How To Say Goodbye

My mom just died.

Yep, just like that.

On June 4, she passed away unexpectedly in her sleep at the age of 57. I’m sure my journey through the loss will be the subject of many posts in the future so I’m not going to share too much at this point.

What I can share is how we are going to celebrate her life. Today my brother is flying into New Jersey to spend the rest of his summer with me before he starts college in the fall at the University of Arizona. I was an only child until I was twelve, so David is my “son-brother” and best friend in the world. He’s literally the same exact person, but twelve years apart. It gets a little weird when we’re together.

Anyway, when my mom passed away I immediately had two things come to mind that I knew I had to achieve.

1. I wanted my brother to have a great summer before he started college.
2. I wanted to do something special to remember my mom by.

So starting on Monday (7/24), we are embarking on a 3000+ mile road trip to spread my mom’s ashes all over North America. The tentative itinerary is: Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Detroit, Columbus, Cincinnati, Knoxville, Asheville, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York City. We’ll be CouchSurfing or staying with friends along our journey.

How can you help?

• Suggest fun places to see
• Suggest fun activities to do (concerts, theme parks, festivals, natural wonders, etc)
• Suggest fun people to stay with (still no sleeping arrangements for Montreal, Toronto, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, or Washington DC)
• Send happy thoughts our way

I’m thankful for the opportunity to spend some quality time with my brother and I’m especially excited that we get to celebrate his 18th birthday in Montreal. I know the trip is going to go smoothly without any trouble at all and that remarkably good things will happen to us along the way. Why? Because I choose to create my own luck. More on that later.