In the life of Joy Ryan for ninety years, many events have happened, both joyful and bitter. But her family and loved ones have always been in the first place, and she has only now happened to realize her own dreams. Thanks to this story, we, on Lemurov.net we were convinced that it is possible to live «to the fullest» not only in youth.
Joy’s family was not particularly affluent. The woman has lived all her life in the provincial town of Duncan Falls, where she worked in a supermarket. Together with her husband and children, they, of course, went on vacation, but Joy had never seen the sea.
Two of her three sons lived only 40 years, and twenty years ago the woman was widowed. Now her world has narrowed down to watching TV shows, and rare meetings with relatives. Everything changed with the arrival of my beloved grandson. The guy met several avid travelers in college and now shared his impressions of hiking in the Appalachians with Grandma Joy.
The elderly woman turned out to be a grateful listener, her curiosity and sincere regret that she could not visit such wonderful places made her grandson think. At the end of his studies, he experienced a serious shock, his best friend committed suicide. It wasn’t easy for Brad to come to terms with the fact that life could end so abruptly and deprive you of a loved one. Grandma was often sick and the guy realized that he had a chance to spend more time around and please her.
Joy was 85 at the time, but she didn’t hesitate to keep Brad company. Their trip to the Smoky Mountains National Park inspired both of them. Despite the difference of several decades, they got along well. Joy, filled with new impressions, was really happy, and Brad realized that friendship and common interests are not tied to age.
He decided that their first trip should not be the only one, because Joy had not seen so much yet! Modest income did not allow pampering grandmother and Brad told their story on a crowdfunding platform. He shared with users that he wants to show her all 61 national parks of the USA. Very soon, he was helped to raise an amount that far exceeded the initially stated amount. And in the comments, many people regretted that at one time they did not think of making the same gift to their loved ones.
