The longest trip I’ve ever taken was a European tour with my mom and dad. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was invited because I could help. As a caregiver, I look back now and see why Dad wanted me there. I could help with Mom, and they were both in their seventies. I was. there to keep Mom company, help out, and be there in case anything happened. We were at the Louvre Museum in Paris; Dad felt weak. He had forgotten to take his blood pressure meds. It was fortunate I was there.

Wee flew out of New York — I’d traveled to Texas first, then on to New York, then across the Atlantic to Gatwick. We spent several days in London on the tour, then took the train through the Channel Tunnel — which I didn’t even know existed — and arrived in Paris.

Afterr a few days in Paris, we boarded a bus and drove through Switzerland, eventually reachingFlorence,, then Rome. Mom was so happy at the Vatican. From there we took a boat to the Isle of Capri.

The bus broke down in a tunnel after we left Switzerland. They ran out of gas — we thought it was a mechanical failure, but the driver had simply forgotten to fill up. We were stuck for hours, and it turned out to be the best part. We were all on that tour bus together, and we got to know each other really well.

In Tuscany we all piled out for a group photo. It was lovely. Mom loved the entire trip. I loved it too. And Dad was ecstatic — he’d served in the military and been stationed in Germany, and I think he wanted to see how things had changed. We went in 2006, so not quite a hundred years, but enough to make the contrast striking.

I never regretted a single moment of it. Every part of it. And I’ve got pictures galore — I should post a few to show the highlights of each stop, maybe a little slideshow with this post.

What do you think?