I recently returned from a 2,000 mile road trip with my 85 year old Dad and my 83 year old Mom. Leona and Dallas and I visited friends and family in three states, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. It was like a trip through time and it was very strange to hear everyone talking in a mid-western accent. I came home profoundly grateful to be married to the man I’m married to, live in the house and community we live in and most of all overcome with gratitude to have such cool parents that I can spend time with.

At one point in our journey we ended up camping in the woods near Irons, Michigan with no running water and no electricity (without the generator). Through it all my parents were troopers, rolling with the situation and smiling all the time. For my dad it’s the chance to be with his family and if that means sitting in the woods in the dark he’s good with it. My mom feels the same way and now that she’s older she lays back and lets others take the lead so she’s less stressed.

I was reminded many times during the journey what a tough couple of years we’ve all been through.

Adult children, college graduates living at home and struggling to find a job of any kind much less pursue their career path. Lots of cancer, death, sickness. The sadness of some of my elderly relatives that their future only held sickness and death. I was constantly made aware that getting old isn’t for sissies. I marveled at my 95 year old friend Ginny who takes nothing for pain and is crippled by arthritis and yet still managed to visit sick friends, garden, cook and attend church. If I’m a little stiff in the morning at age 52, what must it be like to force her body out of bed? I was overcome by the kindness of old friends who welcomed me into their homes (Marcia and Sue) and made me feel so at home. There’s really nothing like an old friend. Someone who knew you when you were a kid. It’s a touch stone to your past. I drove past the farm where I lived for 18 years and a flood of memories came rushing by. Things change but some things remain the same and it was somehow comforting to see that white house surrounded by the barns my dad built and the corn and soybeans he once planted.

It was difficult to be away from my husband, my dog and my home for 10 days but I’m glad I went and I am reminded again that there’s no place like home.