He and Mom had arranged to do this cruise before her cancer diagnosis came, and had to cancel it so she could start chemo. We all know what came after that, and in Mom's last days, she made Dad promise he would keep traveling. He still really wanted to see Scandinavia, but he didn't want to go alone.
I, of course, was happy to go with him. He likes to tell people I inherited his wanderlust, and I am guilty as charged. So we booked the trip and started making plans: a twelve-day Princess cruise out of Copenhagen, docking at Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn (Estonia), Germany (with train ride to Berlin), and finally, Oslo. It would be my first cruise experience, and I was very, very excited.
We left Tuesday, July 2nd, on an overnight flight from San Francisco to Copenhagen, and our cruise started on July 4th. For the next twelve days, we sailed the Baltic, explored the wonderful ports, and made new friends on the ship. And I know Mom is tickled that we did this, together, making more memories. We always miss her.
But here's the most wonderful part of the whole deal: Leaving just one week after the one-year anniversary of losing her, I feel like this cruise was a turning point in my grief. I did a lot of indulging in self-care, and started caring again about taking better care of myself. Whereas this last year has had me hiding from the world a lot, nursing my grief, I did a lot less of that on the ship. Let's face it, there is always going to be a hole in me where my heart broke when she died. I will always miss her. But the fog started lifting on this cruise, and I'm glad.
I took almost 900 pictures on this trip, between my phone and my camera. I'm excited to share them and tell my stories over the next several blog posts. I saw some really beautiful places and the amazing things they hold. I ate great food, and learned a lot about the cultures I was visiting.
Stay tuned!
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| The Regal Princess, docked at Tallinn, Estonia. |
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