Making Memories Through Travel - A Different Spin



Cindy, Daddy, Me;  October 2010 - Thank you Suzy Hanzlik Photography!


Making memories with family, as you know, is the premier reason Jeff and I run Legacy Family Travel.  The past few weeks I have been making memories with my Daddy.  After working 46 years at the Delta Jetbase in Atlanta, he sustained extensive damage to his lungs in the form of pulmonary fibrosis.  Granted, none of us knows how many days we have to walk this earth, but for Daddy, this incurable disease may result in a lot less days with us than we would like.

I have been traveling back and forth to Atlanta (with and without our girls) to spend time with Daddy.  Every minute I get to spend with him goes in the memory bank that holds my most cherished treasures.  I have so many wonderful memories of my relationship with him.  And yes, so many of them revolve around travel. 

I remember once we rented a car at the Los Angeles airport.  It was right when new cars started coming equipped with that little button next to the ignition that you had to push in order to remove the key.  It took Daddy the longest time to get the key out,  meaning it took the longest time to get the trunk open to load the luggage.  Then we went to the wrong hotel.  We had reservations at the University Hilton, but we went to the Universal Hilton.  (I think he and I both have the gift of confusion.)  Cindy (my sister) and I knew when to be quiet in the backseat, and this was without question one of those times.  Daddy was frustrated - he didn't really want to hear "I'm hungry, I have to go to the bathroom, When are we going to get there?".  I still think about this day everytime I rent a car!

In Victoria, B.C., we spent the day at Butchart Gardens.  The flowers were so beautiful.  I couldn't understand why Cindy didn't seem to be enjoying the gardens as much as Daddy and me.  When we got to the hotel, the explanation came out all over the parking lot - in hind sight it is clear that she had been struggling with a migraine.  At the time, Mama probably didn't even know what a migraine was.

Other memories include the following:

• In Boston, I remember walking onto Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, and seeing the North Church.
• In Bremerton, WA, we stood on the USS Missouri, Big Mo, in the place where Japan surrendered to GEN Douglas McArthur.
• In New Orleans, we saw the treasures of King Tut the first time they came to the United States.
• In  Washington, D.C., we visited our U.S. Senator from Georgia, toured the White House, walked through Arlington Cemetery, and saw as much of the Smithsonian as we could.
• I think the first time I had a taco was in San Diego after we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo.
• The year Walt Disney World opened, Daddy took us to Orlando.  Like many of you, we were stuck in It's a Small World for what seemed like hours due to an afternoon down pour.  For lunch that day we had really bad tuna fish sandwiches - the only thing available at the snack stand during the rain.
• And my first memory of any kind is watching a bird ride a bicycle across a wire at Busch Gardens in Tampa.  I was about 3 years old.

Daddy was always the tour guide.  He didn't have the luxury of the internet.  He would write to the Chamber of Commerce for whatever city we were to visit.  Then he would pour over brochures and newspapers to plan our adventures. Often times we would land at an airport, and he would take advantage of the bank of phones in which communication with dozens of hotel front desks was available at the push of a button.  And sometimes he had to make LOTS of calls to find a room for us.  His philosophy: stay cheap, eat well.  Consequently, there were some fascinating hotel experiences, and some equally fascinating restaurant experiences.

I looked so forward to our annual vacations.  Many of our friends would spend a week at the same beach in Florida every summer.  But because Daddy worked for Delta and we could fly for free, our vacations were far more exotic.  We never flew over the ocean, never went to Europe or the Caribbean (mostly because Mama wasn't as much the adventurous sort like Daddy - she preferred to stay over dry land, as if a crash there would be less traumatic than a crash in the ocean!).  But we saw things other kids only dreamed of or read about in books.

Seeing different parts of the United States helped mold me into the person I am today.  I believe all that travel has made me a better parent.  I remember Mama saying that the most fun she had on vacation was watching my sister and me.  At the time I thought that was kind of a stupid remark.  Now that I have my own daughters, I understand.  I sure wish she was still living so that I could confess to her that there was great wisdom in what she said.

Daddy and I were kindred spirits in our traveling.  We loved anything new, fast, high, risky, colorful, historical, or outrageous.  I was the quintessential Daddy's girl.  As I got older, things happened.  I became an Army wife, moved away. Mama passed away in 1998.  We went through a very difficult period adjusting to her death.  My relationship with Daddy, while still strong, is more adult now.  Kind of makes me sad that I grew up.  But I still have my treasure trove of prize memories.

One last memory for you:  In 1985, Jeff and I moved to Amberg, W. Germany.  In August of 1986, Mama and Daddy flew to Frankfurt, then took the train to Nurnberg where I would meet them.  I remember standing on the platform waiting for their train.  When it came in, I probably looked like I was watching a high speed ping pong match, my head whipping from left to right, attempting desperately to look into each car to spot my parents.  After an eternity, the train stopped.  What seemed like thousands of people burst from the train. On my tippy toes, I strained to catch a glimpse of a familiar face.  I didn't see that.  But what I did see through the throngs of legs was a familiar light blue suitcase being swung back and forth.  I followed the suitcase handle to the hand that was holding it, up the arm, to the shoulder, and finally to the face of my Daddy, beaming.  I took off running and hurled myself into his arms.  I don't know if I had ever been so excited to see him.  Even today, that old light blue suitcase still lives at my house.  It represents a time when travel created one of my best memories ever.

As always, I urge you to take time to make memories with the folks you love.  Especially during this holiday season, say the things you need to say, take lots of pictures, be purposeful about creating memories that will last a lifetime.  Memories don't necessarily have to include a cruise, an airplane trip or an amusement park.  Just love and let yourself be loved.

As for me, I have another trip to see Daddy in a couple of weeks.  I'm going armed with purpose; to cherish the time with him and MAKE MORE MEMORIES!