She took care of her sick husband for 20 years – when he dies, son calls and gives her the surprise of her life

Carla Brooks is a devoted wife who took care of her sick husband Karl for 20 years after he had a stroke.

After he passed away last year, Carla felt that her life no longer had meaning. That’s when her son, Barton Brooks, had a wonderful idea.

A few days after Bart’s death, Barton peeked into old photo album and found some old postcards from a trip to Europe that his mother had taken in 1962. That’s when he had his wonderful idea: to thank her, he’d invite her on a trip to Europe. They would visit 20 countries, one country for every year she had taken care of his dad.

The trip

During the trip, he hoped to help his mother deal with her sorrow after his father’s long illness and death. So he started planning his surprise.

“After his debilitating stroke, my mom took care of my handicapped dad – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 20 years – until he passed away last year,” he writes in his blog.

“For as long as I can remember, whenever she did something impressive he’d jokingly say, “How’d you do that? You’re just a little girl from Kamas! (Utah)” and it would always make her smile. But now that he’s gone, she’s been completely lost as to who she is without being his caretaker, and she just can’t seem to find her old adventurous self.

I wanted to see if I could change that by taking her on a grand adventure, because I think it’s time to find that little girl from Kamas, and prove to her just how much life she has left to live…”