Travel had been an important part of our lives from the early years of our marriage. When our children were 4 and 2, we took them to Spain and France for six weeks. Three years later, we took them with us to Colombia, South America for the summer. While there, we took trips to Ecuador and Venezuela. When we became empty nesters, we began to travel more, mostly in Europe.
One of the first things we thought we were likely to lose was our ability to travel. In particular, we had wanted to visit Africa, Machu Picchu, the Galápagos Islands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. We were successful in getting to all of them. We engaged in a number of activities we had wanted to experience. We took a safari in Tanzania, took a balloon ride over the Serengeti, paraglided off a mountain slope in Switzerland and somersaulted on the way to the ground.
Travel was becoming more difficult for Sarah, so Switzerland was our last international trip. Two years later, we took our last trip to Chautauqua, NY, our favorite summer getaway.
In 2018, we took our last trips to visit our children and grandchildren. Since then, they have traveled to see us, but we were able to do international travel for four years after her diagnosis and travel in the US for an additional three years.
