Most of you if you are close to my age have seen the movie Driving Miss Daisy.  It’s a story of an elderly Jewish widow living in Atlanta determined to maintain her independence.  Upon crashing her car, her son Boolie gets an African-American chauffeur to drive her around.  It’s a wonderful story of two individuals growing in their respect for one another.

I tell you this story because a month ago I had the privilege of  being my mom’s chauffeur  on a scenic car driving experience in Colorado Springs where she now resides.  It was a beautiful afternoon so we took the direction of driving into the mountainous section of Colorado Springs where a terrible fire occurred a few years ago and damaged many homes.  It was a very destructive fire, but new growth is beginning to emerge slowly.

There is a retreat site known as Gleneagles on the western side of Colorado Springs.  We decided to drive thru the beautiful location and were stopped by a security agent.  I had been there before as had my mom years ago and we asked him if the longhorn sheep were still grazing in the retreat facilities.  He told us that it was too hot and that we wouldn’t see any this time of year but we could take a look.

As we drove through the campground, I looked to my left and to my amazement were longhorn goats.  Not sheep but goats.  I found out that longhorn sheep have the curved horns that go round and round, but goats have straight horns.  I also found out that wild longhorn goats are very rare to see in the mountains.  I guess not this day.

It was a splendid day of being with my mom and driving her to places and experiences that both of us will remember for a long time.  On this journey through life, experiences with those you love are priceless.  I have found that these experiences I can have with my mother create a legacy that we will share together and that I can tell stories to my children for years to come.  This experience only happened when we got out of your daily routine.