Don't do phone calls a lot anymore but I definitely text. My sister is not fond of either. Wednesday, June 27, 2018 about 8 in the evening I was surprised to see a text from her. The content was even more surprising. The gist was Washburn University Alumni Association (Topeka, Kansas) was going to do a trip to Scotland and Ireland in October 2019. She thought she wanted to go but if she traveled as a single there would be a hefty surcharge, so she offered money toward my trip if I would go with her.
To use a British term, I was gobsmacked! I sat and stared at my phone for awhile, have vague memory of what happened next other than I responded somewhat, "Yes." Soon after, there was a call and we decided to think about it over the weekend. Her good friend called her Saturday a.m. and said, "You need to get on the waiting list, the tour is already sold out!" So we did and left it to fate. Couple of days later, someone cancelled and we were in. Having never traveled outside the States and not a big fan of extended time flying over water, I had my work cut out for me. My mental prep was more than the physical but thankfully I had almost a year and a half for both.
2019 turned out to be monumental for me. I knew I needed to move from my 7 years plus second-hand smokey apartment for my physical health. Not only was I prepping to do something I had never before done (the trip) but also to find a new place and move. Finding turned out to be serendipitous; moving was a nightmare due to my physical surroundings making me sick and I had so little energy. My sister made multiple 3 hour round trips doing yeoman's work to help me accomplish the move. I always knew she was great; but I no longer have words to describe the immensity of it.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye the year and a half passed and the morning of Saturday, October 5th, my son was driving me to Kansas City International Airport to meet the group coming in from Topeka. Thus began what became one of my most life-changing events.
I was aware of inner undefinable feelings, for lack of a better word, when the visit was happening. Amazingly, even more so now; but the answers eluding me are, what? how? why? I'm hoping as I blog about the adventure some some insight will be gained. At the very least, I will love every second of re-living the experience.
If you happened on this site, I hope you enjoy my musings. And for both of us, perhaps a prompting not to forget to stop and see the mostly not "big" life-changing events that can be found in every moment.
2019 turned out to be monumental for me. I knew I needed to move from my 7 years plus second-hand smokey apartment for my physical health. Not only was I prepping to do something I had never before done (the trip) but also to find a new place and move. Finding turned out to be serendipitous; moving was a nightmare due to my physical surroundings making me sick and I had so little energy. My sister made multiple 3 hour round trips doing yeoman's work to help me accomplish the move. I always knew she was great; but I no longer have words to describe the immensity of it.
In what seemed like the blink of an eye the year and a half passed and the morning of Saturday, October 5th, my son was driving me to Kansas City International Airport to meet the group coming in from Topeka. Thus began what became one of my most life-changing events.
I was aware of inner undefinable feelings, for lack of a better word, when the visit was happening. Amazingly, even more so now; but the answers eluding me are, what? how? why? I'm hoping as I blog about the adventure some some insight will be gained. At the very least, I will love every second of re-living the experience.
If you happened on this site, I hope you enjoy my musings. And for both of us, perhaps a prompting not to forget to stop and see the mostly not "big" life-changing events that can be found in every moment.