#88 In Roads-New chapter
It’s been a tough few years for Martha, but life has taken on a new patina. The newly retired postal worker is in South Dakota with an old friend and a new love. It just so happens the old and new are one in the same
After decades of illness, her husband passed away last spring. With no children and an empty house, Martha was suddenly faced with no direction. An old friend expressed interest. There were, obviously, a lot of mixed emotions.
“I didn’t even have time to grieve,” she told me with tears welling up in her eyes, “but then I thought, “What if he gets away? What if I am here alone?” so I just went for it.” She throws her hands in the air at the craziness of it all. The SoCal couple sold their individual homes and bought a motorhome. They loaded up his bike and hit the road with Martha’s two dogs and a trailer in tow. It wasn’t long before disaster struck. By the time they hit Nevada, the trailer got disconnected en route and was suddenly no longer behind them. Discovered a mile back, you can imagine the traffic snarl left in their wake. Then the RV broke down. And a dog ran away. The couple finally abandoned the RV in Colorado, left the dogs with friends and lit out on the bike.
By the time I met her, Martha was sitting in the shade of a friend’s back yard sipping a cocktail and worrying about her fur babies. Her new beau was rubbing his head and cogitating the repairs necessary to revive the motorhome. They both stressed over the possible lawsuit from the trailer incident. However, none of this affects the couple’s plan to see Chicago, Ohio, Louisiana, or Texas before heading back to SoCal to visit his grandchildren for the holidays.
“I was in one place for such a long time that getting to travel now is a dream come true. So many places I want to go. Eventually we’ll buy a house and settle down but we don’t know where, yet. Life is just whatever we want it to be. I know the emotional stuff will catch up with me eventually, but right now, life’s just one big adventure.” Martha’s off to see the world. I wish her peace.
