like her father and grandfather before her,

she expected to spend her life in the small Iowa town where she was born.

she never imagined living in 15 cities and towns, in nine states.

she never imagined flying to London to attend the theatre,

or vacationing on the misty shore of the Irish Sea,

or cruising the balmy Caribbean,

or sitting on the sun-drenched beaches of Puerto Vallarta,

or traveling the country in a motorhome,

staying too many places to count. 

she acknowledges privileges life afforded her,

but longs for nothing more than to stay in one place

reflecting on why she chose to live a life so

unlike her father and grandfather before her.