Prelude - This trip on the Princess Cruise line was planned to take my mother-in-law on a trip to the Panama Canal. She is 85 and likes to travel, but does not like to fly or drive too far. Cruises are her preferred mode of travel now. Since she lives in Florida, we chose this trip as it leaves out of Ft Lauderdale.

Initially it was just going to be Diana (my mother-in-law), my wife (Sandy), my sister-in-law (Amy) and myself. My mother (Hazel) and Diana are big travel buddies, so Hazel and my dad (Dave) decided to join us. This lead to my mother inviting my siblings (Sue and Steve) and their spouses to join us to make this a family trip. Unfortunately their spouses could not take the time off to join us. To encourage my siblings to go, my parents paid for their trip (as well as mine) My aunt (Irene) learned of our trip at a family gathering and also decided she wanted to go.

Seven months before the trip, Diana was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Diana moved to Chicago to live with us as well as Sandy’s sister Amy to help take care of Diana. We had 5 wonderful months with Diana before she passed. Diana insisted that we still do the cruise in memory of her and not cancel.

Two months before the trip my father who has type 2 diabetes developed foot sores that became infected. After treatment, the Dr would not allow him to travel for 3-4 months until his foot healed completely. My parents ended up canceling their trip with us. However, my mother insisted that we all still go.

This leaves just six of us still going. Sandy, Amy, Sue , Steve, Irene and myself. Now let the adventure begin!