Since I was a “late in life” baby, (my two sisters were in their teens when I arrived) I only knew one grandparent, who died when I was 12. When I met my wife, she had all four grandparents as well as two great grands still around. One of her grandfathers became the grandfather I never had. But I was aware of missing out on things that many of my childhood friends experienced with their grandparents. Of course there is the required spoiling by grandparents. And I did have that with my older sisters and my great brothers in law. Spending weekends and summers with grandparents and perhaps special trips were stories I heard about from others.
When our first grandchild was due, my daughter asked what I wanted to be called. I said, “I will be called Papa”. This was the name my mother’s father was known by and the name taken by my father and my sisters’ husbands when they became grandparents. I have told my son and son in law and all grandsons that I expect them to take that cherished title when they become grandparents. As more grandchildren arrived over the years, I came up with the concept of The Papa Trip.
This is a trip I take with one grandchild as a one on one experience. The rules are that it must be something fun, educational with no siblings, parents or their grandmother for this trip. They get plenty of other attention with their Mimi since she makes herself available to always be on standby for grandmother duties. They know who will be the first to spoil them.
My joy in this is creating life long memories and hope it becomes a traditional they will follow with their grandchildren. And they know there will be plenty of treats that suit the event.
Our first grandson wanted to see a rocket launch, so we spent a few days at the Kennedy Space Center which included seeing a Space Shuttle launch. I must admit this was equally fun for me since I’m the family space geek and have followed the events of NASA since its beginning.
I was in college during the Apollo years. My two roommates and I took a trip down for the launch of Apollo 13. At this time my oldest sister and her family were living in the Orlando area, so we came down for a visit. My brother in law told us where to drive to pull off the side of the road for a good view. We had been there for a short while, sitting on the hood of my car when a station wagon pulled off and the driver ran toward us. He noted our license tag and that we were from South Carolina. He said his wife was from SC and that he worked for NASA and asked if we would like to get in his car and get into the secured area for a closer view. Duh!!!
According to him, we were as close as anyone other than the VIPs could get. To this day I remember the feeling of the shock wave from the Saturn V rocket reaching us. And I was glad to share that experience with my grandson seeing Space Shuttle Atlantas launch.
At that time of my Apollo 13 viewing, my college major was computer science. I entered that field but a couple of years into my marriage I become interested in photography and Carol and I ended up opening a photography studio in 1979. A few years ago we had the pleasure of meeting and photographing Alan Sheppard, first American in space and who later flew on Apollo 14. A few years later we were informed that Jim Lovell (Apollo 13) was coming into town for a talk and we were called on to photograph him. Needless to say, I was looking forward to that. He asked, if I had ever been to see a launch. When I told him the story of that young 19 year old, he responded, “Sorry to disappoint you”. For those who may not know the story, Apollo 13 was the one that had the explosion on the way to the moon. The story was made into a great movie with Tom Hanks playing Lovell.
He shared many memorable things about that adventure with us. Carol later said I had the biggest grin on my face she had ever seen.
A few years after the first grandson’s trip, his brother was old enough for his Papa Trip. I asked what he would like to do and he said he’d like to see a rocket launch too. About that time I received an email providing information on the Space Camp program available at the Space Center. So I took grandson Ethan Prevuznak for a week of Space Camp. Here is how we informed him of his trip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woPZF9oRW_Q
As a photographer, I enjoy putting together this and other slide shows that inform the grandchildren of these trips. Upon presenting this for Ethan his younger sister asked when she would get her Papa Trip. I told her she needed to be a couple of years older, and she needed to think about what she wanted to do. Without hesitation, she replied, “I want to go to Hawaii”. Carol quickly said, “You’re not taking that baby to Hawaii without me!”. That young lady certainly knows how to aim high. We did take her on a cruise during her spring break recently (and will take her brothers on one this summer), but she was quick to point out that this was NOT her Papa Trip, since her Mimi was along.
I have a couple of things in mind for this coming year that I hope we can schedule for this granddaughter and Papa to bond and create memories.
Do you have special memories of your grandparents you’d like to share? Or if you are a grandparent, what have you created that is special with your grandchildren? Share your stories with us.