THORNTON - Eighty-two-year-old Margarette Kirsch is riding shotgun from coast to coast in an 18-wheeler. It has been her dream since she was a kid.
She left her husband of 53 years to hold down their home in Florida and joined driver Annabella Wood on the 6,500-mile journey.
"Almost four years ago I wrote a letter to Twilight Wish to say to them, 'I want to be an 18-wheel driver,'" Kirsch said.
Twilight Wish Foundation is a program that celebrates seniors and makes their dreams come true.
Friday afternoon found Kirsch's trip and the Twilight Wish truck at the Elms Haven Care and Rehabilitation Center in Thornton. Some residents couldn't believe she was 82, or as Kirsch says, "82 and a half."
Kirsch works out and swims on a regular basis and takes no medications. She climbs in and out of the truck with ease.
She says most people just want to see what she looks like and how she sounds.
"These people are here just to see me... to see how I'm going to act. They are waiting just for me. And if I have put just one little happiness [in them], and trust me, I will. Before I leave here, I will talk to everyone of these people. I will touch every one of these people because I really care about them," Kirsch said.
Her travel companion, Wood, has 30 years of experience on the road. Wood recently graduated from Union Institute and University of Vermont with a B.A. in quantum physics theory. Wood will also be a featured artist at the We R Indie independent musicians' conference in Knoxville, Tenn. She goes by the name "Truck Driving Mama," and has more than 100 songs to her credit.
Wood will be dropping Kirsch off in Florida when the trip is over.
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