Grandpa's Dream

     My father always liked to travel.  We took a lot of trips in my childhood and except for the one when I was 14 I remember them very fondly.  Last summer when my father, Max, knew he was dying we talked about traveling.   In his later years Max had planned several trips, but was not able to take any of them.  He wanted to go to Germany and see if he could find out more about his father's family in Dresden.  He also wanted to take a cruise through the Panama Canal.  My mother's failing health and then the unfortunate issue that both Edna and Lorraine had Alzheimer's disease and found travel very stressful, kept Max at home.  I told him that I wanted to take the whole family on a cruise with some of my inheritance.  He was so happy about that and we talked about where we might go.  I talked with Rick and the rest of the family too and we decided on a Mediterranean cruise.  It was fun to look
into all the possibilities.  The kids would all need to take time off from work so we didn't want it too long, but since it is such a wonderful chance to see the world, they wanted it to be "long enough."
    We talked with Matt and Amanda's friend, Gary, the travel agent and have booked a 10 day cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship leaving from Barcelona, Spain.
    Jennifer's health is, of course, a concern.  She has been doing very well since her transplant, but is up and down occasionally with the amount of meds she is taking.  Hopefully things will go well since medical care on the ship is pretty basic and it would cast a lot to fly her home.
     Amanda's mom, Marlene, is also joining us.  She will be staying in the same cabin with Matt, Amanda and Carter.  It will have an adjoining door to our cabin so we can help out with the baby.  They are all real troopers to be so crowded in such a small space, but Amanda wants her mom to have some great experiences after beating cancer.  Only a few more days and we will be in Spain.  I better finish packing.