The Traveler

This morning I want to talk about travel.. I have done a lot of it in my life and I am thankful for that opportunity.
I don't recommend getting married at 17 but if you are going to, marry a military guy because you get to travel. lol.
The first travel that I was able to do was with Daddy and my sister Donna, when I was 16. I had my new banana yellow Mustang and Daddy had a trip to go on, needing to inspect the Brunswick Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Alger Sullivan delivered the wood for the floors and Daddy kept the machinery going that made this happen.
I could really do an entire story about each trip we took but today I am going to hit the highlights. I never knew that travel and exposure to new ways of life would impact me so much but it did and it has. When we grow up in a "bubble" so to speak, we are sometimes afraid of different cultures or ethnicity, but I am not. So here begins the travel of Kimmee..

First to the big city of Grand Rapids streets
Then to Holland to gather some treats
Slowly back home through Nashville way
Daddy in the back seat footing the pay

Next came marriage and moving to Milton
Twasn't long before the flowers were wiltin
Onto to San Diego, the land of curvy brunettes
The Zoo, Wild Animal Park and birth of my own dark haired beauty ( Ok, I know that doesn't rhyme lol)

From there to Okinawa via Fairbanks and Polar Bears
Landing in the tropics and wanting to shave off my hair
The Ryukuan People, so fascinating and kind
The Koi Fish feeding ponds, so sublime

Back for a visit via Hawaii to home
The Land of Don Ho and beautiful songs
The fragrance of orchids and peaceful people that touched
My heart and my mind in acceptance, so much

A visit to Sunnyvale, the in laws retreat
Then back to Okinawa , luggage at my feet
One more trip home, on a C5 airplane
You haven't lived til you have flown backwards and watched the passengers complain

A move to San Jose then became the norm
A Job, a new man, I had entered the storm
I settled a bit, but traveled home
My Dad passed and my future felt blown

A mid life crisis, an earthquake that made
Us move to Upstate and that made us pay
A long time in snow, no water, lessons learned
We come in alone but aging we earn

Illness overtakes me, a move to the South
Husband deserts me , I'm no longer a Mouse
13 moves in the span of 11 years
Boxes and trucks, smiles and tears

Finally I am settled in a home with a pool
I think I am tugging on that jewel
The one that takes us home, to a land far away
The one that makes us reflect on all we have to say

Thank you for reading, for coming along with me
I love you, I mean it, that's all I can see........
Always, Kimmee