Flying Miss Millie

Okay so I didn't fly the airplane but I did fly with mom out to Kansas last weekend so she could visit family.  She has wanted to go and see her siblings this whole year but Covid and her own health had prevented it.  In the past month, mom's walking has improved and she has been feeling more energized.  In addition, the Covid numbers seemed to be going downs and we had some Delta vouchers from a 2020 canceled trip.  Not knowing what her health (or that of f her friends and family would be next Spring) we decided now was the time to go.  I took off 2 days of work giving mom 4 days to fly and visit multiple people.  Mom being the gifted administrator that she is, created an itinerary that allowed her to visit friends and family.  I am proud to say that we stayed on schedule the whole time except for once and we blamed it on the Apple pie we had to eat.  And we are SO glad we did - one of the best pieces of Apple pie I have ever had.  At the end of trip Mom felt like she really had seen and done all that she wanted to in the 4 days.  We rented a car and stayed in a hotel  so that we could keep up our busy schedule throughout the day and have a place of quiet when the day ended.  Personally I enjoyed connecting with family, watching my mom interact with long time friends and family, as well as spending unrushed time with mom.  We are so grateful to those who hosted us for a meal and carved time out of their busy schedules to visit with us. I am including a few pictures to help tell the story of our journey.

Early morning flight!

Lee and Frank, Our first stop.  Lee made us the best pork chops!!!

Close friends ever since they were newlyweds.

Mom and Shirley were college friends.

Turns out we there to wish Mom's brother Walt a happy 88th birthday

My father's brother recently died.
We got to see his wife Edith before she moves to Texas.

Mom and her sister Phyllis spent Sunday afternoon
going through family pictures.

It's always fun to see cousin Christine

I regret that I forgot to get picture with cousin Timmy and Uncle Slim
 but we got a selfie with cousin Tonya.

Thanks to Cousin Dale for making biscuits and gravy
 for mom on Monday morning!  

Mom and Elsie have been lifelong friends
having gone to school together 1st through 8th grade.

This is Dad's tree with a view of his and Larry's stones.

Our traditional "Man it is cold out here" Cemetery Selfie.

We decorated the plot for Fall with a little help from Dollar General.

This is the house Mom grew up in.

This is the rural one room school house mom went to grade school. 

Mom and Carolyn are 2 of the 10 classmates that were in their graduating class. 
She makes AMAZING Apple Pie!

My mom's brother-in-law Delbert,  niece Joy (and Gerald) and
nephew Deon (and Mary).

Sharing memories with my dad's cousin, Deloris.

Crazy enough when we returned home, a Nebraska cousin (technically her mom and my mom were cousins) was in the area for the week. I took an extra day off so that we could meet up with her in the cute little town of Helen.  I attended Nadine's wedding when I was 10 and it is one of my favorite childhood memories (and where I fell in love with weddings! )

For these people and this journey, we are grateful!