Hello and welcome to another series of Cleared For Departure, the only travelogue to be declassified by a former President when he accidentally just thought it.  Mom an I are off to Vancouver, located in beautiful British Columbia.  

First off, thank you to everyone who read the piece about my father’s passing and reached out.  You all are all swell people for letting me share it.  I’ve learned a lot about grief in these past several months.  My biggest take away is how much grief is indelibly woven into the fabric of our existence.  It is not a thing we get over to return to normalcy.  It is normalcy.  As I get older and people in my orbit die from natural causes or accidents, I feel grief more as a companion than boogyman.  Our culture is terrible at talking about grief, which makes it loom large in our collective psyche when it need not be so scary and isolating.  It is an emotion common to us all.  

For a good podcast on the subject, check out Anderson Cooper’s All There Is, where he discusses losing his mom.  To be fair he liked her, so there are some notable differences from my situation.

On to the world of travel.  We depart in two weeks.  Some house-keeping items, the usual stuff you may already know.  

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If you’d like a copy of any picture I take, just let me know at the end of the trip.  I’m happy to send a full resolution file, packed with enough juicy pixels for printing.  If you need help with that, please let me know and I’d be happy to assist. 

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Would you like to add someone?  Send me a note.  As long as you have their permission (and email address), I’m happy to do it.  

We depart on Friday, November 20st.  I’ll be back Thursday to discuss the trip and give an overview.