We made it to Boise!  This is the final destination for the journey with my dad, and what a great destination. All of my father's siblings gathered here for a family wedding. He's the oldest of 10 (yes, they were Catholic) and it has been many years since ALL the living brothers and sisters have been together.

It is a joy to see Papa with his family. He lights up around his siblings and I see parts of him spark that rarely get to shine. He and his brothers have an identical sense of humor. Their witty puns and play on words often go over my head, but it is still so fun to be amidst them.  My dad and his sisters share a genuine interest in people, a gentleness and kindness toward one another and an exceptional ability to forgive. These siblings have been through a lot together and have an amazing way of looking out for one another.

Their mother was a wonderful, kind woman.  Their father was an alcoholic and an abusive, bitter man. But Papa never speaks ill about anyone and had the capacity to hold a complicated picture of his own father, finding good things to say, when all I could see was the pain and trauma his father caused.

But now that my grandfather has been gone for many years, and he's not able to cause new harm, I can see how his life experiences and untreated illness turned him into the monster I knew. Mental illness and addiction are battles many people I know and love fight. My grandfather showed me the danger of untreated illness, but my father helped my heart expand, so I can hold the multiple truths of the beauty and pain possible in these relationships.

Papa accepts what life brings and has a genuine interest in people, both of which were real gifts to me on our journey together.  Along the way, I always knew Papa would meet new people with grace and gratitude.

One of the biggest things Papa said he is taking away from our journey is an expanded understanding of people’s generosity. He was surprised at how generous people were with their time. We were welcomed into many homes, connected with many different people, and invited to join many family meals. It is truly amazing to be welcomed in by people in such a wholehearted way.  We both felt it and are so grateful. This is especially true in Cheyenne, WY and Wabasha, MN where all three generations of us were fully embraced by people none of us had ever met before.

From age 3 to 72, we traveled together from New Hampshire to Idaho, connecting with people along the way in Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Wyoming, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and now Idaho.  We created shared memories and just enjoyed being with one another.

I am sad to see this chapter of the journey come to an end, but know adventure lies ahead for us all. My dad will get in a car with three of his brothers and drive together to CA. That trip is guaranteed to be a sitcom in the making. Greg met us here and the four of us will spend a few days camping in Eastern Oregon together before we’re joined by good friends and take the children through their first multi-day river trip, traveling through secluded wilderness.  Then on Friday we’ll return to our car and start heading East.