Farewell and Many Thanks

We have finally made it home.  It was quite a journey with flight cancellations and delays, but I still feel like we were the lucky ones.  We had a warm home and family to stay with during our delay.  There were so many thousands of people that were not as lucky with the outcome of Hurricane Sandy.

I say 'Thank you and see you soon' to my sweet boy Marcus and his sweet and kind wife Naoual.  Thank you so much for everything.  I am so happy for you two and I am so grateful to have spent this special time with you. 

I say 'Thank you from the bottom of my heart' to my sweet boy Trevor and his beautiful wife Joni for helping to make this all happen.

I say 'Thank you and much love' to my husband for your understanding and generosity in making this happen and for taking care of everything while I was gone.

I say 'Thank you and I love you' to my sweet girl Ellie for being such a good girl and for waiting so patiently for me to come home.

I say 'Thank you and much appreciation' to my employer Alliance Title & Escrow for giving me a sabbatical and making this trip a possibility.  You are truly an inspiration to companies everywhere.  You are a lovely example of treating your employees with compassion and appreciation.  I will be with you until it's time for me to go to a nursing home - whether you want me or not!

I had such an amazing experience of traveling through so many countries and experiencing so many different cultures.  I will always remember this trip with amazement.  It has also helped me to realize how very lucky we are (in the United States).  I think it is pretty easy to get complacent and take all of our privileges for granted.  I will do my best to remember this and to be more appreciative.

On my return, my husband had to give me some very heartbreaking news.  My father-in-law, Irvin Hedt, passed away very unexpectedly on Thursday, November 1st.   He lived for 93 years and as far as I am concerned, it wasn't near long enough.  He wasn't just my favorite father-in-law, he was my friend.  I love him very deeply and I will miss him every day.  He was funny, loving, intelligent, kind, giving, a sports fan, a crossword puzzle genius and one of the greatest guys you could ever know.  We had the pleasure of taking him on a couple of road trips over the last few years.  He had worked so hard most of his life (as the greatest cattleman ever) and never had much opportunity for vacations.  We were able to take him to just about every national park in the western United States.  He had a blast and so did we.  I spoke to him the day before I was leaving on this trip.  He was anxious for my return to tell him every detail and share pictures with him.  I'm so grateful that my last words to him were 'I love you' and those were his to me.  I just wish I could have had one of his world famous hugs as well.  He will be forever loved and missed.  I dedicate this journey to him and promise to have many more adventures in his name.

Irvin W. Hedt

1919-2012

Here's to working hard, playing hard and living life to the fullest.  Most of all, here's to loving with all of your heart because life is too short not to.