So proud of my mother

My mother, who is .... well, older than me by a few years, (I'm 48 and she's 26 years older than me... that's all I'm going to say)... flew on her own from McAllen, Texas to Houston, Texas to Managua, Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica today. My parents have travelled (and continue to travel) a great deal. They are no strangers to flying and visiting interesting places, but they always travel together and my father would be considered the 'leader' when it comes to acquiring boarding passes, finding their way around, filling out custom forms, hailing taxis, etc. And my mother would be considered the 'follower'. Not that my mother is incapable of doing these things on her own, just that certain roles have naturally developed over their 54-year marriage, as they do. Today was the first time my mum flew on her own and although she's a gutsy woman with resolute determination, not shy to ask questions and optimistic in character (always believing things will work out in a positive manner), she was feeling a little apprehensive. Kevin and I were outside the airport (this is where we wait for passengers to come out with their luggage) and we waited. We watched all the people file out of the door; men, women, children, and eventually we saw my mum rolling her two pieces of luggage. I was so relieved to see her, safe and sound and with a big smile on her face. We promptly gave her a big hug and walked to the SUV, which was parked in the multi-storey garage. We drove through San Jose as the sun was setting. It got dark very quickly. It took us over an hour to cross the city and once we reached the road up the Pan American highway, it started to rain, and the fog was thick. We'd never seen it quite this thick before. We took our time until we approached the turn off to La Trinidad. The fog had lifted by then and within 15 minutes we arrived safely home. We gave her the 5-cent tour of the guest house and then the main house. We had a drink and relaxed a bit. By 10:30 pm she was exhausted and ready for bed. Not surprising since she had been up since the wee morning hours. Tomorrow, my mum will wake up and see our property in the daylight. There will be lots to show her... we may even assign her some chores... hey, we can use all the help we can get. First chore... hmmm, cleaning out the hen house :)