22.02.12

What do you do after your wife dies suddenly and your world is so saddened and torn that you feel like doing something really crazy?

That’s the question that Gastonian Frank Sell wrestled with for five months before he said goodbye to his local family and friends, turned on the ignition of his restored ‘57 Thunderbird, and headed out on a 7,510-mile trip with one thought in mind: to find relief from the remorse that had covered him like a fog since April 19 when his wife, Peggy, died.

The two had been married for 11 years, each having lost a spouse, but those were the best of years. The couple clicked. They connected. Lived lives of joy and fulfillment. Went on trips. Took long walks together. Spent a lot of time seeing to the other’s needs.

Then, Peggy died. She was 73. He was 70.

And lost.

“Those summer months were just hell,” he said. “I lost focus. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to do. Or, where to go. Or anything else. Peg and I had talked about traveling through the West; and I finally mulled such a trip, by myself, and decided that it would be a good idea and perhaps pull me out of my doldrums. So, I talked to my kids and told them I was going to do it. I was going to make that trip. They thought it was a good idea.

Source: Gaston Gazette