I was supposed to be on vacation for most of this week. On Monday afternoon, I received a call from my cousin asking if I could take next week off to host her and my aunt for a week.

My aunt is 93 and has always been one of my favourite relatives. She broke her hip when she was 91, something that often spells the beginning of the end for older people. My aunt powered though it and is walking again. I will add that my aunt also had limited vision, she sees shapes but nothing clearly any longer. She is also deaf, but hearing aids allow her to hear and have conversations.

These issues would sideline most people, or at the very least slow them down. My aunt powers through and rarely, if ever, complains. She’s quite the inspiration.

We had a scare over her health lately, doctors found a lump in her lung. She went for many biopsies and the results were inconclusive. She recently went to Princess Margaret Hospital, Canada’s leading cancer center.

On Monday, they confirmed what we had hoped wouldn’t be confirmed, cancer. They are hopeful that radiation will be successful and if anyone can beat this, it’s my aunt.

Back to the phone call on Monday from my cousin. She acts as the primary care giver for my aunt, helping her through the day to day stresses of life. I explained that I was already off and that I couldn’t possibly be off next week as well.

Bernie, my aunt, wants to see certain sites in Alberta before her vision is completely impaired. She’s never been to Alberta but has always wanted to see Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and the West Edmonton Mall. As I’ve said, Bernie has been my favorite relative for ages and I’ll literally do anything for her, go to the ends of the earth, or at least the ends of Alberta. I contacted my boss and decided that I’d return to work on Tuesday and take next week off instead.

Kim (my cousin) arranged a flight to Calgary from Toronto. I arranged to be off, I had to juggle some additional days. Basically, I’ll have to work on a few stat holidays and bank my time as opposed to being paid out. I arranged for my dogs to go into boarding Monday through Thursday (that’s an they were available for) and for my cleaning lady to look after them the other days. I’ll be picking up my aunt and cousin on Saturday afternoon from the Calgary airport and we’ll start our Tour of Alberta in Edmonton and the West Edmonton Mall. From there, we’ll head south and spend a night at my house in Crowsnest Pass.

Monday morning, we’ll head out, bright and early (my aunt is definitely NOT an early riser) and drop the dogs off at boarding and continue north to Banff Alberta.

It’s high tourist season and Banff is incredibly expensive, so we are staying in Calgary instead. Tuesday, we’ll tour Lake Louise and Wednesday, we’ll head to Jasper overnight. Back to Crowsnest Pass for Thursday evening and then Vulcan and Drumheller on Friday, returning to Calgary Friday night for one more night. I’ll return them to the airport on Saturday afternoon and then head back home to recover on Sunday before going back to work on Monday morning.

All in all, I’m expecting to drive about 4000km in the week and see many sites that I haven’t experienced in the 11 years that I’ve been in Alberta. I’ll be happy to be their guide and personal driver. I hope that Bernie has the time of her life. I’m sure that Kim and I will add well.

I do plan on blogging about our adventures here and I’ll also post many pictures. Be sure to follow along.