At 67 years old, Dianne Hampshire is living proof that it’s never too late to enjoy a new adventure.

A few months ago, we shared this incredible story of Dianne and Richard Hampshire reuniting after eight years of searching for each other. When we left them off, Richard Hampshire had traveled with his fiancée from their home in Phoenix, AZ, to visit his mother, Dianne, here at ADEC.

“It had been quite a while back, and I didn’t even know if he was alive,” Dianne said. “I didn’t know he was looking for me. And then he came to visit me.”

Since the visit, they talk regularly on the phone. When Richard’s birthday came up in July, Dianne worked with her staff to put together a special package.

“I sent him a box with a picture frame I made at the Shoots with a picture of us in it, a Notre Dame hat, a bag of candy and a happy birthday card that said, ‘From Mom.’”

One day in the fall, as Richard and Dianne were visiting on the phone, he mentioned his wedding was coming up in February, and he’d like his mother to attend.

They both started talking it over with Dianne’s ADEC Supported Living staff members. After looking at logistics and finances, it was decided. Dianne and Teresa Shapland, her ADEC Case Coordinator, would make the trip together.

Arizona is pretty far away from Indiana. To get there in a reasonable amount of time, you would need to fly. Something neither of them had ever done before. But, together, they gathered their courage and booked a flight.

On Feb. 17, Dianne and Teresa boarded their very first flight together and took off for a long weekend in Phoenix.

“I enjoyed getting to do something with her that neither of us had ever done before,” Teresa said. “I actually had never met Richard before either. It was a lot of firsts.”

Dianne loved being at the wedding in Phoenix. Everything about the trip was perfect to her. She enjoyed her hotel stay and eating at new places. Most of all, she loved supporting her son and meeting his new family.

“We went on the plane,” Dianne said. “It was nice. I liked it. The hotel was very nice. We went to the wedding, to different restaurants and ate. We went to the mall and walked around and we went to the museum.”

Dianne attended the wedding as Richard’s only family member. You could tell it meant a lot to him to have his mother there, Teresa said.

Dianne always has her camera nearby when she’s having fun. She enjoys making photo albums and working with her staff members to detail the action in each photo. Since she’s returned, she carries her pictures with her everywhere, ready to share about her trip and introduce people to her son’s new family.

“I like riding in an airplane because that’s my first time riding in an airplane,” Dianne said. “I like meeting my son, meeting his mother-in-law and having Teresa come along.”