Through Eternity came through

I am so happy that in the end your tours were a great experience. I know it is frustrating to deal with the effects of dementia on a daily basis. I applaud you for recognizing you were, in part, responsible for some of your own issues. I wish you many more successful tours and less stress getting them organized.

Happy Travels!

Traveler Girl

Thank you Traveler Girl, I feel awful of my dementia led comments and I hope I can restore Through Eternity as a really, really good tour company to pursue. I do recommend that they add more tour agents so the workload doesn't interfere with their response time and capacity to provide details of their tours in a timely way. The tours themselves were unforgettable and made the top 5 items on our 25 day tour of Europe, esp. our tour of the Vatican. We toured the Vatican and St. Peters 5 times since we were 17 (now married 44 years) in Latin class tour of Italy and with Thomas' expertise, command, and guidance of everything we saw, it helped us see the Vatican and St. Peters in a whole new way that frankly was life changing for us - he was that good! J. K.

JK, I'm so glad your tour was a great experience. Thank you for coming back to let us know. Your posts also bring up an issue many of us don't think about -- Dementia. I applaud you for being upfront about your condition and the problems it can create.

I‘m very happy that you had a great trip and am moved by your humility to come back here to set the record straight. I wish you many more rich experiences as you make your journey.

JK, I'm so very pleased that all went well with your tours!!!
I just lost a sibling with dementia so I sort of have a clue about the forgetfulness part. :O(

You're a brave, good soul to come back and explain what happened, and to give this business a glowing report!

There is no need for you to feel awful about your original post.

This post is a mark of real integrity and I applaud you for that, and wish you well for the future with your dementia.

jkoopman, thanks for coming back with an update! That will definitely help other travelers. I can appreciate how frustrating it must have been for you and I applaud you getting through to those who could solve the problems.

I hope you have many more wonderful travels!

Thank you to all of you who took time to respond to my post. I still feel horrible about my posts in May. You all were kind, as was Through Eternity who treated me with great dignity after my posts. I also have a life time of Diabetes and now we have found that there are some people who are getting early onset of Dementia connected to their Diabetes and nearly all of these cases end up
getting a fast moving case of this disease as an early stage and super fast case of Dementia as is the case for me. I'm only 63 and it is completely life threatening. We have also found that there are some Diabetics who are getting early onset of Chronic Kidney failure as is also the case for me. I'm one step away from dialysis and not eligible for a transplant For these reasons, we just cannot do another trip to Europe any longer.
I am so thankful, since our 20th anniversary where we travelled to 20 European countries in 30 days, we've driven through Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, and the Netherlands (the most difficult cities were Cairo, Athens, and Rome) and yet, all of our travels are so filled with incredible memories (and we took numerous cruises where we made the most of the ports). We are lucky, we have travelled to Europe 7 times. We have so many stories and great memories. So no regrets for taking this 25 day trip and so grateful for Through Eternity who made it so memorable but it is our last. It's just too much.

So I am saying - if you want to travel in Europe, do it as soon as you can. We live on a caldesac and all of us are "retired". We all planned to travel when we retired, yet one had a severe stroke and is home bound in a wheel chair, one has brain and spinal cord cancer and is travelling monthly to Mayo Clinic, and one who just cannot travel with each other - their differences of travel are just too great, and then there is me with my diseases. Don't assume you will be able to do all of your travels when you retire. Maybe so, maybe not.

Again, I say, the tours of Through Eternity were amazing and I hope you all who are reading these posts and are thinking about travelling especially in Italy and France, to contact them and see how they can make your trip an experience that will be a level 10 and a trip of a life time as they did for my wife and me.
J.K - (alias named by one of your readers who called me "koopster", it was hilarious)

I'm just thinking it might be useful for you to close the two original posts out with a link to this thread.

I’m so glad to hear that they came through for you in the end. Planning a trip can be very stressful, especially specially when you’re not getting the info you need. Thank you for following up on your posts.

And thank you for being open about your condition and your encouragement to seize the day. Twenty five + years ago, while I was in college, I worked in a retirement community. I met many, many people who waited for retirement to start living their dreams and traveling. Then, boom, the husband had a stroke and everything changed. Or a cancer diagnosis, or a fall resulting in a broken hip (which we called the “kiss of death” because it always seemed to lead to pneumonia or worse). I had many, many people tell me “Whatever you want to do, do it now. Tomorrow isn’t promised.” That was life-changing advice for a 20-something.

j koopman,

I was moved reading about your healthcare challenges. The description of your travel days was good for my heart to read. You must have times where you are not as philosophical about your health and the good travel adventures you have had. But the words in your second post were moving. I worked in health care for nearly 30 years, most of it in hospice care. I learned so much from my patients and families. One thing I learned that you have also stated, is "Do it now" if you can. I have lived by that as much as possible. No one has any guarantees in this life. I am grateful for every trip I am able to take. I am so glad you have had so many beautiful travel memories. I wish you courage and patience as you tackle your health care challenges. I feel certain this thread has touched many of us on this forum.

Wishing you good things, love and contentment and peace!

Traveler Girl

I am among those your post has touched. I applaud your courage in admitting you initially posted in anger-and I suspect that was actually more out of frustration and disappointment. You seem to be a gracious and understanding person who really enjoys traveling and new adventures, in spite of your health challenges. But most of all, I appreciate this: your advice to travel when you can and not to put off doing the things you really want to do. My husband and I traveled extensively (and as chea[;y as possibly!) and I am so glad we did.

Just chiming in to say "ditto" to the compliments from others. Your honesty, integrity, and interest in helping others is beyond admirable. I just retired and I promise this traveler will heed your advice to go as far and frequently as I can. Many blessings to you and your family on the journey ahead.