The Peace Corp invitation was to meet at the Ben Franklin Hotel in Philadelphia for the staging. I was left in front of the hotel with four suitcases/and a back pack as the cab drove away. And that's where my dilemna began. How to get my belongings the three or so yards from the curb to the revolving door entranceway. I thought I was wise to the ways of the big city. I knew that all of my bags needed to come with my or they would not be there when I returned. Everything worked fine as I stacked them into the revolving glass door and then stepped in next to them. I grew much older as infinity crept along that day, while I inched/pushed my bags a few inches, at a time, moving the door ever so slowly along. Of course as with many travels I would take through the next two years, this journey would reach a point of no return. One glass panel of the door eventually blocked any retreat and I was yet to reach the other side.
But the other side would lead to a journey that would impact my life like nothing else every did or would.