Today, young people call it a “road trip.” Years ago we called it a vacation. Whatever term is used, traveling 5,000 miles by automobile is difficult.

My friend and her aunt Mary were driving back from California by themselves and I felt they needed my help. Also, I used this as an excuse to take a quick vacation out west, or in today’s terminology, to go on a “road trip.”

Another friend and I packed my car with enough supplies for the drive and we set out for California. For three days we crossed featureless flat lands, beautiful soaring mountains, and stifling desert roadways. We arrived on a crisp autumn day at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco at precisely the pre-arranged hour. I’m not sure how we made the drive in three days, but we were young and didn’t know any better. I wouldn’t drive that far today, let alone drive it in three days.

My friend and her aunt Mary met us at a small park which oversees the Golden Gate Bridge. I’d never met aunt Mary before seeing her in California, but she looked radiant standing in the park with her gray hair glimmering the the sunlight along with the bridge and a low fog in the background. Our pictures of each other upon our arrival remind me of that moment.

I got to know aunt Mary in the next few days. When we first started back, no one was sure whether aunt Mary could help us drive the 2,500 miles back to Illinois. But, she demonstrated to me a dogged persistence to do her share of the driving while maintaining her upbeat, pleasant attitude.

As we traveled back through Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the mountains of Colorado aunt Mary outlasted us all. She took her regular turn behind the wheel when we changed drivers every few hours. At the end of each day, the “young ones,” as she called us, would be tired and ready for bed while aunt Mary wanted to check out the night life in each new location.

I decided to name aunt Mary our official tour guide and party host for our trip because of her persistence in doing her share of the driving and her positive attitude. Just the fact that I recognized her strengths seemed to empower her even more as she made sure our spirits remained high on our long trip home.

Author Ken Blanchard wrote in his book Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute that “Empowerment isn’t magic. It consists of a few simple steps and a lot of persistence.”

Aunt Mary was persistent with her warm smiles and pleasing conversation, and with her strong desire to share the driving. She was our “queen driver” if only for a few short days. I would go on another road trip with her at anytime, to anywhere.

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