I couldn’t disappoint my national organization, ASHA (American Speech Language Hearing Association) and knew I’d begin writing the requested article ASAP. We all know how long that can take! As such, the publication date of “Still Traveling the Road” was June 19 of 2007. Recall, we were still in December!

Obviously, neither I nor Electra, nor any of our passengers could wait six months to continue the saga being developed on my blog, Sky Writing. Thus, the flow of my story, including the magical details of what happened after the article was published, must now be interrupted. Time to fill in a pivotal gap.

Can you guess what that gap might be? One of the words in the article, “Still Traveling the Road” will give you a hint. Go ahead guess…

Maybe you guessed the word ‘Traveling.’ Well, although Electra takes us back to 2001, ‘Traveling’ is not the hint word. How about the word ‘Road?’ For sure that’s an important word but, nope, it’s not the hint word. The hint word is “Still” which infers the continuation of travels I had already started.

There was no doubt in my mind about where we needed to go next. I said goodbye to my 2007 self before putting on my coat, gloves and boots. Then after leaving through the front door, I trudged once again to the backyard. Time to consult with an awaiting Electra.

ELECTRA: “Good, you’re back. Glad that phone call didn’t take too long. Have you decided where we’re off to next? Everyone wants to get going.”

ME: “Absolutely, we need to go back. Back to 2001!”

ELECTRA: “I can get us there as soon as you say GO. But, you know me, I’m the curious and nebby sort, so why are we going back 6 years? details please. ”

ME: “Because ‘Still Traveling the Road’ is the second of two strategically important articles. Thus we need to return to 2001 when the first article was written. It’s imperative to explain the magic that happened after the first article before I explain the magic that happened after the second.

ELECTRA: “OK, what’s the title of the first article?”

ME: “It’s ‘Traveling the Road and Sharing the Load of Alzheimer’s Disease.’ Back then ASHA had won a big award from the Society of National Association of Publishers (“SNAP”) for my article.”

ELECTRA: “Yea, I remember now. ASHA invited you to receive the award on their behalf at SNAP’s annual awards dinner and ceremony. As I recall, you were quite nervous.

ME: “Yup, actually, I was a wreck. I hadn’t been away from Pittsburgh for over five years and had to fly to Washington, DC. It was the first time I left Dave overnight since his diagnosis. Plus I left him with a new caregiver further intensifying my anxiety. Just thinking about it makes me nervous all over again!”

ELECTRA: “I feel your anxiety in my wings which is not good for either of us. And it’s not good for our passengers. Come on, climb in, buckle up and, before we leave, take a deep breath. I know you’re still really cold so, like in the musical, ‘Frozen,’ put a song in your heart and ‘LET IT GO.’

ME: AAAH! Let it … GO!

Stay tuned to learn more …