Earlier in the fall, Janet and I had made plans to be in Missouri for Veteran’s day weekend. At the time we thought Dad would still be with us. It turned out to be a perfect time to have the grave side service, as his body had been cremated.  The gathering was much smaller than the service in October as Mother had requested only family attend. It brought closure to a tumultuous year. The silver lining was the opportunity to yet again spend more time with our beautiful granddaughter. It had been twelve months since Dad had revealed his illness, and after six trips to Missouri I felt relieved that life might return to some sort of routine.

Thanksgiving was upon us and as usual, Janet and I joined the Sheppards for our annual Thanksgiving feast. We also felt the need to visit Autumn and Jim in New Jersey as they had not been able to join us for the funeral or graveside service. Autumn had been back to Missouri in September for a wedding and gotten the opportunity to see Dad, a visit that thrilled him. Our time with them was short, but comforting.

Our trip home included our now annual visit to the 5th Avenue department stores of New York. We are no longer gawkers, we are now critics who evaluate the windows for their ingenuity and entertainment values. Probably the most interesting aspect of this year’s visit was the crowd surrounding Trump Tower. I say interesting because we’d never seen a spectacle quite like this with police and barricades. We hurried by as quickly as possible to make our way to Bergdorff’s and Bloomingdales to finish our trek.

As we head into the holiday season, I know things will be different. Dad is gone. A new administration is taking over, and I’m booked to be a chaperone for the 8th grade field trip to the inauguration.  Interesting times lay ahead for this tourist.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller