As I sit here, I ponder the above question. How did she do it? How indeed, did my mother manageto take the many trips that she did, over the course of her life time? Sometimes, I wonder. Like others, I envy her.

As a small child growing up in Ohio and in West Virginia, my mother would always get lost just to find her way around. However, the thought of her taking trips out on her own, and after her children grew up and were on their own, really puzzled me at times.

After moving out here to the state of Arizona, and after the passing of her own parents in 1984, she took a job at an corporation called Circle K. It is with this company, that she was able to take these little trips  of hers. How she made from this job does not matter. What did  matter, is that she managed to get in touch with a travel agent named Ruby. Every year, both mom and Ruby would talk for hours on the phone. Some times, Ruby would even come to mom's house. They both would sit down and plot the course of mom's destination at the beginning of January. By the end of April, through the middle part of May of that same year, mom would have her traveling plans all laid out before her. Then, it was onto the airport, and up and away she went.

Throughout her life in Arizona, she hwent to various places, ones that one could only dream of going to. Places like Canada, Alaska, Europe, and Ireland. Yes, she would often go alone. While going out on her own, and alone, she would find herself meeting and making new friends along the way.

As I've stated, I envy her. While she was here on earth, she would show us the many pictures that she had taken while she was on her little outings. How I would have loved to been able to go along with her on her little trips out of the country and into others.

After her retirement in 2003, she moved from here to Nevada to be around the other family members. I often wondered- had she taken any other little trips out of the country?  One could only imagine. However, with the many medical issues that plagued her frail body as she got older, it was only at that time, that we realized that she was not able to go any further on the outings that she so enjoyed when she lived down here.

As time would have it, her traveling days were over. She now looks down upon us, watching over us.

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