'Route for Grandma' ends with get-well cards

The "Route for Grandma" ended Tuesday morning with a big hug.

Thirteen-year-old Rebekah Parke and her mom, Kelly, pulled into Grandma's West Toledo yard about 10:30 a.m. after two weeks on the road from their home near Seattle.

Gloria Sterling, 71, couldn't stop smiling.

"Bekah, you've grown up!" she exclaimed as she held her granddaughter in a long embrace.

Rebekah presented her with a bag full of cards - get-well wishes - from across the country for Mrs. Sterling, who is battling endometrial cancer for the second time since it first appeared in 2007.

Rebekah, who had not seen her grandmother for two years, dubbed their adventure "Route for Grandma" and, with a page on her Mom's company's Web site, parkecreative.com4, she solicited cards for her grandma to be mailed to a friend in Kansas City.

The Parkes picked them up during a stop in Missouri and also toured the headquarters of Hallmark Cards and met the voices behind Hallmark's hoops&yoyo division. Several of the silly-sounding cards made their way to Toledo.

"Hope you feel butter," said one perky audio card. "The faster, the butter."

Mrs. Sterling beamed as her husband, Walter, poked through the bag of cards eager to open the mail.

Rebekah, an aspiring artist, said she dreamed up the trip for her grandma, who, she said, "has loved me all my life."

"I hope to make her happy by bringing as many get-well cards as possible since she has always taken care of me and my family," she wrote on her "Route for Grandma" blog. "I helped my mom think of this trip, because there might not be a next time."

After covering 2,000 miles in two weeks, they arrived to find Mrs. Sterling in good spirits, surrounded by family, and proud of the shiny bald head under her cap. She has two more chemotherapy sessions to go.

"Everything is going according to schedule," Mrs. Sterling said. "Overall, I think I'm doing great."

Ms. Parke, who grew up in Toledo, said get-well cards still may be sent to her at P.O. Box 60131, Renton, Wash. 98058. She'll make sure they get to Mrs. Sterling.

"I still have a lot of friends in Toledo," she said. "I'm sure if they saw this, I'm sure I'd reach my goal to wallpaper a wall with cards."