As a single mom, she always needs to plan for her son’s care and leans on family members for support. Recently, she invited her retired mother to move in, creating an intergenerational household that they all love.
Raised on the Onondaga Nation, Asa recognized the value of family at an early age. Her father passed away when she was six months old, and the village stepped in to help. Some of those people were blood-related, and others were related only in spirit. Asa learned to see all individuals as family, regardless of biological connections. When she travels to rebuild damaged towns, she’s helping her global family, and she shares that perspective with her son.
Apprentice lineman training at IBEW Local 1249 Union Hall in
Cicero in 2020.
“We have this saying, ‘all my relations,’ and we try to see our community as all family,” she said. “I have tried to open the door and see that beyond the Onondaga Nation.”
Asa’s relief projects stretch that sentiment over state lines and even across countries. Her job takes her from the streets of Syracuse to the beaches of Maryland and even to community centers in South America. Her most notable trip happened in November 2024 when she traveled to Peru through Electrical Workers Without Borders (EWWB). The team visited an orphanage and nursery school where they fixed critical safety issues like dangerous wires that were exposed on a metal playground. She always returns from these missions with tales to tell.
“My son knows to watch the weather, and he’s OK with my trips because I’m a storyteller,” Asa said. “I’m closer to him because of the micro-moments of sharing a funny story while I’m traveling in a [different] country or asking ‘Hey, I’m going into this new situation … how would you approach this?’” By exploring the challenges and emotions of her work with her son, she can highlight important life lessons without being preachy or demanding. She also likes to get her son’s advice and opinions, which opens fresh lines of communication in their relationship.
“I have found new ways to parent that I never would have found otherwise,” she said.
Since travel limits time with her son, Asa is very intentional as a parent. When she returns from a storm call, the next few days are completely devoted to her son, and he chooses the adventure. The duo might go rock climbing or have a movie marathon with unlimited popcorn.
“I’m not sitting there with my phone,” she said. “When we’re together, we’re playing games, we’re talking, we’re in the garden, we’re playing with the dogs, and he is the center of my attention.”
Asa loves her son, and she loves her work. She believes that focused attention is the secret to balancing both.
Asa and her son at Yosemite National park in 2022.
“Presence isn’t about the amount of time spent,” she said. “It’s about the quality of my presence. It’s all an opportunity.”
Asa’s next big project will be serving the more than 10,000 Navajo Nation families who live without electricity. Through EWWB and Light Up Navajo Nation, Asa and other volunteers will help bring electrical connections to those families. EWWB credits Asa for their involvement in the Navajo Nation program.
“Sacrifice is powerful,” Asa said. “Women can take up space in tough fields and be deeply nurturing.”
