In the Minnesota Northwoods, a group of 3 went canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It has lake chains with portages between. We camped above a beautiful lake; slept to the sounds of Loons howling. Awakened in the dead of night by the sounds of a very active bear tearing into our gear, the food we forgot to hang in the tree. Come to find out he was after our honey-laden granola made as a sendoff gift by the sister of one of the friends that literally filled a bread loaf-sized Tupperware container with the gooey, sticky snack.

I can't blame the bear for being so crazed over his find. He tore through our Duluth packs; my poncho covering it so that to this day I have that poncho with 12-inch long sewed-up (by my Dad) slash marks. We fearfully all woke up fully listening to the bear having his midnight snack until one of my friends couldn't stand it anymore and in the pitch dark started clanging his camp pots and pans together and hollering at the same time and we joined him exiting the tent hollering at the top of our lungs until we drove him away, the next day accessing our damage zone & vowing to always hang everything. Nowadays there are bear-proof canisters that'll do the job but hey, we're talking the 70's here.

I shifted the motorhome into the exit lane and made the final curve heading north for home. After 83 days on the road in our RV, we were finally heading back to the home we used to live in as a complete family. We were coming home to uncertainty.

What had begun as an idea of, “I’m going to keep my promise to my late husband,” by taking his urn to our eldest daugther’s home in northern California became a mission to heal our souls. We left with trepidation and determination. CeeCee, our 32-foot Class C motorhome, transported us away from our grief. At the same time, she helped us connect with others, share our story, and most importantly, connect with nature. We had no idea how much being surrounded by nature would help us learn how to live with grief.

It’s true that we came home with an incredible story of 83 days of adventure, but we also came home with the story that grieving people are not alone. While breathing in the forest green of numerous national and state parks or swimming in the golden skies above oceans, we were given what we needed. In addition, we also connected to the many people who related to our story of grief and loss. We shared stories with one another and through the power of that sharing, we were able to come home with a new sense of certainty. We no longer feared coming home to a new story.