The Loneliness

Joe gave us his travel journal just before he passed away. Part of the reason was he wanted us to retrace his trip. Through meticulous notes of where he visited, where he stayed, and of course of what not to do, especially in France, he gave us a road map. But the underlying theme was always how alone he felt. He would write about how Tony and David would like this, or how we should definitely see that, or how he wished we could see the incredible waist high yellow flowers he walked through. He wrote about his sense of escaping, being in a place where no one knew him or of his cancer. But it always circled back to his family.

This summer Tony, David, Mike and I will retrace part of his trip. We will stay in the same hostels, we will walk the streets of Venice, go to Lake Como, stay at Balmers in Interlaken, and have a beer in his honor in Munich. We will feel his hand on our shoulder with every step.