It was empty as they arrived, just as the sun started to disappear behind the tall trees to the west. There was the promise of a colorful red sunset, ...and Stella was looking forward to it. I guess, she thought to herself, most girls of sixteen are quite sentimental. And a fiery sunset always gets to me.The bench felt comfortable, not just in a physical way, but mostly because she and Eric had spent many evenings here, talking about many things, but mostly about the future, their favorite. They seemed friendly enough folks, but I didn’t pay much attention to them. I like to be by myself and usually have as little to do with my neighbours as possible.A few weeks after my new neighbours had moved in next to me, I came home one Wednesday night at about eight ‘o clock. I had a day full of meetings behind me and felt rather tired. I switched on the TV, grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and dropped on the couch. While I was zapping through some channels I wondered what I was going to. And lastly, I hope to inspire those who are giving seriousconsideration to taking this journey.The BeginningHow to begin. I once was told the best way to begin is to start at thebeginning and when you come to the end, you just stop. With that inmind, I will tell my story in that very manner. The first part of thisstory was related to me by Mother during some of our mother/daughtertalks.I was born to a loving mother and a father that was less than involved.He never did want to be a father, just. The group entered the hotel leaving the drivers and security guards with the cars and their personnel security walking along behind them. They toured the hotel checking the public rooms, the kitchens, the empty swimming pool and sauna areas, the two bars and the restaurant, all of them drawing favourable comments. They then started up the stairs to look at some of the guest rooms, popping their heads around the doors to give them a basic check and working their way upwards to the top floor.